Chemical Engineering Commons^™

Aligned Nanotubule Membranes, Bruce J. Hinds Iii

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

A method is provided for producing a permeable membrane, comprising the steps of aligning a plurality of hollow nanotubules to form a mat, coating the mat with a continuous polymer matrix to form a membrane. The membrane is etched (a) to open the plurality of hollow nanotubules and form pores and (b) to oxidize the carboxyl groups to carboxylate groups. At least one additional functional unit having at least one available amine group to bind the at least one additional functional unit to the nanotubule end carboxylate group may be provided. Membranes fabricated in accordance with the method of the …

Methods For Cancer Detection, Kimberly W. Anderson, Kimberly M.L. May, Leonidas G. Bachas

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

A method is provided for detecting an analyte indicative of a cancer or a metastatic disease condition, which utilizes the ability of the analyte to induce permeability in a barrier. The method includes providing a biosensor having a barrier which is substantially impermeable to an ion, a permeable membrane which is selective for the ion, and a detector capable of detecting the ion. The biosensor is contacted with a sample including at least one of the ion and the analyte, wherein the analyte causes at least a portion of the ion to pass through the barrier and the membrane. Passage …

Effects Of Growth Media Ph And Reaction Water Activity On The Conversion Of Acetophenone To (S)-1-Phenylethanol By Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Immobilized On Celite 635 And In Calcium Alginate, Nicholas P. Coleman, Czarena Crofcheck, Sue E. Nokes, Barbara L. Knutson

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Biologically catalyzed reactions often produce enantiomers of the product; however, only one configuration is desired. Reaction conditions are known to affect enantiomer ratios and reaction kinetics, but little is known regarding the effect of processing conditions on whole-cell biocatalysis. Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells were grown in batch on glucose at pH = 4, 5, and 7, and then immobilized on Celite beads or in calcium alginate beads and used as the biocatalyst for the conversion of acetophenone in hexane to (S)-1-phenylethanol at water activities of 0.37, 0.61, and 0.80. S. cerevisiae was used as a model microorganism for the whole-cell catalyzed …

Utilizing Mixed Surfactants For Simultaneous Pore Templating And Active Site Formation In Metal Oxides, Mohammed Shahidur Rahman

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Self-assembled nonionic alkyl glycoside surfactants are of interest for creating functional adsorption and catalytic sites at the surface of mesoporous metal oxides, but they typically impart poor long-range order when used as pore templates. Improved order and control over the functional site density may be achieved by mixing them with a cationic surfactant. To confirm this hypothesis, we investigate the lyotropic liquid crystalline (LLC) phase behavior of aqueous solutions of the functional nonionic surfactant n-dodecyl β-D-maltoside (C₁₂G₂) and cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (C₁₆TAB). A ternary phase diagram of the C₁₆TAB-C₁₂G_{2 …}

Process For Formation Of Cationic Poly (Lactic-Co-Glycolic Acid) Nanoparticles Using Static Mixers, Yamuna Reddy Charabudla

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Nanoparticles have received special attention over past few years as potential drug carriers for proteins/peptides and genes. Biodegradable polymeric poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles are being employed as non-viral gene delivery systems for DNA. This work demonstrates a scalable technology for synthesis of nanoparticles capable of gene delivery. Cationic PLGA nanoparticles are produced by emulsiondiffusion- evaporation technique employing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as stabilizer and chitosan chloride for surface modification. A sonicator is used for the emulsion step and a static mixer is used for dilution in the diffusion step of the synthesis. A static mixer is considered ideal for the …

Novel Catalysts For The Production Of Co- And Co2-Free Hydrogen And Carbon Nanotubes By Non-Oxidative Dehydrogenation Of Hydrocarbons, Wenqin Shen

