Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

Tunable Nanocomposite Membranes For Water Remediation And Separations, Sebastián Hernández Sierra

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Nano-structured material fabrication using functionalized membranes with polyelectrolytes is a promising research field for water pollution, catalytic and mining applications. These responsive polymers react to external stimuli like temperature, pH, radiation, ionic strength or chemical composition. Such nanomaterials provide novel hybrid properties and can also be self-supported in addition to the membranes.

Polyelectrolytes (as hydrogels) have pH responsiveness. The hydrogel moieties gain or lose protons based on the pH, displaying swelling properties. These responsive materials can be exploited to synthesize metal nanoparticles in situ using their functional groups, or to immobilize other polyelectrolytes and biomolecules. Due to their properties, these …

Design Of Robust Hydrogel Based On Mussel-Inspired Chemistry, Yuan Liu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The structure of catechol is found in mussel adhesive proteins and contributed to both wet-resistant adhesion and cohesive curing of these proteins. A synthetic nano-silicate, Laponite was incorporated into catechol-containing hydrogels and the hydrogel network-bound catechol formed strong reversible interfacial interaction with Laponite. The contribution of incorporated catechol-Laponite reversible interfacial interactions to the mechanics of hydrogels constructed by different strategies was studied. In the first strategy, Laponite and catechol were introduced into the double network hydrogel (DN) via the free radical co-polymerization of a catechol-containing monomer, backbone monomer, and crosslinker. The introduction of catechol-Laponite interactions significantly improved the compressive strength …