A thermo-electrochemical reactive capture apparatus includes an anode and a cathode, wherein the anode includes a first catalyst, wherein the cathode includes a second catalyst, a porous ceramic support positioned between the anode and the cathode, an electrolyte mixture in pores of the ceramic support, and a steam flow system on an outer side of the cathode. The outer side of the cathode is opposite an inner side of the cathode and the inner side of the cathode is adjacent to the ceramic support. In addition, the electrolyte mixture is configured to be molten at a temperature below about 600° C.

A method for preparing a porous-polymer-modified metal carbon nanotube membrane includes: preparing an acidified carbon nanotube membrane; preparing a modification solution; heating the acidified carbon nanotube membrane in the modification solution and reacting to obtain a metal carbon nanotube membrane; conducting a polymerization reaction to obtain a crude polymer product; coating the metal carbon nanotube membrane with a polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (PEGDEG) solution; coating the metal carbon nanotube membrane with a porous polymer solution; and heating the metal carbon nanotube membrane to obtain the porous-polymer-modified metal carbon nanotube membrane. A porous-polymer-modified metal carbon nanotube membrane is prepared according to this method.

In accordance with an embodiment, a filter membrane is sealed with a sealing material prior to using the filter membrane to filter process fluids. The sealing material is a fluorine-based polymer or a polymer with a cross-linking group. Once the sealing material has been placed in contact with the filter membrane, a cross-linking reaction may be initiated using either physical or chemical processes to cross-link the sealing material and to seal the filter membrane within the sealing material, thereby separating the filter membrane from the process fluids, reducing or eliminating leaching of the filter membrane into the process fluid.

Electrospun poly(acrylic) acid (PAA)/poly(vinyl) alcohol PVA nanofibers and integrated filtration membranes generated therefrom are disclosed herein. The membranes are suitable for use in selectively removing heavy metals such as lead and cadmium from water. The surface of the nanofibers is preferably functionalized with one or more chelating agents. The membranes have a high removal efficiency and adsorption capacity with well-distributed hid-density heavy metal adsorption sites with strong binding affinities for targeted heavy metals.

An electrochemical compressor utilizes an anion conducting layer disposed between an anode and a cathode for transporting a working fluid. The working fluid may include carbon dioxide that is dissolved in water and is partially converted to carbonic acid that is equilibrium with bicarbonate anion. An electrical potential across the anode and cathode creates a pH gradient that drives the bicarbonate anion across the anion conducting layer to the cathode, wherein it is reformed into carbon dioxide. Therefore, carbon dioxide is pumped across the anion conducting layer. The compressor may be part of a refrigeration system that pumps the working fluid in a closed loop through a condenser and an evaporator.

The present inventive concept relates to a chemically modified anion exchange membrane and a method of preparing the same and, more particularly, an anion exchange membrane in which sulfonic acid groups in a perfluorinated sulfonic acid electrolyte membrane are substituted with anion conductive groups such as ammonium group, phosphonium group, imidazolium group, pyridinium group and sulfonium group, and a method of preparing an anion exchange membrane by chemically modifying sulfonic acid groups in a perfluorinated sulfonic acid electrolyte membrane.

Chemically inert, mechanically tough, cationic metallo-polyelectrolytes designed as durable anion-exchange membranes (AEMs) via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of cobaltocenium-containing cyclooctene with triazole as the only linker group, followed by backbone hydrogenation to provide a new class of AEMs with a polyethylene-like framework and alkaline-stable cobaltocenium cation for ion transport, which exhibit excellent thermal, chemical and mechanical stability, as well as high ion conductivity.

Polymer-based membranes and methods for fabricating membranes are described. The methods include forming a casting solution featuring a plurality of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles, a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based solvent, and a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-based modifying agent, dispersing the casting solution to form a first element, generating a plurality of active sites on a surface of the first element, and forming a polymer-based membrane by exposing the surface of the first element to a fluorosilane composition to form a fluorosilane layer on the surface, where the fluorosilane composition includes a silane compound having at least one alkyl substituent that includes between 9 and 21 fluorine atoms.

Polymer-based membranes and methods for fabricating membranes are described. The methods include forming a casting solution featuring a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based solvent and a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-based modifying agent, dispersing the casting solution to form a first element, generating a plurality of active sites on a surface of the first element, and forming a polymer-based membrane by exposing the surface of the first element to a fluorosilane composition to form a fluorosilane layer on the surface, where the fluorosilane composition includes a silane compound having at least one alkyl substituent that includes between 9 and 21 fluorine atoms.

A method of directed evolution for developing a membrane includes using a 3D protocol to simulate particle trajectories and determine the effect of intermolecular forces on particle capture performance during membrane filtration to determine the effectiveness of different candidate membranes in optimizing performance.