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Non-oxidative dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons is an attractive alternative route for the production of CO- and CO₂-free hydrogen. It will satisfy a major requirement for successful utilization of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells (< 10 ppm CO) and sequestering carbon as a potentially valuable by-product, carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Due to the deposition of carbon on the surface of catalyst particles during the reaction, catalyst performance, life-time, and purification of the generated carbon product, are significant issues to solve in order to make the process practically feasible. The scope of this thesis includes: the development of novel Fe, Ni, and Fe-Ni catalysts supported on a Mg(Al)O support to achieve improved catalytic performance with easily-purified CNTs; evaluation of catalysts for ethane/methane dehydrogenation at moderate reaction temperatures; and study of activation and deactivation mechanisms by a variety of characterization techniques including TEM, HRTEM, XRD, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy. The Mg(Al)O support was prepared by calcination of synthetic MgAl-hydrotalcite with a Mg to Al ratio of 5. The catalysts were prepared either by conventional incipient wetness method or by a novel nanoparticle impregnation method, where the monodisperse catalyst nanoparticles were prepared in advance by thermal decomposition of a metal-organic complex in an organic-phase solution and then dispersed onto the Mg(Al)O support. Dehydrogenation of undiluted methane was conducted in a fix-bed plug-flow reactor. Before reaction, the catalysts were activated by reduction in hydrogen. Fe-based catalysts exhibit a higher hydrogen yield at temperature above 600ºC compared with monometallic Ni catalyst. FeNi-9 nm/Mg(Al)O, Fe-10 nm/Mg(Al)O and Fe-5 nm/ Mg(Al)O nanoparticle catalysts show much improved performance and longer life-times compared with the corresponding FeNi IW/Mg(Al)O and Fe IW/Mg(Al)O catalysts prepared by incipient wetness. 10 nm is the optimum particle size for methane dehydrogenation. Addition of Ni to Fe forming a bimetallic FeNi alloy catalyst enhances the catalytic performance at the temperatures below 650ºC. Metallic Fe, Ni, FeNi alloy and Fe-Ni-C alloy, unstable iron carbide are all catalytically active components. Catalysts deactivation is due to the carbon encapsulation. The carbon products are in the form of stack-cone CNTs (SCNTs) and multi-walled CNTs (MWNTs), depending on the reaction temperature and catalyst composition. The growth of CNTs follows a tip growth mechanism and the purity of cleaned CNTs is more than 99.5%.

Surfactant And Metal Sorption Studies By Functionalized Membranes And Quartz Crystal Microbalance, Abhay R. Ladhe

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Functionalized membranes provide an elegant platform for selective separations and sorptions. In this dissertation, application of functionalized membranes for surfactant and metal sorption studies are discussed. Sorption behavior of surfactants is also studied using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and other techniques.

Adsorption of the ethoxylated surfactants on polymeric materials (cotton and polyester) and model gold surface was quantified from a non-aqueous siloxane based solvent (D5) and water. The role of ethylene oxide group and the effect of nature of polymeric materials on adsorption behavior was quantified and established. In the case of gold-water interface, the adsorption data was fitted to …

Multiscale Dynamic Monte Carlo / Continuum Modeling Of Drying And Curing In Sol-Gel Silica Films, Xin Li

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Modeling the competition between drying and curing processes in polymerizing films is of great importance to many existing and developing materials synthesis processes. These processes involve multiple length and time scales ranging from molecular to macroscopic, and are challenging to fully model in situations where the polymerization is non-ideal, such as sol-gel silica thin film formation. A comprehensive model of sol-gel silica film formation should link macroscopic flow and drying (controlled by process parameters) to film microstructure (which dictates the properties of the films).

This dissertation describes a multiscale model in which dynamic Monte Carlo (DMC) polymerization simulations are coupled …

Delivery System For A Composition, Bruce J. Hinds Iii, Audra L. Stinchcomb

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

Devices and methods for cutaneous delivery of a composition are provided, wherein the composition is passed through an ordered nanoporous membrane in fluid communication with a reservoir. The nanoporous membrane includes a plurality of aligned hollow nanotubules coated with a continuous polymer matrix, and etched to open the plurality of hollow nanotubules and form pores. In one embodiment, the etching step oxidizes an end of the nanotubules to form carboxylate groups. The ordered nanoporous membrane further includes at least one additional functional unit bound to the carboxylate groups. The at least one additional functional unit selectively exposes or at least …

Functionalized Polymeric Membranes For Bioseparation And Biocatalysis, Saurav Datta

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Functionalized polymeric membrane based techniques are becoming increasingly popular in biotechnology, food and pharmaceutical industries due to their versatility and hydrodynamic benefits over traditional materials and methods. This research work has been directed towards the development of functionalized polymeric membranes, extensive experimental and theoretical analyses of some of the fundamental aspects of accessibility, membrane fouling and enzyme catalysis, and applications in affinity based bioseparation and biocatalysis. In this research work, the impact of different types of functionalization techniques, such as functionalization of different membrane materials, covalent and electrostatic immobilization, on interaction of various biomolecules and active sites in membrane has …

