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Microfluidic Electrochemical Desalination using a Permselective Membrane
Taleb, Haya Mohammad
Taleb, Haya Mohammad
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35.232-2024.61a Haya Mohammad Taleb.pdf
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Description
A Master of Science thesis in Chemical Engineering by Haya Mohammad Taleb entitled, “Microfluidic Electrochemical Desalination using a Permselective Membrane”, submitted in December 2024. Thesis advisor is Dr. Naif Darwish. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).
Abstract
Water scarcity poses a formidable challenge around the world, especially in arid regions where limited availability of freshwater resources threatens both human well-being and ecosystem sustainability. Integrating microfluidics, electrochemistry, and desalination principles offers a promising solution to address water shortages through microfluidic electrochemical desalination. This thesis aims to conduct an experimental study on saline water desalination using modified ion-exchange membranes and electrodes integrated with a capacitive-based, electrochemical desalination unit. The membranes produced in this work were fabricated by electrospinning technique. Six different additives and nano-additives, i.e., graphene oxide (GO), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), zinc oxide (ZnO), activated carbon (AC), and zeolitic imidazolate metal organic framework (ZIF-8), were used to modify the functionality and selectivity of the prepared polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes. The physiochemical properties of the prepared membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Zeta potential, contact angle, conductivity, porosity, and pore size distribution. Additionally, silver electrodes were prepared by spray coating carbon cloth with silver nanoparticles. The crystalline structure and electrochemical performance of the electrodes were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. Based on the findings, PVDF/GO membrane exhibited superior results with an electrical conductivity of 5.611 mS/cm, an average pore size of 2.086 μm, and a surface charge of -38.33 mV. It also showed an outstanding desalination performance in terms of ion removal efficiency of 68%, salt adsorption capacity (SAC) of 775.40 mg/g, and specific energy consumption (SEC) of 16.17 kJ/mole, which are better than the corresponding results reported in literature.