Polymer Science Commons^™

Synthesis, Functionalization, And Application Of Nanofiltration And Composite Membranes For Selective Separations, Andrew Steven Colburn

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Future nanofiltration (NF) membranes used for selective separations of ions and small organic molecules must maintain performance in environments where high concentrations of total dissolved solvents or foulants are present. These challenges can be addressed through the development of composite membranes, as well as the engineering of enhanced surface properties and operating conditions for existing commercial membranes.

In this work, ion transport through commercial thin film composite (TFC) polyamide NF membranes were studied in both lab-prepared salt solutions and industrial wastewater. The dependence of several variables on ion rejection was investigated, including ion radius, ion charge, ionic strength, and temperature. …

Towards The Rational Design And Application Of Polymers For Gene Therapy: Internalization And Intracellular Fate, Landon Alexander Mott

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Gene therapy is an approach for the treatment of acquired cancers, infectious disease, degenerative disease, and inherited genetic indications. Developments in the fields of immunotherapies and CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing are revitalizing the efforts to move gene therapy to the forefront of modern medicine. However, slow progress and poor clinical outcomes have plagued the field due to regulatory and safety concerns associated with the flagship delivery vector, the recombinant virus. Immunogenicity and poor transduction in certain cell types severely limits the utility of viruses as a delivery agent of nucleic acids. As a result, significant efforts are being made to develop …

Development Of Novel Temperature Responsive Polymeric Sorbents And Their Applications In Water Remediation, Shuo Tang

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Water remediation utilizing sorption has found strong interest due to its inexpensiveness, universal nature and ease of operation. In particular, thermo-responsive sorbents consisting of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) offer significant potential as “smart” and advanced materials to remove multiple aqueous pollutants. NIPAAm exhibits excellent thermo-responsiveness, which senses the external temperature variation and changes its swelling and sorption behaviors in a sharp and rapid manner. At the beginning of this work, an extensive review of literature has been compiled to provide a summary of NIPAAm-based thermo-responsive sorbents in water/wastewater remediation applications.

Initially, we developed a novel approach to synthesize and characterize NIPAAm copolymeric …

Functionalization Of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles And The Impact On Surface Reactive Oxygen Species Generation For Potential Biomedical And Environmental Applications, Trang Mai

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) have been widely studied for a variety of applications, from biomedical applications (e.g., cell separation, drug delivery, contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging and magnetically mediated energy delivery for cancer treatment) to environmental remediations (e.g., heavy metal removal and organic pollutants degradation). It has been demonstrated that IONPs can induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) via Fenton/Haber-Weiss reactions which has been shown to be one of the key underlying mechanisms of nanoparticles toxicity. This inherent toxicity of nanoparticles has been shown to enhance the efficacy of traditional cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation. …

Synthesis, Characterization And Applications Of Reduced Graphene Oxide And Composite Membranes For Selective Separations And Removal Of Organic Contaminants, Ashish Aher

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Among the next generation materials being investigated for membrane development, partially reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) has received increasing attention from the membrane community. rGO-based nanofiltration membranes have shown promising results in applications such as partial desalination, organic contaminant removal, gas-phase separations, and separations from solvent media. rGO offers a unique platform compared to common polymeric membranes since it can be used for separation applications in both aqueous and organic solvent media. An rGO-based platform could also be utilized to synthesize reactive membranes, giving rGO membranes the additional capability of reactively removing organic contaminants. This research focuses on the synthesis of …

The Fabrication And Characterization Of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Employed In Environmental Toxicity And Polymeric Nanocomposite Applications, Matthew Logan Hancock

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Ceria (cerium oxide) nanomaterials, or nanoceria, have commercial catalysis and energy storage applications. The cerium atoms on the surface of nanoceria can store or release oxygen, cycling between Ce³⁺ and Ce⁴⁺, and can therefore act as a therapeutic to relieve oxidative stress within living systems. Nanoceria dissolution is present in acidic environments in vivo. In order to accurately define the fate of nanoceria in vivo, nanoceria dissolution or stabilization is observed in vitro using acidic aqueous environments.

Nanoceria stabilization is a known problem even during its synthesis; in fact, a carboxylic acid, citric acid, is …

Production Of Bio-Jet Fuel From Palm Fatty Acid Distillate Over Bi-Functional Copd/Hzsm-12 Catalysts, Jarujit Chaowichitra

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Jet fuel is one of the major products from a petroleum refinery, its combustion emissions contribute to global warming. Therefore, bio-jet fuel is introduced to solve this problem. Palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) is an interesting feedstock for bio-jet fuel production via three reactions including deoxygenation, hydrocracking, and isomerization. In this study, the monometallic (Co and Pd) and bimetallic (CoPd and NiPd) supported on HZSM-12 zeolite with various metal loadings and bimetallic CoPd with various zeolite supports (HZSM-12, HZSM-5, and HY) were investigated in a continuous flow trickle bed reactor. The presence of bimetallic CoPd on HZSM-12 zeolite support enhanced …

Removal Of Trace Olefins From Aromatics With Modified Usy Zeolite And Clays, Sirawit Lertprapaporn

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Naphtha reforming is an important raw material for aromatic hydrocarbon products in petrochemical processes. However, aromatic hydrocarbon streams obtained from refinery contain unavoidable trace amounts of olefins as an impurity. The trace olefins must be removed because these undesirable olefins are harmful to the following separation processes. Alkylation reaction has been used to remove olefins with acid catalysts. In this study, clays and zeolites were screened for further modification in order to enhance the catalytic activity of olefins removal. The catalytic activity testing was studied in a batch reactor at 195 ℃ for 6 h under 12 barg. USY was …

Combined Life Cycle Analysis And Material Flow Analysis As A Tool For End Of Life Options Of Used Lubricating Oils, Komsan Toeipomthong

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Used lubricating oils are one of the most significant material flows in the economy. After being used, they are typically contaminated with, e.g., heavy metals, which could harm the environments if they are treated improperly. The used oils should be properly treated by reprocessing or recycling which the recyled products can be used to subsitute the production the new product, as a result a net reduction of the environemental impacts. This study aimed to investigate the waste flow and then evaluate the environmental impacts of waste management options using the Material Flow Analysis (MFA, STAN v.2.6.801) and Life Cycle Assessment …