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Nanostructured Membranes for Health, Environment and Renewable Energy

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 7356

Special Issue Editor

European Institute of Membranes (IEM), University of Montpellier, 34090 Montpellier, France
Interests: atomic layer deposition; photocatalysis; electrospinning; nanomaterials; sensors; thin films
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Membranes can be defined as physical barriers allowing the selective transport of mass species. They have been established as an effective and commercially attractive option for separation and purification processes. Membranes have become widely used in many separation systems for gas or liquid purification/extraction, water treatment/desalination, catalytic reactors, and various environmental/recycling applications. They also play an essential role in various systems, such as batteries, sensors, fuel cells, electrolysers and barrier layers.

The aim of this Special Issue is to assemble high quality contributions on the synthesis, the modification, the characterization and the application of membranes. It will deal with the design of new nanostructured membranes by tuning the composition (polymeric, hybrid and ceramic membranes), the membrane microstructure (pore size, porous volume, pore distribution, connectivity and tortuosity), the membrane design (surface to volume ratio, hydrodynamics) as well as the surface modification (for both porous and dense membranes). The relation between these parameters, the physical–chemical properties as well as the permeability, the selectivity, the reactivity and the durability of these membranes will be explored. Novel applications in different fields will also be investigated.

Dr. Mikhael Bechelany
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Membrane
  • Thin film
  • Nanomaterial
  • Interface
  • Nanostructured material
  • Porous materials
  • Energy
  • Health
  • Environment

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 5424 KiB  
Article
Comparative Investigation of Activated Carbon Electrode and a Novel Activated Carbon/Graphene Oxide Composite Electrode for an Enhanced Capacitive Deionization
by Gbenro Folaranmi, Mikhael Bechelany, Philippe Sistat, Marc Cretin and Francois Zaviska
Materials 2020, 13(22), 5185; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13225185 - 17 Nov 2020
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 2587
Abstract
Capacitive deionization is an emerging brackish water desalination technology whose principle lies in the utilization of porous electrodes (activated carbon materials) to temporarily store ions. Improving the properties of carbon material used as electrodes have been the focus of recent research, as this [...] Read more.
Capacitive deionization is an emerging brackish water desalination technology whose principle lies in the utilization of porous electrodes (activated carbon materials) to temporarily store ions. Improving the properties of carbon material used as electrodes have been the focus of recent research, as this is beneficial for overall efficiency of this technology. Herein, we have synthesized a composite of activated carbon/graphene oxide electrodes by using a simple blending process in order to improve the hydrophilic property of activated carbon. Graphene oxide (GO) of different weight ratios was blended with commercial Activated carbon (AC) and out of all the composites, AC/GO-15 (15 wt.% of GO) exhibited the best electrochemical and salt adsorption performance in all operating conditions. The as prepared AC and AC/GO-x (x = 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt.% of GO) were characterized by cyclic voltammetry and their physical properties were also studied. The salt adsorption capacity (SAC) of AC/GO-15 at an operating window of 1.0 V is 5.70 mg/g with an average salt adsorption rate (ASAR) of 0.34 mg/g/min at a 400 mg/L salt initial concentration and has a capacitance of 75 F/g in comparison to AC with 3.74 mg/g of SAC, ASAR of 0.23 mg/g/min and a capacitance of 56 F/g at the same condition. This approach could pave a new way to produce a highly hydrophilic carbon based electrode material in CDI. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanostructured Membranes for Health, Environment and Renewable Energy)
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Review

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18 pages, 39827 KiB  
Review
Electrospun Nanofibers Applied to Dye Solar Sensitive Cells: A Review
by Jesse Gerardo López-Covarrubias, Laura Soto-Muñoz, Ana Leticia Iglesias and Luis Jesús Villarreal-Gómez
Materials 2019, 12(19), 3190; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12193190 - 29 Sep 2019
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4061
Abstract
In recent decades, there has been an increase in the research for the development and improvement of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), owing to their singular advantages such as greater efficiency in energy conversion and overall performance in adverse environmental conditions. Therefore, work [...] Read more.
In recent decades, there has been an increase in the research for the development and improvement of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), owing to their singular advantages such as greater efficiency in energy conversion and overall performance in adverse environmental conditions. Therefore, work is carried out to enhance the energy efficiency of the components of the DSSCs: photoanode, counter-electrode, electrolyte, and dye sensitizer layer. Electrospun nanofibers in particular, have showed to be a novel alternative as components in DSSCs, mainly for energy conversion and as collector materials due in part to their tridimensional structure, high contact surface area and conductivity. Moreover, the incorporation of metallic compounds into nanofibers is advantageously employed in the electrospinning technique, owing to their conductivity and optical properties. Therefore, the present work consists of a detailed recompilation of the use of electrospun nanofibers loaded with metallic compounds and their application in DSSCs. The functionality of the components of DSSCs, parameters and experimental conditions of electrospinning, such as the intrinsic aspects in the polymer solution, are discussed and applied to the photoanode, counter-electrode and electrolyte of the DSSC. Lastly, the use of the electrospinning technique in combination with the use of metallic compounds could provide a great approach for the developing of DSSCs, with superior efficiency, high stability and durability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanostructured Membranes for Health, Environment and Renewable Energy)
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