NER: Dendrimer-Filled Mesoporous Membranes for Environmentally Relevant Separations

摘要CTS-0102234大卫福特，得克萨斯州A M大学这个项目旨在合成和评价具有新型分层纳米结构的有机-无机杂化膜。 基本框架是介孔无机膜，平均孔径为2至20纳米。 这些膜用树枝状聚合物化学改性，作为超薄支撑膜或作为附着于内部多孔表面的填料。 树枝状聚合物是高度支化的单分散聚合物，尺寸从一到几十纳米;它们的高表面基团密度和可调化学允许人们创建对各种感兴趣的气相物质具有高度选择性的膜。 其他设计变量如孔径、树枝状聚合物尺寸和树枝状聚合物表面覆盖率允许进一步控制膜性能。 因此，这些独特的纳米结构提供了一定程度的同时控制化学和自由体积的膜，这是很难实现与纯聚合物或纯无机材料。该项目的目标是应用科学和工程概念在纳米尺度上创造膜的新的组成和结构。 这种膜可以进行对环境重要的分离，例如从空气中去除挥发性有机化合物，比现有技术更有效。 这将以更低的成本创造更清洁的环境。 此外，该项目为跨越学院（工程和科学）和学科（分离和合成有机化学）之间的界限的合作提供了绝佳的机会。

AbstractCTS-0102234David Ford, Texas A&M UniversityThis project seeks to synthesize and evaluate organic-inorganic hybrid membranes with a novel hierarchical nanostructure. The basic frameworks are mesoporous inorganic membranes with average pore sizes ranging from 2 to 20 nanometers. These membranes are chemically modified with dendrimers, either as ultra-thin supported films or as fillers that attach to the interior porous surfaces. Dendrimers are highly branched, monodisperse polymers with dimensions ranging from one to a few dozen nanometers; their high surface-group density and tunable chemistry allows one to create membranes that are highly selective for various gas-phase species of interest. Other design variables such as pore size, dendrimer size, and dendrimer surface coverage allow further control of membrane performance. Thus, these unique nano-architectures afford a degree of simultaneous control over both the chemistry and free volume of the membrane that is difficult to achieve with purely polymeric or purely inorganic materials.The goal of this project is to apply scientific and engineering concepts at the nanometer scale to create membranes of novel composition and structure. Such membranes can perform environmentally important separations, such as the removal of volatile organic compounds from air, more efficiently than current techniques. This will result in a cleaner environment at a lower cost. Furthermore, the project provides an excellent opportunity for a collaboration that crosses the boundaries between Colleges (Engineering and Science) and disciplines (separations and synthetic organic chemistry).