ABSTRACT
Chitosan-capped silver nanoparticle (CS-capped AgNPs)-incorporated Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hybrid membranes were prepared by a solution-casting technique for ethanol dehydration via pervaporation. The incorporation of CS-capped AgNPs into the PVA membrane and its influence on membrane properties and pervaporation-separation process of azeotropic water/ethanol mixture was studied. The addition of CS-capped AgNPs into the PVA membrane reduced the crystallinity, thereby increasing the hydrophilicity and swelling degree of the hybrid membrane, supported by contact angle (CA) analyzer and swelling degree experiments, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) demonstrated the formation of polymeric matrix between PVA and CS and also the binding of AgNPs onto the functional group of CS and PVA, which was also reflected in the microstructure images demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and by 2θ angle of wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). The effect of CS-capped AgNPs on the thermal stability of the hybrid membrane was demonstrated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). These characteristics of the hybrid membrane positively impact the efficiency of the dehydration of ethanol, as indicated by pervaporation experiments. The best performances in total flux (12.40 ± 0.20 × 10-2 kg/m2 h) and selectivity (3612.33 ± 6.03) at 30 °C were shown for CS-capped AgNPs PVA hybrid membrane containing 2 wt.% CS-capped AgNPs (M-4). This confirms that the developed hybrid membranes can be efficiently used to separate water from azeotropic aqueous ethanol.
ABSTRACT
The output of the latent heat storage devices (LHSDs), based on some phase change materials (PCMs), depends upon the thermophysical properties of the phase change material used. In this study, a paraffin-based nanofluid, blended with aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles, is used as PCM for performance evaluation. A three-dimensional (3D) numerical model of regenerative type shell-and-tube LHSD is prepared using COMSOL Multiphysics® 4.3a software to estimate the percentage of melt and the average temperature of the analyzed nanofluids. The results of this study are in close agreement with those reported in the literature, thereby ensuring the validation of the numerically predicted results. The effects of adding the nanoparticles on the rate of melting, as well as solidification and rate of stored/liberated energy, are studied. The results revealed that, by adding 10% nanoparticles of Al2O3, the melting rate of pure-paraffin-based LHSD improved by about 2.25 times. In addition, the rate of solidification was enhanced by 1.8 times. On the other hand, the heat of fusion and specific heat capacities were reduced, which, in turn, reduced the latent and sensible heat-storing capabilities. From the outcomes of the present research, it can be inferred that combining LHSD with a solar water heater may be used in technologies such as biogas generation.
