Solution-processable polytriazoles from spirocyclic monomers for membrane-based hydrocarbon separations.

The thermal distillation of crude oil mixtures is an energy-intensive process, accounting for nearly 1% of global energy consumption. Membrane-based separations are an appealing alternative or tandem process to distillation due to intrinsic energy efficiency advantages. We developed a family of spirocyclic polytriazoles from structurally diverse monomers for membrane applications. The resulting polymers were prepared by a convenient step-growth method using copper-catalysed azide-alkyne cycloaddition, providing very fast reaction rates, high molecular weights and solubilities in common organic solvents and non-interconnected microporosity. Fractionation of whole Arabian light crude oil and atmospheric tower bottom feeds using these materials enriched the low-boiling-point components and removed trace heteroatom and metal impurities (comparable performance with the lighter feed as the commercial polyimide, Matrimid), demonstrating opportunities to reduce the energy cost of crude oil distillation with tandem membrane processes. Membrane-based molecular separation under these demanding conditions is made possible by high thermal stability and a moderate level of dynamic chain mobility, leading to transient interconnections between micropores, as revealed by the calculations of static and swollen pore structures.

N-Aryl-linked spirocyclic polymers for membrane separations of complex hydrocarbon mixtures.

The fractionation of crude-oil mixtures through distillation is a large-scale, energy-intensive process. Membrane materials can avoid phase changes in such mixtures and thereby reduce the energy intensity of these thermal separations. With this application in mind, we created spirocyclic polymers with N-aryl bonds that demonstrated noninterconnected microporosity in the absence of ladder linkages. The resulting glassy polymer membranes demonstrated nonthermal membrane fractionation of light crude oil through a combination of class- and size-based "sorting" of molecules. We observed an enrichment of molecules lighter than 170 daltons corresponding to a carbon number of 12 or a boiling point less than 200°C in the permeate. Such scalable, selective membranes offer potential for the hybridization of energy-efficient technology with conventional processes such as distillation.

Creation of Well-Defined "Mid-Sized" Micropores in Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes.

Carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes are candidates for the separation of organic molecules due to their stability, ability to be scaled at practical form factors, and the avoidance of expensive supports or complex multi-step fabrication processes. A critical challenge is the creation of "mid-range" (e.g., 5-9 Å) microstructures that allow for facile permeation of organic solvents and selection between similarly-sized guest molecules. Here, we create these microstructures via the pyrolysis of a microporous polymer (PIM-1) under low concentrations of hydrogen gas. The introduction of H2 inhibits aromatization of the decomposing polymer and ultimately results in the creation of a well-defined bimodal pore network that exhibits an ultramicropore size of 5.1 Å. The H2 assisted CMS dense membranes show a dramatic increase in p-xylene ideal permeability (≈15 times), with little loss in p-xylene/o-xylene selectivity (18.8 vs. 25.0) when compared to PIM-1 membranes pyrolyzed under a pure argon atmosphere. This approach is successfully extended to hollow fiber membranes operating in organic solvent reverse osmosis mode, highlighting the potential of this approach to be translated from the laboratory to the field.

The effects of synthesis method on the physical and chemical properties of dextran coated iron oxide nanoparticles.

Iron oxide nanoparticles coated with dextran were synthesized via four variations on the co-precipitation method. The methods ranged from in situ formation of the nanoparticles within the dextran solution to the adsorption of dextran to the nanoparticle surface following nucleation and extensive washing. The timing of the addition of dextran into the reaction mixture was found to greatly influence the physical and chemical properties of the magnetic nanoparticles. Batches of dextran coated iron oxide nanoparticles were synthesized by each method in triplicate, and the nanoparticles were further crosslinked with epichlorohydrin. The properties of the nanoparticles such as size, percentage of dextran coating, stability in solution, crystallinity, and magnetic properties were evaluated. The simultaneous semi-two-step method injected the reducing agent and the dextran solution into the reaction vessel at the same time. This method resulted in the greatest batch-to-batch reproducibility of nanoparticle properties and the least variation in nanoparticles synthesized in the same batch. The two-step method resulted in the greatest variation of the characteristics examined between batches. The one-step method was synthesized with both five grams and one gram of dextran to investigate the effects of solution viscosity on the resulting nanoparticle characteristics. The one-step method with five grams of dextran resulted in nanoparticles with significantly smaller crystal sizes (5.4 ± 1.9 nm) and lower specific adsorption rate (SAR) values (138.4 ± 13.6 W/g) in an alternating magnetic field (58 kA/m, 292 kHz). However, this method resulted in nanoparticles that were very stable in PBS over 12 hours, which is most likely due to the greater dextran coating (60.0 ± 2.7 weight percent). For comparison, the simultaneous semi-two-step method generated nanoparticles 179.2 ± 18.3 nm in diameter (crystal size 12.1 ± 0.2 nm) containing 18.3 ± 1.2 weight percent dextran with a SAR value of 321.1 ± 137.3 W/g.