Co2-Selective Membranes Containing Amino Groups, W.S. Winston Ho

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

Novel compositions suitable for fabrication of CO₂-selective membranes are disclosed. In one aspect, the present invention is directed to compositions comprising polyimide/polyamine blends and copolymers, and to compositions comprising interfacially polymerized polyamides. In another aspect this invention is directed to novel CO₂-selective membranes comprising such polyimide/polyamine blends and copolymers, and to novel CO₂-selective membranes comprising interfacially polymerized polyamides. In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a novel water-gas-shift (WGS) reactor comprising the novel CO₂-selective membranes. Advantageously, the use of the novel CO₂-selective membrane allows alteration of the …

Dynamic Sulfur Tolerant Process And System With Inline Acid Gas-Selective Removal For Generating Hydrogen For Fuel Cells, Surjit Randhava, W. S. Winston Ho, Richard L. Kao, Elias H. Camara

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

This invention relates to a sulfur tolerant, dynamic, compact, lightweight fuel process and system that is capable of converting sulfur bearing carbonaceous fuels to hydrogen rich gases suitable for fuel cells or chemical processing applications. The process and system is based on the AHR and WGS reactions, followed by cleanup of byproduct sulfur-containing gases and carbon oxides that would otherwise poison the fuel cell electrocatalyst. Advantageously, this is accomplished via an ASMS and a methanator or an AWMR. The process and system preferably uses a special sulfur tolerant catalysts and hardware designs that enable the conversion in an energy efficient …

Catalytic Conversion Of Hydrocarbons To Hydrogen And High-Value Carbon, Naresh Shah, Devadas Panjala, Gerald P. Huffman

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

The present invention provides novel catalysts for accomplishing catalytic decomposition of undiluted light hydrocarbons to a hydrogen product, and methods for preparing such catalysts. In one aspect, a method is provided for preparing a catalyst by admixing an aqueous solution of an iron salt, at least one additional catalyst metal salt, and a suitable oxide substrate support, and precipitating metal oxyhydroxides onto the substrate support. An incipient wetness method, comprising addition of aqueous solutions of metal salts to a dry oxide substrate support, extruding the resulting paste to pellet form, and calcining the pellets in air is also discloses. In …

Apparatus And Method For Dispersing Nano-Elements To Assemble Device, Craig A. Grimes, Elizabeth Dickey

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

An apparatus for dispersing a first plurality of conductive elongated nano-elements distributed within a carrier-fluid to assemble a conductive device made of a first charge-receptive area of a support surface to which at least one nano-element has attached, including: a nozzle through which the elongated nano-elements are directed such that the nano-elements pass through an electromagnetic field for imparting a preselected charge thereto, and toward at least the first charge-receptive area. The charge-receptive area is given a charge such that it attracts a first end-portion of one of the nano-elements. Also, a method of assembling a conductive device. Steps include: …

Temperature, Stress, And Corrosive Sensing Apparatus Utilizing Harmonic Response Of Magnetically Soft Sensor Element (S), Craig A. Grimes, Keat Ghee Ong

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

A temperature sensing apparatus including a sensor element made of a magnetically soft material operatively arranged within a first and second time-varying interrogation magnetic field, the first time-varying magnetic field being generated at a frequency higher than that for the second magnetic field. A receiver, remote from the sensor element, is engaged to measure intensity of electromagnetic emissions from the sensor element to identify a relative maximum amplitude value for each of a plurality of higher-order harmonic frequency amplitudes so measured. A unit then determines a value for temperature (or other parameter of interst) using the relative maximum harmonic amplitude …

Method Of Preparing A Composite Polymer And Silica-Based Membrane, Dibakar Bhattacharyya, Stephen M. Ritchie, Leonidas G. Bachas, Jamie A. Hestekin, Subhas K. Sikdar

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

A method for preparing a chemically activated or polyamino acid functionalized membrane includes the steps of permeating a silica-based membrane with a solution of silane and a solvent so as to react methoxy groups of the silane with silanol groups of the membrane to incorporate epoxide groups and attaching a polyamino acid to the membrane by reacting a terminal amine group of the polyamino acid with one of the epoxide groups on the membrane.

Preparing And Regenerating A Composite Polymer And Silica-Based Membrane, Dibakar Bhattacharyya, Stephen M. Ritchie, Leonidas G. Bachas, Jamie A. Hestekin, Subhas K. Sikdar

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

A method for preparing and regenerating a chemically activated or polyamino acid functionalized membrane includes the steps of permeating the silica-based membrane with a solution of silane and a solvent so as to react methoxy groups of the silane with silanol groups of the membrane to incorporate epoxide groups and attaching a polyamino acid to the membrane by reacting a terminal amine group of the polyamino acid with one of the epoxide groups on the membrane. The membrane is regenerated after metal entrapment by utilizing helix-coil properties of polyamino acids.

