Manufacturing of Silicon Ceramic Membranes via One-Pot Deposition and Pyrolysis of Preceramic Polymers for Water Treatment and Hydrogen Separation.

这笔赠款支持开发用于能源应用的膜的研究。增加能源的可获得性对推动美国经济非常重要。随着能源需求的持续增长，氢气越来越被认为是发动机、涡轮机和燃料电池的一种可行的替代能源。要使这成为一个现实的选择，氢必须与其他气体有效分离，因此，制造能够在高温和高压下运行的坚固的无机陶瓷膜至关重要。目前制造这些膜的方法成本高、耗时长，而且会产生有毒废物。该奖项支持基础研究，该研究导致开发无溶剂、一锅或一步制造工艺，以制造用于氢分离的无机膜。这一新的制造工艺导致了一种更具成本效益和环境友好的方式来提供清洁能源，从而带来国家繁荣和安全。该奖项通过对K-12学生和本科生研究人员的指导来支持未来科学家和工程师的教育。这种制造技术还可以导致用于其他应用的膜的开发，例如净水。开发了演示膜用于净水的动手模块，以教育初中生了解世界许多地区缺乏清洁水的问题。传统的无机膜制造工艺需要多个步骤和有机溶剂，导致成本较高和有毒废物。这项研究获得了科学见解，使无溶剂、一锅法制造无机膜的发展成为可能。陶瓷前聚合物是在反应器中使用无溶剂工艺沉积的，该工艺需要非常低的能量和温和的反应器条件，并使用广泛的单体来生成各种聚合物薄膜。在大孔碳化硅载体上沉积致密、薄的聚合物层是创建高质量纳米多孔陶瓷膜的理想选择，可实现高效的氢分离。在聚合物沉积之前，在载体上放置本身作为陶瓷前驱体的低蒸气压液体阻挡层，以防止单体渗透到载体中，从而避免对所得膜的渗透特性产生负面影响。这些薄膜的热解是在同一个反应器中进行的，因此是一锅制得可靠的陶瓷膜，污染风险较低。这项研究对热解过程中键的断裂和形成有了深入的了解。实验工作与多尺度模型研究相结合，以了解基本的反应和传输过程。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This grant supports research toward the development of membranes for energy applications. Increasing access to energy sources is very important for advancing the U.S. economy. As the demand for energy continues to increase, hydrogen has been increasingly considered as a viable alternative energy source for engines, turbines and fuel cells. To make this a realistic option, hydrogen must be efficiently separated from other gases and, therefore, it is crucial to manufacture robust inorganic ceramic membranes that can operate at high temperatures and pressures. Current methods to fabricate these membranes are costly, time-consuming and produce toxic waste. This award supports fundamental research that leads to the development of a solvent-free, one-pot or single step manufacturing process to fabricate inorganic membranes for hydrogen separation. This new manufacturing process leads to a more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly way to provide clean energy sources, which leads to national prosperity and security. This award supports the education of future scientists and engineers through outreach to K-12 students and mentorship of undergraduate researchers. This manufacturing technology can also lead to the development of membranes for other applications such as water purification. Hands-on modules demonstrating the use of membranes for water purification are developed to educate middle and high school students on the lack of access to clean water in many parts of the world.Traditional processes for making inorganic membranes require multiple steps and organic solvents, leading to higher cost and toxic waste. This research gains scientific insights that allow for the development of solventless, one-pot manufacturing of inorganic membranes. Pre-ceramic polymers are deposited in a reactor using a solvent-free process that requires very low energy and mild reactor conditions and employs a broad range of monomers to generate a variety of polymer films. Deposition of a dense, thin polymer layer on top of a macroporous silicon carbide support is ideal for creating high-quality nanoporous ceramic membranes for efficient hydrogen separation. A low vapor pressure liquid barrier layer, which itself serves as a ceramic precursor, is placed on the support before polymer deposition in order to prevent infiltration of the monomer into the support and thus avoid negatively impacting the permeation characteristics of the resulting membrane. Pyrolysis of these films is conducted in the same reactor, hence one-pot, to produce reliable ceramic membranes with lower risk of contamination. The research generates understanding of mechanistic insights on bond cleavage and formation during pyrolysis. Experimental efforts are coupled to multi-scale modeling studies to understand the fundamental reaction and transport processes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.