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Espinoza C, Díaz JC, Kitto D, Kim HK, Kamcev J. Bound Water Enhances the Ion Selectivity of Highly Charged Polymer Membranes. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2024; 16:45433-45446. [PMID: 39136307 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c07516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/15/2024]
Abstract
Electrochemical technologies for water treatment, resource recovery, energy generation, and energy storage rely on charged polymer membranes to selectively transport ions. With the rise of applications involving hypersaline brines, such as management of desalination brine or the recovery of ions from brines, there is an urgent need for membranes that can sustain high conductivity and selectivity under such challenging conditions. Current membranes are constrained by an inherent trade-off between conductivity and selectivity, alongside concerns regarding their high costs. Moreover, a gap in the fundamental understanding of ion transport within charged membranes at high salinities prevents the development of membranes that could meet these stringent requirements efficiently. Here, we present the synthesis of scalable, highly charged membranes that demonstrate high conductivity and selectivity while contacting 1 and 5 molal NaCl solutions. A detailed analysis of the membrane transport properties reveals that the high proportion of bound water in the membranes, enabled by the high charge content and hydrophilic structure of the polymers, enhances both the ion partitioning and diffusion selectivities of the membranes. These structure/property relationships derived from this study offer valuable guidance for designing next-generation membranes that simultaneously achieve exceptional conductivity and selectivity in high-salinity conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina Espinoza
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, North Campus Research Complex B28, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor 48109, Michigan, United States
| | - José C Díaz
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, North Campus Research Complex B28, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor 48109, Michigan, United States
| | - David Kitto
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, North Campus Research Complex B28, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor 48109, Michigan, United States
| | - Hyunjik K Kim
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, North Campus Research Complex B28, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor 48109, Michigan, United States
| | - Jovan Kamcev
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, North Campus Research Complex B28, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor 48109, Michigan, United States
- Macromolecular Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, North Campus Research Complex B28, 2800 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor 48109, Michigan, United States
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2
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Bannon SM, Geise GM. Application of the Born Model to Describe Salt Partitioning in Hydrated Polymers. ACS Macro Lett 2024; 13:515-520. [PMID: 38626397 PMCID: PMC11112736 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.4c00048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2024] [Revised: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/18/2024]
Abstract
The classic Born model can be used to predict salt partitioning properties observed in hydrated polymers, but there are often significant quantitative discrepancies between these predictions and the experimental data. Here, we use an updated version of the Born model, reformulated to account for the local environment and mesh size of a hydrated polymer, to describe previously published NaCl, KCl, and LiCl partitioning properties of model cross-linked poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate polymers. This reformulated Born model describes the influence of polymer structure (i.e., network mesh size and its relationship with water content) and external salt concentration on salt partitioning in the polymers with a significant improvement relative to the classic Born model. The updated model most effectively describes NaCl partitioning properties and provides an additional fundamental understanding of salt partitioning processes, for NaCl, KCl, and LiCl, in hydrated polymers that are of interest for a variety of environmental and biological applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean M. Bannon
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 385 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903, United States
| | - Geoffrey M. Geise
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 385 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903, United States
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3
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Zhang C, Sui H, Feng G, You M, Shi W, Meng J. Molecular Design of Hydrophilized Polyethersulfone to Enhance Water/Salt Selectivity. Macromolecules 2023. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Chenchen Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Heyu Sui
- Institute for New Energy Materials and Low Carbon Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China
| | - Guangli Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Meng You
- State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Wenxiong Shi
- Institute for New Energy Materials and Low Carbon Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China
| | - Jianqiang Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