Electrically-Small Low Q Radiator Structure And Method Of Producing Em Waves Therewith, Craig A. Grimes, Dale M. Grimes, Faton Tefiku, Gang Lui

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

An electrically small radiator structure for radiating electromagnetic waves having an electrical size, k*a, with a value less than π/2 and above π/20,000 and configured to have at least a first and second magnetic, or electric, dipole element. Dipole elements are preferably oriented such that a source-associated standing energy value for the structure, or W_ds(t_R), is low, Radiative Q value preferably less than ⅓(k*a)³; and each of the elements, whether paired with respective electric dipole elements, is in electrical communication through a feed circuit to at least one power source. Further, a first …

Remote Magneto-Elastic Analyte, Viscosity And Temperature Sensing Apparatus And Associated Methods Of Sensing, Craig A. Grimes, Plamen G. Stoyanov

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

An analyte, viscosity, or temperature sensing apparatus for operative arrangement within a time-varying magnetic field, including a sensor with an outer surface that is chemically, frictionally, or thermally responsive and adhered to a base magnetostrictive element, and a receiver to measure a first and second value for magneto-elastic emission intensity of the sensor taken at, respectively, a first and second interrogation frequency. A change in mass or a change in material stiffness of the sensor due to the responsiveness, the viscosity and mass density of a fluid therearound, or the temperature, can be identified. The receiver, alternatively, measures a plurality …

Magnetoelastic Sensing Apparatus And Method For Remote Pressure Query Of An Environment, Craig A. Grimes, Plamen G. Stoyanov, Dimitris Kouzoudis

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

A pressure sensing apparatus for operative arrangement within an environment, having: a sensor comprising a hermetically-sealed receptacle, at least one side of which has an flexible membrane to which a magnetically hard element is attached. Enclosed within the receptacle is a magnetostrictive element that vibrates in response to a time-varying magnetic field. Also included is a receiver to measure a plurality of successive values for magneto-elastic emission intensity of the sensor taken over an operating range of successive interrogation frequencies to identify a resonant frequency value for the sensor. Additional features include: (a) the magnetically hard element may be adhered …

Remote Resonant-Circuit Analyte Sensing Apparatus With Sensing Structure And Associated Method Of Sensing, Craig A. Grimes

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

A resonant sensing apparatus for operative arrangement within a test environment to sense an analyte. A sensing structure is included having an antenna in electrical communication with a resonant circuit and a structural element made of a material that selectively responds to the analyte. This sensing structure will resonate at a particular characteristic resonant frequency in the presence of an applied interrogation electromagnetic field and the analyte upon the occurrence of the selective response. A receiver is used for remotely identifying a value for the characteristic resonant frequency by measuring a plurality of values for electromagnetic emission intensity of the …

Silica-Based Membrane Sorbent For Heavy Metal Sequestration, Dibakar Bhattacharyya, Stephen M. Ritchie, Leonidas G. Bachas, Jamie A. Hestekin, Subhas K. Sikdar

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

An apparatus providing for metal ion/nitrate entrapment comprises a chemically activated, microfiltration, composite polymer and silica-based membrane including a polyamino acid attached thereto through reaction of a terminal amine group of the polyamino acid with the membrane. A method for preparing such a chemically activated or polyamino acid functionalized membrane includes the steps of permeating the silica-based membrane with a solution of silane and a solvent so as to react methoxy groups of the silane with silanol groups of the membrane to incorporate epoxide groups and attaching a polyamino acid to the membrane by reacting a terminal amine group of …

Process For Making A Lubricating Composition, Stephen J. Miller, Gerald P. Huffman, Naresh Shah

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

The invention includes a process of making a lubricating oil composition including: a process for making a high VI lubricating oil composition including the steps of (1) contacting a waste plastics feed including mainly polyethylene in a pyrolysis zone at pyrolysis conditions, whereby at least a portion of the waste plastics feed is cracked, thereby forming a pyrolysis zone effluent including 1-olefins and n-paraffins; (2) passing the pyrolysis zone effluent, including a heavy fraction and a middle fraction, the pyrolysis effluent middle fraction including 1-olefins, to a separations zone; where the pyrolysis effluent heavy fraction portion is separated from the …

