Microscopy studies were performed over a series of metal-organic-framework (MOF) imbedded electrospun fibers. Analysis of as-spun fibers revealed five different MOF particle-fiber imbedded morphologies including complete particle encasement, over-filled, surface-bound, welded, and agglomerated. To mitigate issues with fiber breakup during electrospinning (ES) due to MOF particle incorporation, secondary growth method was used. Secondary growth was performed on both Matrimid and polysulfone fibers impregnated with a MOF, ZIF-8, in either water or methanol solvents. Results show that when water was used, crystal formation was limited to formation on the top layer of the fiber mat due to hydrophobicity. When methanol was used in place of water, MOF crystal growth occurred in a patchwise manner, where crystals grow across fibers and span the entire fiber mat. From this work, it was determined that successful secondary growth of MOF imbedded electrospun fibers can be accomplished when particles are either highly exposed along the fiber surface for adequate exposure to solvent, or the solvent used promotes reactant penetration into the polymer to allow access to the seeded MOF crystals.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and prevention, at least 2 million people in the United States become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of those infections. One alternative to traditional antibiotics is bacteriophage (phage) therapy. Phage therapy utilizes bacteria-specific viruses to infect and kill bacteria cells. The specificity of these viruses is beneficial in that phage used for therapeutic purposes do not harm the human microbiota, nor do phage infect eukaryotic cells. It has been discovered that iron-doped apatite nanoparticles (IDANPs) significantly enhance phage killing of bacteria cells. The biocompatibility of apatite, coupled with its effectiveness as an adjuvant to enhance an alternative antibiotic therapy, makes it of interest for medical applications. Previously, researchers have encased phage in a microfluidic channel in coaxially electrospun fibers, allowing phage to remain viable after several weeks storage at 4 °C. Here, we have constructed a polymer fiber layer using electrospinning (ES) for delivery of IDANP adjuvants to compliment phage treatment delivery fibers. The IDANP delivery layer constructed is composed of polyethylene oxide (PEO) doped with the nanoparticles. When compared to media-only and IDANP-only controls, results show IDANPs delivered through a PEO fiber mesh remain effective at enhancement of phage infectivity.

The increasing demand for energy storage devices has propelled research for developing efficient super-capacitors (SC) with long cycle life and ultrahigh energy density. Carbon-based materials are commonly used as electrode materials for SC. Herein, we report a new approach to improve the SC performance utilizing a Porous Carbon/Cerium Oxide nanoparticle (PC-CON) hybrid as electrode material synthesized via a low temperature hydrothermal method. Through this approach, charges can be stored not only via electrochemical double layer capacitance (EDLC) from PC but also through pseudo-capacitive effect from CeO2 nanoparticles (NPs). The electrode-electrolyte interaction due to the electrochemical properties of the electrolyte provides an enhanced voltage window for the SC. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) measurements were used for the characterization of this PC/CeO2 hybrid material system. The testing results have shown that a maximum of 500% higher specific capacitance could be obtained using PC/CeO2 instead of using PC only.

This work explores responsive hydrophilic polymers for convergent functions of climate control with architectural material systems. In buildings, the transition across exterior and interior space occurs through the envelope, which is an enclosure system that mediates heat, light, air and moisture transfer functions. Conventional building envelopes are typically constructed to form a barrier that insulates and hermetically separates outdoor and indoor conditions. The dynamic environmental responses of superporous intelligent hydrogels are shown to be beneficial at the interior layer of a double-skin glazing system for building envelope applications. If the hydrogels are integral to the building envelope system, then various environmental functions (such as natural daylighting, heat transfer, airflow and moisture control) can be achieved through integrated actuators to result in improved building energy performance.

