U.S.-Korea Cooperative Research: Non-Circular Mesoporous Carbon Fibers for the Absorption of Toxins

该奖项支持继续开展合作活动，为克莱姆森大学高级工程纤维和薄膜中心正在进行的研究提供国际层面的支持，克莱姆森大学高级工程纤维和薄膜中心是由NSF资助的工程研究中心。美国首席调查员是中心主任丹·伊迪教授。合作伙伴是Seung Ryu教授，他领导着韩国大田忠南国立大学新材料大学产业联合研究所的一个研究小组。该小组是韩国领先的碳材料研究小组，在国际上享有很高的声誉。该美国中心作为美国领先的碳纤维研究机构长期享有声誉。他们之前的成功合作产生了生产含有中孔的活性碳纤维的实用方法。这些在工业吸附过程中具有很大的前景。合作小组现在将制造不同孔径和不同颗粒大小的金属夹杂物的中孔纤维过滤器，然后在关键的消费和国防应用中测试和比较新类别的活化纤维。这项研究将需要许多步骤，从生产沥青前体(韩国的一种特产)开始，两个小组的不同专业知识和资源将使他们能够以高效的方式分担这项工作的责任。其中一些研究步骤将并行进行，以期对两组参与的学生产生教育价值。这项研究项目的更广泛影响是工业、环境和教育。活性碳纤维具有高吸附速率、易合成、用途广泛等特点。然而，目前使用的那些几乎全是微孔(直径小于2纳米)，这使得它们无法捕获大分子化学品，如杀虫剂或硝酸盐和硫酸盐。此外，它们的密度可能会导致很快被堵塞，因此需要频繁更换。这项合作研究涉及一类新的过滤器，具有更大的、相互连接的“中孔”(直径为2至50 nm)，可为更广泛的应用提供各种改进的特性。这些措施包括去除水中的残余氯、空气中的杀虫剂和其他毒素，以及减少工业过程中的各种污染物进入环境。最后，该联合项目将为克莱姆森大学的五名美国本科生和研究生提供在韩国的国际研究经验，同时通过韩国研究生和博士后研究员的长期访问，继续使美国中心的所有研究人员和学生受益。

0323859EdieThis award supports continuation of cooperative activities that provide an international dimension to the ongoing research at the Center for Advanced Engineering Fibers and Films at Clemson University, an Engineering Research Center funded by NSF. The US principal investigator is the Center Director, Professor Dan Edie. The collaborating partner is Professor Seung Ryu, who directs a research group at the University Industry Joint Institute for New Materials at Chungnam National University in Taejon, Korea. This group is the leading carbon materials research group in Korea and is highly regarded internationally. The US center has a longstanding reputation as the leading carbon fiber research group in the U.S. Their successful prior collaboration resulted in practical methods for producing mesopore-containing activated carbon fibers. These hold great promise in industrial adsorption processes. The collaborating groups now will create mesopore fiber filters of different pore sizes and with metallic inclusions of different particle size, then test and compare the new class of activated fibers in critical consumer and defense applications. This research will require many steps, beginning with production of the pitch precursor (a Korean specialty), and the diverse expertise and resources of the two groups will enable them to share the responsibilities for this work in a highly efficient way. Some of the research steps will be carried out in parallel for the educational value to the participating students in the two groups. The broader impacts of this research project are industrial, environmental and educational. Activated carbon fibers have high adsorption rates, are easy to synthesize and have a wide variety of uses. However those currently in use contain almost entirely micropores (less than 2 nm in diameter) which makes them useless for trapping large molecular chemicals such as pesticides or nitrates and sulfates. Furthermore, their density can lead to becoming plugged up quickly, making frequent replacement necessary. This collaborative research involves a new class of filters with larger, interconnecting "mesopores" (2 to 50 nm in diameter) that offer a variety of improved characteristics for wider applications. These include removing residual chlorine from water, pesticides and other toxins from air, and reducing the escape into the environment of various contaminants from industrial processes. Finally, the joint project will provide international research experience in Korea to five US undergraduate and graduate students from Clemson University, while continuing to benefit all the researchers and students at the US Center through extended visits by Korean graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.