3-d printing of patterned membranes opens door to rapid advances in membrane technology

Ion exchange membranes are used in many kinds of strength programs, inclusive of gas cells and certain batteries, in addition to in water purification, desalination, removal of heavy metals and food processing. maximum ion change membranes are skinny, flat sheets just like the plastic wrap in your kitchen drawer. but, current paintings has proven that by creating 3-d patterns on pinnacle of the second membrane surface, thrilling hydrodynamic properties emerge which could improve ion transport or mitigate fouling, a critical problem in many membrane programs.

presently, making those patterned membranes, additionally known as profiled membranes, entails a hard method of etching a silicon mould with the favored sample, pouring in the polymer and waiting until it hardens. The procedure is each time-consuming and highly-priced, and consequences in a unmarried pattern kind.

“We thought if we may want to use 3-d printing to fabricate our custom-synthesized ion exchange membranes, we should make any form of sample and we ought to make it fast,” says Michael Hickner, companion professor of substances science and engineering at Penn country.

In a paper posted on line nowadays in the American Chemical Society’s journal ACS applied substances and Interfaces, Hickner’s team describes the improvement of a custom 3-d photolithographic printing manner comparable in idea to a present day 3D technique referred to as stereolithography. The group evolved a photocurable combination of ionic polymers and uncovered the combination underneath a mild projector to harden the base layer. They then delivered greater polymer to the bottom layer and projected a sample on the brand new fabric to selectively harden the floor. The floor pattern will increase the conductivity of the membrane by way of as an awful lot as a aspect of  or three.

“Membranes act like a resistor in a battery or fuel cellular,” says Hickner. “If you could lower the resistance via a element of two or three, you’ve sincerely got something beneficial.”

Lead author and a Ph.D. candidate in substances technological know-how and engineering, Jiho seo, added, "whilst surface patterned membranes have been studied formerly, that is the first 3-D printed instance of these structures and the first version that honestly explains the resistance decrease in a quantitative way. A easy parallel resistance model describes the effect of the sample on decreasing the resistance of those new membranes. This insight gives us a design device to retain to innovate and create new styles for in addition improvements in conjunction with changing the intrinsic chemistry of the cloth.”

The group will continue to optimize the geometry and chemistry of the membranes they print, as well as discover ways to print new materials, each for membranes and beyond, that have in no way been revealed heretofore.

“We want to bridge the fundamental chemistry and materials science that we do with the engineering and speedy layout iterations that the 3D printing enterprise is sincerely exact at,” Hickner concludes.

further to seo and Hickner, Douglas Kushner, Ph.D. student in materials technology and engineering, contributed to the paper titled “3-D Printing of Micro-patterned Anion trade Membranes.”