The composite embodiments emulate bio-analytical functions when embedded microbore-tube water channels serve as actuators for swelling and deswelling kinetics respectively. Each prototype is conceived in response to hot-arid climate contexts. The prototype presented here is a lightweight ventilation cooling and daylighting system. Initial prototypes are inserted into an environmental test-bed that is consequently divided into two chambers to represent an outdoor and indoor condition. The input chamber includes controllable heat and light elements that affect the dynamics of the hydrogel system. The output chamber on the opposite side of the prototype division includes temperature, humidity and photo sensors that are connected to an Arduino board for data collection. Dependent upon the environmental conditions of chamber two, a control program actuates small hydro-pump to saturate the gels with water.

The initial results provide correlations between mechanical (elasticity) and thermal (conductivity) properties. Current work in progress includes documentation of average rates for sorption-desorption kinetics and correlations between saturation loading and visible transmittance. The physical test data will also be integrated into building-scale energy performance simulations and hygrothermal transfer numerical analysis for building envelope compositions. The embedded material logic of the hydrogel is exploited in an architectural configuration for a convergence of prior building mechanical system and building envelope functions. The current work demonstrates a highly promising application of soft-skin membranes for much needed reductions in energy consumption within the building sector.

In this study, a novel technique has been developed for the fabrication of uniform, stable, and strongly bonded graphene layers on microporous ceramic membranes. A composite ceramic-LIG membrane was obtained following one step scalable methodology. First, the ceramic support was spin-coated with poly (pyromellitic dianhydrideco-4,4´-oxidianiline, amic acid) (PMDA-ODA) and transformed to polyimide (PI) by thermal imidization. The PI was then irradiated with a CO2 laser to photothermally convert the sp3-carbon atoms to sp2-carbon atoms. Different PMDA-ODA layers were applied to achieve uniform coating by LIG on the membrane surface. The LIG was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and contact angle (CA) measurements. FTIR results showed a complete conversion of PMDA-ODA to PI following the thermal imidization reaction. The XRD results revealed the crystalline structure of graphene layer, which had a surface area of 130 ± 5.6 m2/g, determined by BET nitrogen adsorption. However, the permeability of uncoated ceramic membranes decreased with increasing number of PMDA-ODA layers, as evidenced by the clean water filtration experiments. The new composite membrane is a promising new material for membrane distillation or electro osmosis, where the hydrophobicity of the graphene layer may provide important advantages over current membrane materials.

Thin films of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown promising for applications such as gas separation, gas storage, optoelectronics or sensing. However, synthesis of polycrystalline MOF films and membranes depends largely on the surface properties of supports, limiting the availability of common supports. It is, therefore, highly desirable to develop ways to modify the surface properties of common supports for the preferred heterogeneous nucleation of the MOFs. Here, we demonstrated that graphene-oxide (GO) can be exploited to readily modify the surface properties of common supports, thereby leading to well inter-grown polycrystalline MOF films. A prototypical zeolitic-imidazolate framework ZIF-8 was chosen as a model MOF system. The stabilization of GO layers with divalent metal ions was found a key step to synthesize well inter-grown ZIF-8 films. The effect of divalent metal ions on the stability of GO layers and the quality of the resulting ZIF-8 films were systematically investigated. Finally, the single gas permeation behaviors of the ZIF-8 films grown on GO-modified supports were tested.

Novel high flux polyethersulfone (PES) ultrafiltration membranes were fabricated by incorporating different amounts of graphene oxide (GO) sheets to PES as nanofillers. The membranes were prepared from solutions in 50/50 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium-diethylphosphate/N,N-dimethyl formamide. It was observed that the water permeance increased from 550 to 800 L m-2h-1bar-1, with incorporation of 1 wt% GO, keeping a molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of approximately 32-34 kg mol-1. Cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy images of GO/PES membranes showed the formation of ultrathin selective layer unlike pristine membranes. Contact angle measurements confirmed the increase of hydrophilicity, by increasing the GO concentration. The rejection of humic acid and bovine serum albumin was demonstrated. The mechanical properties were improved, compared with the pristine membranes. The performance was just above the trade-off relationship between permeance and separation factor for PES membranes reported in the literature.