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Explore the cutting-edge research on polymer membrane materials for various applications like water and blood purification, battery separators, and nutrition delivery. Current studies focus on pore size control, hollow fiber membrane spinning, performance modification, and biodegradable depth filter formation.
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D.R. Lloyd Group Overview • Materials Science • Polymer Materials • Polymer Membrane Materials • Formation and Modification of Membranes for: • Liquid Separations • Water purification • Blood purification • Battery Separators • Nutrition Delivery
Current Research (1) • Pore Size Control in Membrane Formation. • Modeling phase separation mechanism that leads to micro- and nano-porous structures. • Influence of physical properties (surface tension, viscosity, etc) on the kinetics of structure development and final pore size. • Modeling the late stages of membrane preparation (extraction and drying) as a means of controlling the final pore structure.
Current Research (2) • Hollow Fibre Membrane Spinning. • Theoretical and experimental investigation of the hollow fibre spinning process. The results of this study will be combined with the findings of the “Pore Size Control” studies to control the micro- and macro-structure of hollow fibre membranes.
Current Research (3) • Performance Modification via Stretching. • Stretching of membranes to manipulate the pore size characteristics (major axis, minor axis, aspect ratio, etc) of ultrafiltration and microfiltration membranes. The goal is to improve their performance (flux, rejection, fouling) in water treatment applications.
Current Research (4) • Biodegradable Depth Filter Formation. • Depth filters and microfiltration membranes are being developed from naturally occurring polymers that can be composted after their useful life. These membranes are of special interest in bio- and agro-separations applications.
Current Research (Summary) • All projects: • involve theoretical and experimental work. • allow you to apply and to expand your undergraduate transport phenomena, mathematics, materials science, and unit operations (separations processes). • involve interactions with industrial sponsors. • are fully funded.
Research Group • PhD Candidates • Holly Balasubramanian • Leah Worrel • Jason Morehouse • Two openings • Undergraduate Research Assistants • Cindy Smith • Ricky Villalobos
Research Partners • Bob Riley (Separation Systems Technology) • Chuck Moody (Bureau of Reclamation) • Desmond F. Lawler (Civil Engineering, UT) • Benny D. Freeman (ChE, UT) • G. Glenn Lipscomb (ChE, University of Toledo) • Akihiro Ariji (Toyobo Company, Japan) • Takaaki Tanaka (Niigata University, Japan) • Hideto Matsuyama (Kyoto Inst. of Tech, Japan) • Takuya Hasegawa (Asahi Kasei, Japan)
Research Sponsors • National Science Foundation: • Hollow Fibre Spinning. • UT Austin – Separations Research Program: • Pore Size Control in Membrane Formation. • US Army TACOM Program: • Forward Osmosis for Nutrient Delivery. • NWRI and ONR and AWWARF: • Performance Modification via Membrane Stretching. • Toyobo Company: • Pore Size Control in Membrane Formation.