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Full-Text Articles in Membrane Science

Characterization Techniques And Cation Exchange Membrane For Non-Aqueous Redox Flow Battery, Kun Lou Aug 2021

Characterization Techniques And Cation Exchange Membrane For Non-Aqueous Redox Flow Battery, Kun Lou

Doctoral Dissertations

The motivation of this work comes from one of the major problems of emerging non-aqueous flow battery (NAFB) that a separator or membrane which facilitates conductivity and blocks redox species crossover does not exist. Although many aspects of principles can be mirrored from mature fuel cell and aqueous flow battery, it is found that some well-defined membrane properties in aqueous systems such as swelling, transport and interactions are different in non-aqueous solvents to some extent. However, the approach of this work does follow the way perfluorosulfonate ion exchange membrane (PFSA) facilitated development of fuel cell and aqueous flow battery in …


Synthesis And Molecular Transport Studies In Zeolites And Nanoporous Membranes, Vivek Vattipalli Mar 2019

Synthesis And Molecular Transport Studies In Zeolites And Nanoporous Membranes, Vivek Vattipalli

Doctoral Dissertations

The advent of nanoporous materials such as zeolites and nanoporous membranes has provided cost-effective solutions to some of the most pressing problems of the 20th century such as the conversion of crude oil into fuels and valuable chemicals. Hierarchical zeolites and mesoporous inorganic membranes are showing great promise in addressing new problems such as the conversion of biomass into value-added chemicals and development of energy-efficient separation processes. The synthesis and fundamental aspects of molecular transport in these new materials with hierarchical porosities need to be better understood in order to rationally develop them for these desired applications. Pore narrowing …


Transport Of Water And Ions Through Single-Walled Armchair Carbon Nanotubes: A Molecular Dynamics Study, Michelle Patricia Aranha Dec 2017

Transport Of Water And Ions Through Single-Walled Armchair Carbon Nanotubes: A Molecular Dynamics Study, Michelle Patricia Aranha

Doctoral Dissertations

The narrow hydrophobic interior of a carbon nanotube (CNT) poses a barrier to the transport of water and ions, and yet, unexpectedly, numerous experimental and simulation studies have confirmed fast water transport rates comparable to those seen in biological aquaporin channels. These outstanding features of high water permeability and high solute rejection of even dissolved ions that would typically require a lot of energy for separation in commercial processes makes carbon nanotubes an exciting candidate for desalination membranes. Extending ion exclusion beyond simple mechanical sieving by the inclusion of electrostatics via added functionality to the nanotube bears promise to not …


Modeling Of Nanoscale Transport In Mesoporous Membranes, Ashutosh Rathi Nov 2017

Modeling Of Nanoscale Transport In Mesoporous Membranes, Ashutosh Rathi

Doctoral Dissertations

Mesoporous membranes with pore sizes in the range 2-50 nm provide an energy efficient alternative for separation of mixtures such as CO2 from stack effluents and volatile organic compounds (VOC) from air. Transport mechanisms such as capillary condensation, Knudsen diffusion and surface adsorption help in enrichment of a more condensable component based on the bulk mixture thermodynamics, surface chemistry and geometry of the mesopores. Despite the progress in synthesis techniques, design of better mesoporous materials for targeted separations is still a challenge due to the absence of clear design rules. Modeling techniques can be used to quantify the relevant …


Biopolymer Electrospun Nanofiber Mats To Inactivate And Remove Bacteria, Katrina Ann Rieger Nov 2016

Biopolymer Electrospun Nanofiber Mats To Inactivate And Remove Bacteria, Katrina Ann Rieger

Doctoral Dissertations

The persistence of antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens remains a primary concern for immunocompromised and critically-ill hospital patients. Hospital associated infections can be deadly and reduce the successes of medical advancements, such as, cancer therapies and medical implants. Thus, it is imperative to develop materials that can (i) deliver new antibiotics with accuracy, as well as (ii) uptake pathogenic microbes. In this work, we will demonstrate that electrospun nanofiber mats offer a promising platform for both of these objectives because of their high surface-to-volume ratio, interconnected high porosity, gas permeability, and ability to contour to virtually any surface. To provide …


