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ELECTROSTATICALLY ACTIVE AEROGELS FOR AIR FILTRATION AND SYNTHESIS OF SYNDIOTATIC POLYSTYRENE AEROGEL MICROPARTICLES

Ji, Shuxin
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1497454993387357

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Science, University of Akron, Polymer Engineering.
Syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) aerogels present low bulk density, high surface area, and high porosity. This work focused on functionalization of sPS aerogels for the purposes of high efficiency airborne nanoparticle filtration and conversion into microparticles using oil-in-water emulsion technique. In the first part, filtration performance of electrostatically active sPS aerogels was investigated. sPS gel was made in advance and soaked into a hydrolyzed TEOS solution for 24 hours. TEOS in sPS gel was then allowed to condense under a basic condition. (3,3,3-trifluoropropyl) silane was used to modify silica and to introduce electrostatic charge into the aerogel sample. The resultant aerogels had high filtration efficiency (up to 99.999%) with at most 15% permeability loss compared to unmodified sPS aerogels with filtration efficiency of 98.889%. Scanning electron microscope images showed that silica, due to low concentration, only formed clusters attached to styrene polymer strands instead of forming a continuous network. The morphology of silica component explained the small loss of permeability. The strong IR peaks of Si-O-Si bonds were found in modified samples. The intensity of C-F bond peak had a positive relationship with SiF3 concentration. The modified specimens showed significant electrostatic charge. Nitrogen and carbon dioxide adsorption isotherms were used to measure the surface area and pore size distribution. Surface area increased with the addition of SiF3, as well as mesopores, which could be the consequence of extra condensation reaction involving SiF3. In the second part, sPS aerogel microparticles were made via an oil-in-water emulsion process. This work sought to explore the feasibility of generation aerogel iv microparticles using a thermos-reversible mechanism. Several good solvents of sPS were used as the dispersed phase and for the final sPS solvent selection, a mixture of chloroform and toluene was found to be optimum. The effect of various emulsion process on the particle size distribution was investigated. The SEM images showed a dense skin layer covering the microparticles, which contributed to more mesopores in the microparticles. The internal part of the microparticles was similar to that of the monolithic aerogels. There was no obvious difference in surface area between the aerogel monolith and the aerogel microparticles.
Sadhan Jana (Advisor)
Xiong Gong (Committee Chair)
Alamgir Karim (Committee Member)
87 p.
Chemical Engineering
Aerogel, Air Filtration, Microparticles

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ji, S. (2017). ELECTROSTATICALLY ACTIVE AEROGELS FOR AIR FILTRATION AND SYNTHESIS OF SYNDIOTATIC POLYSTYRENE AEROGEL MICROPARTICLES [Master's thesis, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1497454993387357

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ji, Shuxin. ELECTROSTATICALLY ACTIVE AEROGELS FOR AIR FILTRATION AND SYNTHESIS OF SYNDIOTATIC POLYSTYRENE AEROGEL MICROPARTICLES. 2017. University of Akron, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1497454993387357.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ji, Shuxin. "ELECTROSTATICALLY ACTIVE AEROGELS FOR AIR FILTRATION AND SYNTHESIS OF SYNDIOTATIC POLYSTYRENE AEROGEL MICROPARTICLES." Master's thesis, University of Akron, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1497454993387357

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.