scholarly journals Bioinspired and biomimetic membranes for water purification and chemical separation: A review

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elham Abaie ◽  
Limeimei Xu ◽  
Yue-xiao Shen
Keyword(s):  
Transport Properties ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Channel ◽  
Chemical Separation ◽  
Molecular Engineering ◽  
Research Progress ◽  
Biomimetic Membranes ◽  
Separation Membranes ◽  
Biological Water ◽  
Transport Channels

AbstractBioinspired and biomimetic membranes that contain biological transport channels or attain their structural designs from biological systems have been through a remarkable development over the last two decades. They take advantage of the exceptional transport properties of those channels, thus possess both high permeability and selectivity, and have emerged as a promising solution to existing membranes. Since the discovery of biological water channel proteins aquaporins (AQPs), extensive efforts have been made to utilize them to make separation membranes-AQP-based membranes, which have been commercialized. The exploration of AQPs’ unique structures and transport properties has resulted in the evolution of biomimetic separation materials from protein-based to artificial channel-based membranes. However, large-scale, defect-free biomimetic membranes are not available yet. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art biomimetic membranes and summarizes the latest research progress, platform, and methodology. Then it critically discusses the potential routes of this emerging area toward scalable applications. We conclude that an appropriate combination of bioinspired concepts and molecular engineering with mature polymer industry may lead to scalable polymeric membranes with intrinsic selective channels, which will gain the merit of both desired selectivity and scalability.

Conformational dynamics and interfacial interactions of peptide-appended pillar[5]arene water channels in biomimetic membranes

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (41) ◽  
pp. 22711-22721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Liu ◽  
Harish Vashisth
Keyword(s):  
Water Purification ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Water Channel ◽  
Water Channels ◽  
Interfacial Interactions ◽  
Biomimetic Membranes ◽  
Channel Proteins ◽  
Significant Potential ◽  
Biological Water ◽  
Artificial Water

Peptide appended pillar[5]arene (PAP) is an artificial water channel resembling biological water channel proteins, which has shown a significant potential for designing bioinspired water purification systems.

Covalent Atomic Bridges Enable Unidirectional Enhancement of Electronic Transport in Aligned Carbon Nanotubes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingguang Chen ◽  
Wangxiang Li ◽  
Anshuman Kumar ◽  
Guanghui Li ◽  
Mikhail Itkis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Nanotubes ◽  
Electrical Transport ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Electrical Measurements ◽  
Metal Atoms ◽  
Aligned Carbon Nanotubes ◽  
Transport Channels ◽  
Walled Carbon Nanotubes ◽  
Bulk Structures

<p>Interconnecting the surfaces of nanomaterials without compromising their outstanding mechanical, thermal, and electronic properties is critical in the design of advanced bulk structures that still preserve the novel properties of their nanoscale constituents. As such, bridging the p-conjugated carbon surfaces of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) has special implications in next-generation electronics. This study presents a rational path towards improvement of the electrical transport in aligned semiconducting SWNT films by deposition of metal atoms. The formation of conducting Cr-mediated pathways between the parallel SWNTs increases the transverse (intertube) conductance, while having negligible effect on the parallel (intratube) transport. In contrast, doping with Li has a predominant effect on the intratube electrical transport of aligned SWNT films. Large-scale first-principles calculations of electrical transport on aligned SWNTs show good agreement with the experimental electrical measurements and provide insight into the changes that different metal atoms exert on the density of states near the Fermi level of the SWNTs and the formation of transport channels. </p>

Transport Phenomena and Properties in Treelike Networks

2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Xu ◽  
Agus Pulung Sasmito ◽  
Boming Yu ◽  
Arun Sadashiv Mujumdar
Keyword(s):  
Transport Properties ◽  
Scaling Laws ◽  
Transport Phenomena ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Research Progress ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Transport Mechanisms ◽  
Branching Structures ◽  
Flow And Heat Transfer ◽  
Flow Heat

Treelike structures abound in natural as well as man-made transport systems, which have fascinated multidisciplinary researchers to study the transport phenomena and properties and understand the transport mechanisms of treelike structures for decades. The fluid flow and heat transfer in treelike networks have received an increasing attention over the past decade as the highly efficient transport processes observed in natural treelike structures can provide useful hints for optimal solutions to many engineering and industrial problems. This review paper attempts to present the background and research progress made in recent years on the transport phenomenon in treelike networks as well as technological applications of treelike structures. The subtopics included are optimization of branching structures, scaling laws of treelike networks, and transport properties for laminar flow, turbulent flow, heat conduction, and heat convection in treelike networks. Analytical expressions for the effective transport properties have been derived based on deterministic treelike networks, and the effect of branching parameters on the transport properties of treelike networks has also been discussed. Furthermore, numerical simulation results for treelike microchannel networks are presented as well. The proposed transport properties may be beneficial to understand the transport mechanisms of branching structures and promote the applications of treelike networks in engineering and industry.

scholarly journals Fabrication Techniques for Graphene Oxide-Based Molecular Separation Membranes: Towards Industrial Application