Texture, Microstructure And Formability Of Aluminum Alloys, Xiang-Ming Cheng

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Texture, microstructure and formability were studied in Direct Chill Cast (DC) and Strip Cast (SC) aluminum alloys with regard to crystallographic anisotropy, the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect and aging softening behavior. It was found that material properties change greatly with manufacturing processes (DC vs. SC) and chemical composition (3xxx vs. 5 xxx alloys). DC cast hot band materials are usually fully recrystallized and have strong softening textures while SC hot band materials have a rolling structure with strong deformation textures. Softening textures cause 90 earing while deformation textures result in 45 earing after deep drawing. During cold rolling, 90 earing in …

Method For Making A Heavy Wax Composition, Stephen J. Miller, Gerald P. Huffman, Naresh Shah

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

The invention includes a process of making a wax composition including: a process for making a heavy wax composition including the steps of (1) contacting a waste plastics feed containing primarily polyethylene in a pyrolysis zone at sub-atmospheric pressure, whereby at least a portion of the waste plastics feed is cracked, thereby forming a pyrolysis zone effluent including 1-olefins and n-paraffins; and (2) passing the pyrolysis zone effluent to a hydrotreating zone, for contacting with a hydrotreating catalyst at catalytic conditions.

Membrane-Based Sorbent For Heavy Metal Sequestration, Dibakar Bhattacharyya, Leonidas G. Bachas, Lawrence Cullen, Jamie A. Hestekin, Subhas K. Sikdar

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

A process is provided for making membrane-based sorbents with enhanced binding activity that are particularly useful for heavy metal sequestration. The process includes the step of selectively hydrolyzing a polyacetylated membrane in order to deacetylated a surface layer of said membrane including the pore surfaces and expose free hydroxyl groups. This is followed by the oxidizing of the hydroxyl groups to aldehyde groups. This is then followed by the attaching of a polycarboxylic acid such as a polyamino acid, polyalkenoic acid or polypeptide to the membrane through the aldehyde groups. Preferably, the hydrolyzing step is completed under alkaline conditions and …

Membrane-Based Sorbent For Heavy Metal Sequestration, Dibakar Bhattacharyya, Leonidas G. Bachas, Lawrence Cullen, Jamie A. Hestekin, Subhas K. Sikdar

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

A process is provided for making membrane-based sorbents with enhanced binding activity that are particularly useful for heavy metal sequestration. The process includes the step of selectively hydrolyzing a polyacetylated membrane in order to deacetylate a surface layer of said membrane and expose free hydroxyl groups. This is followed by the oxidizing of the hydroxyl groups to aldehyde groups. This is then followed by the attaching of a polycarboxylic acid such as a polyamino acid, polyalkenoic acid or polypeptide to the membrane through the aldehyde groups. Preferably, the hydrolyzing step is completed under alkaline conditions and the oxidizing step is …

Activated Carbon And Process For Making Same, Francis John Derbyshire, Marit Jagtoyen

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

A process is described for the manufacture of activated carbon in the form of a powder, as granules or as extrudates. The process includes treating a biomass feedstock, such as woods, coconut shells, fruit pits, peats, lignites and all ranks of coal with a processing agent and an activation agent. The processing agent may be a natural or synthetic monomer, oligomer, polymer or mixtures thereof capable of interacting or co-polymerizing with the biomass feedstock. The activation agent may be, for example, phosphoric acid, zinc chloride or mixtures thereof. A high surface area, high hardness extruded activated carbon may be produced …

Method Of Destroying Hazardous Organic Compounds, Dibakar Bhattacharyya, Susan Mawhinney

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

The present invention relates to a method of destroying hazardous vapor phase or aqueous phase organic compound(s) by providing a polymeric siloxane based solvent in a vessel and adding the hazardous organic compound(s) and ozone to the solvent. The solvent may also comprise a mixture of polymeric siloxane based solvent and fluorinated hydrocarbon solvent.

Chromatographic Separation Apparatus, Lynn S. Penn, Donna L. Scott, Howard H. Weetall, Anne L. Plant, Marion F. Mccurley, Scott A. Glazier

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Patents

An apparatus for the monitoring of a column chromatography separation process includes a segmented column with a seal positioned at the joint defined by the segments of the column. A connector is provided for connecting the segments of the column together. The apparatus further includes a sensor for monitoring an analyte in an eluant within a separation zone of the column. The sensor includes a mesh grid made of optical fibers or metal wires which is placed so as to extend through the separation zone of the column. The metal wires or optical fibers extend through the seal of the …