Proposal Type: GOALI Principal Investigator Theodore T. Tsotsis Affiliation: University of Southern California
This grant is awarded through the Interfacial, Transport and Separations Processes Program of the Chemical and Transport Systems Division, and the NSF Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) Program. The Principal Investigator is Dr. Theodore Tsotsis of the University of Southern California. An academic and industrial collaborative research program is to be implemented aimed at developing a better fundamental understanding of the phenomena involved during the preparation of carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes. These membranes show excellent promise for many reactor and separation applications and are made via the carbonization in inert and/or reactive atmospheres of polymeric thin films which are either self-supported or coated on various porous substrates. The emphasis in this project is the understanding of the factors in the preparation procedure which are critical to the ability of these materials to effect separation of mixtures based on differences in molecular mobility within the membrane.
Carbon molecular sieve membranes have tremendous potential in the separation of hydrocarbon and reformate mixtures. The ability to tailor the structure of a particular membrane to fit a particular separation and /or reactor application will greatly enhance the technological significance of these systems and expand their use into many new applications. A key requirement here is the development of predictive models of the pore structure and of transport and sorption characteristics of reactant mixtures. This is a main area of emphasis in the project, which will significantly advance the technological base in this area.