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 757
Author(s):  
Ohchan Kwon ◽  
Yunkyu Choi ◽  
Eunji Choi ◽  
Minsu Kim ◽  
Yun Chul Woo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Graphene Oxide ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Spray Coating ◽  
Dip Coating ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Scale Production ◽  
Separation Membranes ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Slot Die ◽  
Continuous Fabrication

Graphene oxide (GO) has been a prized material for fabricating separation membranes due to its immense potential and unique chemistry. Despite the academic focus on GO, the adoption of GO membranes in industry remains elusive. One of the challenges at hand for commercializing GO membranes lies with large-scale production techniques. Fortunately, emerging studies have acknowledged this issue, where many have aimed to deliver insights into scalable approaches showing potential to be employed in the commercial domain. The current review highlights eight physical methods for GO membrane fabrication. Based on batch-unit or continuous fabrication, we have further classified the techniques into five small-scale (vacuum filtration, pressure-assisted filtration, spin coating, dip coating, drop-casting) and three large-scale (spray coating, bar/doctor blade coating, slot die coating) approaches. The continuous nature of the large-scale approach implies that the GO membranes prepared by this method are less restricted by the equipment’s dimensions but rather the availability of the material, whereas membranes yielded by small-scale methods are predominately limited by the size of the fabrication device. The current review aims to serve as an initial reference to provide a technical overview of preparing GO membranes. We further aim to shift the focus of the audience towards scalable processes and their prospect, which will facilitate the commercialization of GO membranes.

scholarly journals Towards Upscaling of La5.5WO11.25−δ Manufacture for Plasma Spraying-Thin Film Coated Hydrogen Permeable Membranes

Membranes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 192
Author(s):  
Sonia Escolástico ◽  
Cecilia Solís ◽  
Antonio Comite ◽  
Fiorenza Azzurri ◽  
Malko Gindrat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Transport Properties ◽  
Spray Drying ◽  
Plasma Spraying ◽  
Hydrogen Permeation ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Separation Membranes ◽  
Operation Conditions ◽  
Thin Membranes ◽  
Ceramic Fuel Cells

Lanthanum tungstate (La6WO12) is a promising material for the development of hydrogen separation membranes, proton ceramic electrolyzer cells and protonic ceramic fuel cells due to its interesting transport properties and stability under different operation conditions. In order to improve the hydrogen transport through the La6WO12 membranes, thin membranes should be manufactured. This work is based on the industrial production of La5.5WO11.25−δ (LWO) powder by spray drying and the manufacturing of thin membranes by low-pressure plasma spraying (LPPS-TF) technique. LPPS-TF allows the production of dense thin films of high quality in an industrial scale. The powders produced by spray drying were morphological and electrochemically characterized. Hydrogen permeation fluxes of a membrane manufactured with these powders were evaluated and fluxes are similar to those reported previously for LWO powder produced in the lab scale. Finally, the transport properties of LWO thin films deposited on Al2O3 indicate that LPPS-TF produces high-quality LWO films with potential for integration in different applications.

scholarly journals Research progress of carbon-assisted etching of silicon nanostructures

2021 ◽  
Vol 2076 (1) ◽  
pp. 012060
Author(s):  
Xiaoyu Yang ◽  
Ling Tong ◽  
Lin Wu ◽  
Baoguo Zhang ◽  
Zhiyuan Liao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Development Trend ◽  
Research Progress ◽  
Silicon Nanostructures ◽  
Storage Devices ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
Energy Conversion And Storage ◽  
Silicon Based

Abstract Silicon nanostructures are attracting growing attention due to their properties and promising application prospects in solar energy conversion and storage devices, thermoelectric devices, lithium-ion batteries, and biosensing technologies. The large-scale and low-cost preparation of silicon nanostructures is critical for silicon-based advanced functional devices commercialization. In this paper, the feasibility and mechanism of silicon nanostructure fabricated by non-metallic carbon catalytic etching, as well as the currently existing problems and future development trend are reviewed.

scholarly journals A radical polymer for highly efficient solar evaporation and gas separation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Liu ◽  
Ming Yang ◽  
Jing Liu ◽  
Meijia Yang ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Separation ◽  
Membrane Separation ◽  
Hydrogen Separation ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
Separation Processes ◽  
Highly Efficient ◽  
Separation Membranes ◽  
Gas Separation Membranes ◽  
Transport Channels ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The unique magnetic, electronic and optical features derived from their unpaired electrons have made radical polymers an attractive material platform for various applications. Here, we report solution-processable radical polymer membranes with multi-level porosities and study the impact of free radicals on important membrane separation processes including solar vapor generation, hydrogen separation and CO2 capture. The radical polymer is a supreme light absorber over the full solar irradiation range with sufficient water transport channels, leading to a highly efficient solar evaporation membrane. In addition, the radical polymer with micropores and adjustable functional groups are broad-spectrum gas separation membranes for both hydrogen separation and CO2 capture. First principle calculations indicate that the conjugated polymeric network bearing radicals is more chemically reactive with CO2, compared with H2, N2 and CH4. This is evidenced by a high CO2 permeability in gas separation membranes made of the conjugated radical polymer.

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