Synthesis And Characterization Of Polymeric Anion Exchange Membranes, Wenxu Zhang Jul 2016

Synthesis And Characterization Of Polymeric Anion Exchange Membranes, Wenxu Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

As alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AAEMFC) are regarded as promising and important energy devices, the development of high performance anion exchange membranes are in urgent need, as well as fundamental investigation on the structure-property relationship, which are the motivation of this dissertation. Three different polymer systems are presented and focused on polymer synthesis, material morphology, and ion transport phenomena. Crosslinked membranes are promising as practical materials, however, the understanding and further improvement of its performance is hindered by the lack of an ordered morphology or well-defined chemical structure. In Chapter 2, a series of crosslinked membranes were design …


A Study Of Diblock Copolymer/Charged Particle Nanoporous Membranes; Morphology, Design And Transport Property Modeling, Bo Zhang Aug 2015

A Study Of Diblock Copolymer/Charged Particle Nanoporous Membranes; Morphology, Design And Transport Property Modeling, Bo Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

A combination of self-consistent field theory and density functional theory was used to examine the stable, 3-dimensional equilibrium morphologies formed by diblock copolymers with a neutral or charged nanoparticle attached either between the two blocks or at the end of copolymer. Particle size was varied between one and four tenths of the radius of gyration of the copolymer. Phase diagrams were constructed and analyzed in terms of thermodynamic diagrams to understand the molecular-level self-assembly processes with the aim of determining the appropriate morphologies used as nanoporous membranes, (i.e. the periodic, hexagonal arrays of cylinders wherein the particles would primarily be …


Ab Initio Studies Of Proton Transport In Proton Exchange Membranes, Jeffrey Keith Clark May 2014

Ab Initio Studies Of Proton Transport In Proton Exchange Membranes, Jeffrey Keith Clark

Doctoral Dissertations

A molecular-level understanding of the factors that contribute to transport properties of proton exchange membranes (PEMs) for fuel cell applications is needed to aid in the development of superior membrane materials. Ab initio electronic structure calculations were undertaken on various PEM ionomer fragments to explore the effects of local hydration, side chain connectivity, protogenic group separation, and specific side chain chemistry on proton dissociation and transfer at low hydration. Cooperative interactions between both intra- and inter-molecular acidic groups and hydrogen bond connectivity were found to enhance proton dissociation at very low degrees of hydration. The energetics associated with proton transfer …


Characterization Techniques And Electrolyte Separator Performance Investigation For All Vanadium Redox Flow Battery, Zhijiang Tang Dec 2013

Characterization Techniques And Electrolyte Separator Performance Investigation For All Vanadium Redox Flow Battery, Zhijiang Tang

Doctoral Dissertations

The all-vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) is an excellent prospect for large scale energy storage in an electricity grid level application. High battery performance has lately been achieved by using a novel cell configuration with advanced materials. However, more work is still required to better understand the reaction kinetics and transport behaviors in the battery to guide battery system optimization and new battery material development. The first part of my work is the characterization of the battery systems with flow-through or flow-by cell configurations. The configuration difference between two cell structures exhibit significantly different polarization behavior. The battery output can …


Modeling Chemical Degradation And Proton Transport In Perfluorosulfonic Acid Ionomers, Milan Kumar Dec 2011

Modeling Chemical Degradation And Proton Transport In Perfluorosulfonic Acid Ionomers, Milan Kumar

Doctoral Dissertations

The ionomer-membrane interface in a membrane electrode assembly connects the catalyst and membrane and allows hydrated protons to move between the catalyst and membrane. The continuous operation of the polymer membrane electrolyte fuel cell at high temperature and/or in frequent freeze/thaw cycles leads to membrane degradation and delamination of the interface, which lower the proton conductivity. In this dissertation, we modeled the chemical degradation and proton conductivity of perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers by ab initio calculations and macroscopic modeling. All ab initio calculations were performed using Gaussian 03 suites of program by employing B3LYP/6-311++G** method/basis set. The macroscopic modeling involves …