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Kingsbury R, Hegde M, Wang J, Kusoglu A, You W, Coronell O. Tunable Anion Exchange Membrane Conductivity and Permselectivity via Non-Covalent, Hydrogen Bond Cross-Linking. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021; 13:52647-52658. [PMID: 34705410 PMCID: PMC9043033 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c15474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Ion exchange membranes (IEMs) are a key component of electrochemical processes that purify water, generate clean energy, and treat waste. Most conventional polymer IEMs are covalently cross-linked, which results in a challenging tradeoff relationship between two desirable properties─high permselectivity and high conductivity─in which one property cannot be changed without negatively affecting the other. In an attempt to overcome this limitation, in this work we synthesized a series of anion exchange membranes containing non-covalent cross-links formed by a hydrogen bond donor (methacrylic acid) and a hydrogen bond acceptor (dimethylacrylamide). We show that these monomers act synergistically to improve both membrane permselectivity and conductivity relative to a control membrane without non-covalent cross-links. Furthermore, we show that the hydrogen bond donor and acceptor loading can be used to tune permselectivity and conductivity relatively independently of one another, escaping the tradeoff observed in conventional membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan Kingsbury
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Maruti Hegde
- Department of Applied Physical Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Jingbo Wang
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Ahmet Kusoglu
- Energy Conversion Group, Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
| | - Wei You
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Orlando Coronell
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
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5
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Vondrasek B, Wen C, Cheng S, Riffle JS, Lesko JJ. On the Nature of Freezing/Melting Water in Ionic Polysulfones. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c00591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Britannia Vondrasek
- Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Chengyuan Wen
- Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
- Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
- Department of Physics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Shengfeng Cheng
- Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
- Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
- Department of Physics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Judy S. Riffle
- Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - John J. Lesko
- Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
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Chang K, Luo H, Bannon SM, Lin SY, Agata WAS, Geise GM. Methoxy groups increase water and decrease salt permeability properties of sulfonated polysulfone desalination membranes. J Memb Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2021.119298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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A Dopamine/Tannic-Acid-Based Co-Deposition Combined with Phytic Acid Modification to Enhance the Anti-Fouling Property of RO Membrane. MEMBRANES 2021; 11:membranes11050342. [PMID: 34066378 PMCID: PMC8148169 DOI: 10.3390/membranes11050342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Revised: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are widely used in the field of water treatment. However, there are inevitably various fouling problems during long-term use. Surface engineering of RO membranes, such as hydrophilic modification, has attracted broad attention for improving the anti-fouling performance. In this work, we constructed a green biomimetic composite modification layer on the surface of polyamide membranes using a dopamine (DA)/tannic acid (TA) co-deposited layer to bridge the polyamide surface and hydrophilic phytic acids (PhA). The DA/TA interlayer could firmly adhere to the RO membranes, reducing the aggregation of DA and providing abundant phenolic hydroxyl sites to graft PhA. Meanwhile, the anchored PhA molecule bearing six phosphate groups could effectively improve the superficial hydrophilicity. The membranes were characterized by the SEM, AFM, XPS, water contact angle test, and zeta potential test. After surface modification, the hydrophilicity, smoothness, and surface electronegativity were enhanced obviously. The flux and rejection of the virgin membrane were 76.05 L·m−2·h−1 and 97.32%, respectively. While the modified D2/T4-PhA membrane showed decent permeability with a water flux of 57.37 L·m−2·h−1 and a salt rejection of 98.29%. In the dynamic fouling test, the modified RO membranes demonstrated enhanced anti-fouling performance toward serum albumins (BSA), sodium alginates (SA), and dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromides (DTAB). In addition, the modified membrane showed excellent stability in the 40 h long-term test.
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Xu C, Chen Y. Understanding water and solute transport in thin film nanocomposite membranes by resistance-in-series theory combined with Monte Carlo simulation. J Memb Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2021.119106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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9
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Chang K, Luo H, Geise GM. Influence of Salt Concentration on Hydrated Polymer Relative Permittivity and State of Water Properties. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c02188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Chang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 102 Engineers’ Way, P.O.
Box 400741, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, United States
| | - Hongxi Luo
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 102 Engineers’ Way, P.O.
Box 400741, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, United States
| | - Geoffrey M. Geise
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 102 Engineers’ Way, P.O.
