RUI: Wet Printing of Carbon Nanotube-Enhanced Osmosis Membranes for Water Desalination

CBET-1510207张卡尔理工大学拟议的研究使用纳米技术重新设计渗透膜，以实现经济高效的海水淡化和水的净化。特别是，提出了一种基于溶液的印刷技术来制备大面积垂直排列的碳纳米管渗透膜。对结构-加工-性能关系的系统分析将为新型多功能纳米材料的优化提供基础。由这一概念推动的变革性研究将有可能从根本上改变目前对新的水处理技术的科学理解，以满足能源有限地区的水资源需求。这项建议的教育影响包括开发新的本科课程以加强学生？终身学习的愿望。包括代表性不足的学生和女性在内的大量本科生将接受化学、物理、材料和工程方面的多学科培训。外展活动将以当地的K-12学生和教师为目标。本项目的研究目的是开发简便的丝网印刷系统，用于从液晶溶液中大规模生产纳米增强的有序渗透膜。目标渗透膜由垂直排列的碳纳米管在聚合物基质中组成。碳纳米管将分散在可聚合表面活性剂的液晶中，作为定向模板在表面活性剂胶束核心中组织纳米管。与纳米管分散体的流变性有关的油墨印刷适性将被系统地评估。在丝网印刷过程中，垂直剪切流将允许表面活性剂包裹的纳米管重新定向，在衬底上形成垂直排列的纳米结构，然后这些纳米结构将被光聚合成排列的纳米管-聚合物复合材料。最后，多孔聚酰胺将被加入到定向纳米管复合材料中，以制备纳米增强的有序渗透膜。这种有序的纳米结构将使快速水通量最大化，并将垂直排列的碳纳米管分子通道中的生物污垢降至最低。

CBET-1510207ZhangCal Poly St UnivThe proposed research uses nanotechnology to redesign osmosis membranes for cost-effective desalination and purification of water. In particular, a solution-based printing technique is proposed to fabricate large-area, vertically-aligned carbon nanotube-based osmosis membranes. A systematic analysis of the structure-processing-property correlations will provide a foundation for the optimization of new multifunctional nanomaterials. The transformative research driven by this concept will have the potential to radically change current scientific understanding on new water treatment technologies to meet water resource needs in energy-constrained areas. The educational impacts of this proposal include the development of new undergraduate curricula to strengthen students? desire for lifelong learning. A large number of undergraduate students, including under-represented students and women, will receive the multidisciplinary training on chemistry, physics, materials and engineering. The outreach activities will target local K-12 students and teachers. The research in this project is aimed to develop facile screen-printing systems for massive production of nano-enhanced, ordered osmosis membranes from liquid crystalline solutions. The target osmosis membranes consist of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes in the polymer matrix. Carbon nanotubes will be dispersed in liquid crystals of polymerizable surfactants that serve as an orientation template to organize nanotubes in the surfactant micellar cores. The ink printability in relation to the rheology of nanotube dispersions will be evaluated systematically. During screen-printing, the vertical shear flow will allow surfactant wrapped nanotubes to reorient themselves to form vertically aligned nanostructures on the substrate, which will be subsequently photo-polymerized into aligned nanotube-polymer composites. Finally, the porous polyamide will be incorporated into aligned nanotube composites to produce nano-enhanced, ordered osmosis membranes. Such ordered nanostructures will maximize fast water flux and minimize biofouling in molecular channels of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes.