Proposal Number: CBET-0729849 Principal Investigator: Rene Overney Institution: University of Washington
An in-situ study of permeation fluxes, interfacial molecular mobility, and local adhesion within nanocomposite membranes is targeted towards the development of a fundamental framework for engineering highly efficient, selective, and stable reverse selective membranes. Scanning probe microscopy based nano-tools and complementary techniques are employed to gain direct and parallel access to the thermomechanical and mass transport properties in the interfacial region of reverse-selective nanocomposite membranes. The specific goals towards obtaining a fundamental understanding of transport are to (1) explore on the nanoscale the interplay between interfacial constraints on the polymer matrix and the local flux properties, (2) enhance reverse-selective mass transport by tailoring the interfacial region utilizing filler-membrane interactions, density and dispersion, (3) provide a basis for evaluating current and future transport models for structurally heterogeneous nanocomposite membrane systems, (4) locally investigate the effects of filler aggregation on membrane performance, and (5) determine molecular relaxations at the polymer-filler interface that contribute to age susceptibility. This project will provide the basis for fundamental mass transport models in particle filled membrane systems. Developments resulting from this work address factors key to the commercialization of reverse-selective membranes for numerous industrial applications including removal of heavier hydrocarbons from methane in natural gas purification, olefin separation from nitrogen, removal of hydrogen from refinery process gas streams, and H2/CO2 (syngas) separations. Integrated into research projects of graduate and undergraduate education and current educational interdisciplinary programs at the University of Washington, this project is also expected to influence developments of incorporating nanoscience into engineering education.