Box 400741, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, United States
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Dong X, Cao L, Si Y, Ding B, Deng H. Cellular Structured CNTs@SiO 2 Nanofibrous Aerogels with Vertically Aligned Vessels for Salt-Resistant Solar Desalination. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2020; 32:e1908269. [PMID: 32686159 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201908269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2019] [Revised: 06/12/2020] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
The emerging solar desalination technology is considered as one of the most promising strategies to ensure water security. However, with the proceeding of solar desalination, salt crystallization on the surface of solar evaporators caused by increasing salinity of seawater will result in a decrease in the evaporation rate. Thus, it is still challenging to fabricate solar evaporators with superior salt resistance. In this work, elastic ceramic-based nanofibrous aerogels with a cellular architecture are fabricated by the combination of electrospinning and fiber freeze-shaping technologies, which are composed of vertically aligned vessels and porous vessel walls. Under the action of convection and diffusion promoted by this unique cellular architecture, the aerogels exhibit a superior salt-resistance without any salt crystals on the surface of aerogels even in 20% brine and under 6-sun irradiation. Moreover, by virtue of the synergistic effect of the promising structure and light absorbance of carbon nanotubes, aerogels possess a high light absorbance of up to 98% and excellent evaporation performance achieving 1.50 kg m-2 h-1 under 1-sun irradiation. This work may provide a fascinating avenue for the desalination of seawater in a salt-resistance and efficient manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiangyang Dong
- Hubei International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Sustainable Resource and Energy, Hubei Key Laboratory of Biomass Resource Chemistry and Environmental Biotechnology, School of Resource and Environmental Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China
| | - Leitao Cao
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China
| | - Yang Si
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China
- Innovation Center for Textile Science and Technology, Donghua University, Shanghai, 200051, China
| | - Bin Ding
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China
- Innovation Center for Textile Science and Technology, Donghua University, Shanghai, 200051, China
| | - Hongbing Deng
- Hubei International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Sustainable Resource and Energy, Hubei Key Laboratory of Biomass Resource Chemistry and Environmental Biotechnology, School of Resource and Environmental Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China
- Innovation Center for Textile Science and Technology, Donghua University, Shanghai, 200051, China
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Luo H, Agata WAS, Geise GM. Connecting the Ion Separation Factor to the Sorption and Diffusion Selectivity of Ion Exchange Membranes. Ind Eng Chem Res 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.0c02457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hongxi Luo
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 102 Engineers’ Way, P.O.
Box 400741, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, United States
| | - Wendy-Angela Saringi Agata
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 102 Engineers’ Way, P.O.
Box 400741, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, United States
| | - Geoffrey M. Geise
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 102 Engineers’ Way, P.O.
Box 400741, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, United States
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12
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Comparison of water and salt transport properties of ion exchange, reverse osmosis, and nanofiltration membranes for desalination and energy applications. J Memb Sci 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2020.117998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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13
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Ji Y, Luo H, Geise GM. Effects of fixed charge group physicochemistry on anion exchange membrane permselectivity and ion transport. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2020; 22:7283-7293. [PMID: 32208480 DOI: 10.1039/d0cp00018c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the effects of polymer chemistry on membrane ion transport properties is critical for enabling efforts to design advanced highly permselective ion exchange membranes for water purification and energy applications. Here, the effects of fixed charge group type on anion exchange membrane (AEM) apparent permselectivity and ion transport properties were investigated using two crosslinked AEMs. The two AEMs, containing a similar acrylonitrile, styrene and divinyl benzene-based polymer backbone, had either trimethyl ammonium or 1,4-dimethyl imidazolium fixed charge groups. Membrane deswelling, apparent permselectivity and ion transport properties of the two AEMs were characterized using aqueous solutions of lithium chloride, sodium chloride, ammonium chloride, sodium bromide and sodium nitrate. Apparent permselectivity measurements revealed a minor influence of the fixed charge group type on apparent permselectivity. Further analysis of membrane swelling and ion sorption, however, suggests that less hydrophilic fixed charge groups more effectively exclude co-ions compared to more hydrophilic fixed charge groups. Analysis of ion diffusion properties suggest that ion and fixed charge group enthalpy of hydration properties influence ion transport, likely through a counter-ion condensation, ion pairing or binding mechanism. Interactions between fixed charge groups and counter-ions may be stronger if the enthalpy of hydration properties of the ion and fixed charge group are similar, and suppressed counter-ion diffusion was observed in this situation. In general, the hydration properties of the fixed charge group may be important for understanding how fixed charge group chemistry influences ion transport properties in anion exchange membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanyuan Ji
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 102 Engineers' Way, P. O. Box 400741, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
| | - Hongxi Luo
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 102 Engineers' Way, P. O. Box 400741, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
| | - Geoffrey M Geise
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 102 Engineers' Way, P. O. Box 400741, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
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Chang K, Geise GM. Dielectric Permittivity Properties of Hydrated Polymers: Measurement and Connection to Ion Transport Properties. Ind Eng Chem Res 2019. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.9b03950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Chang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 102 Engineers’ Way, P.O.
Box 400741, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, United States
| | - Geoffrey M. Geise
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Virginia, 102 Engineers’ Way, P.O.
Box 400741, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, United States
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