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Membranes
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Advanced Membranes for Energy and Environment: Synthesis and Characterization
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Advanced Membranes for Energy and Environment: Synthesis and Characterization

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Analysis and Characterization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 6173

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Claudia Triolo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil, Energy, Environmental and Materials Engineering (DICEAM), Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Interests: Raman scattering analysis of solids; synthesis, analysis and optimization of nanostructured materials; electro-spun nanomaterials for energy storage and conversion, water treatment, sensing, catalysis and photo-catalysis; scanning probe microscopy and nano-optics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Fabiola Pantò

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CNR-ITAE Institute for Advanced Energy Technologies “N. Giordano”, Via Salita S. Lucia sopra Contesse 5, 98126 Messina, Italy
Interests: polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis; green hydrogen; batteries; desalination; synthesis and characterization of nanostructured materials; flexible membranes; electrochemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The need to decrease greenhouse gas emissions to limit effects on environmental pollution, global warming and climate changes, coupled with the progressive depletion of fossil-based resources, has boosted the utilization of clean energy sources. The development of new technologies that are able to produce and functionalize more sustainable, cost-effective, environmentally friendly membranes for energy and environment purposes represents a promising solution to the full and widespread exploitation of green energy sources and their reduced environmental impact.

Various membranes are currently employed as components of energy devices, such as batteries, electrolyzers, supercapacitors, and for environmental applications, including desalination, photocatalytic degradation and wastewater treatments. Membranes are globally recognized as an essential element in these sustainable systems thanks to their intrinsic advantages, when compared to conventional materials, as well as to their versatility.

This Special Issue aims to collect innovative synthesis routes and characterization techniques of advanced membranes, which find application in the above-mentioned energy and environmental field. Original contributions in forms of research articles (based on laboratory experiments or simulation results), as well as critical reviews from all researchers (chemists, engineers, material scientists, physicists, etc.), are welcome. Authors are warmly invited to submit the last achievements on membranes production, functionalization, characterization and application, mainly for batteries, electrolyzers, supercapacitors, desalination systems, photocatalytic degradation and wastewater treatments.

Dr. Claudia Triolo
Dr. Fabiola Pantò
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Components for batteries and supercapacitors
  • Electrolysis: safety, performance and innovative design
  • Desalination
  • Photocatalytic degradation and wastewater treatment
  • Sustainability and environmental impact

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 2900 KiB  
Article
Characterization of Dimeric Vanadium Uptake and Species in Nafion™ and Novel Membranes from Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries Electrolytes
by Christian Lutz, Michael Breuckmann, Sven Hampel, Martin Kreyenschmidt, Xi Ke, Sabine Beuermann, Katharina Schafner, Thomas Turek, Ulrich Kunz, Ana Guilherme Buzanich, Martin Radtke and Ursula E. A. Fittschen
Membranes 2021, 11(8), 576; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11080576 - 29 Jul 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3244
Abstract
A core component of energy storage systems like vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) is the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM). In this work, the frequently used perfluorosulfonic-acid (PFSA) membrane Nafion™ 117 and a novel poly (vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF)-based membrane are investigated. A well-known problem [...] Read more.
A core component of energy storage systems like vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) is the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM). In this work, the frequently used perfluorosulfonic-acid (PFSA) membrane Nafion™ 117 and a novel poly (vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF)-based membrane are investigated. A well-known problem in VRFBs is the vanadium permeation through the membrane. The consequence of this so-called vanadium crossover is a severe loss of capacity. For a better understanding of vanadium transport in membranes, the uptake of vanadium ions from electrolytes containing Vdimer(IV–V) and for comparison also V(II), V(III), V(IV), and V(V) by both membranes was studied. UV/VIS spectroscopy, X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy (XANES), total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (TXRF), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), and micro X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (microXRF) were used to determine the vanadium concentrations and the species inside the membrane. The results strongly support that Vdimer(IV–V), a dimer formed from V(IV) and V(V), enters the nanoscopic water-body of Nafion™ 117 as such. This is interesting, because as of now, only the individual ions V(IV) and V(V) were considered to be transported through the membrane. Additionally, it was found that the Vdimer(IV–V) dimer partly dissociates to the individual ions in the novel PVDF-based membrane. The Vdimer(IV–V) dimer concentration in Nafion™ was determined and compared to those of the other species. After three days of equilibration time, the concentration of the dimer is the lowest compared to the monomeric vanadium species. The concentration of vanadium in terms of the relative uptake λ = n(V)/n(SO3) are as follows: V(II) [λ = 0.155] > V(III) [λ = 0.137] > V(IV) [λ = 0.124] > V(V) [λ = 0.053] > Vdimer(IV–V) [λ = 0.039]. The results show that the Vdimer(IV–V) dimer needs to be considered in addition to the other monomeric species to properly describe the transport of vanadium through Nafion™ in VRFBs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Membranes for Energy and Environment: Synthesis and Characterization)
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17 pages, 2248 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Electrospun Self-Supporting Paper-Like Fibrous Membranes as Oil Sorbents
by Adele Folino, Claudia Triolo, Beatrix Petrovičová, Fabiolo Pantò, Demetrio A. Zema and Saveria Santangelo
Membranes 2021, 11(7), 515; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11070515 - 8 Jul 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2224
Abstract
Presently, adsorption/absorption is one of the most efficient and cost-effective methods to clean oil spill up. In this work, self-supporting paper-like fibrous membranes were prepared via electrospinning and carbonisation at different temperatures (500, 650 or 800 °C) by using polyacrylonitrile/polymethylmethacrylate blends with a [...] Read more.
Presently, adsorption/absorption is one of the most efficient and cost-effective methods to clean oil spill up. In this work, self-supporting paper-like fibrous membranes were prepared via electrospinning and carbonisation at different temperatures (500, 650 or 800 °C) by using polyacrylonitrile/polymethylmethacrylate blends with a different mass ratio of the two polymers (1:0, 6:1 or 2:1). After morphological and microstructural characterisation, the as-produced membranes were evaluated as sorbents by immersion in vegetable (sunflower seed or olive) and mineral (motor) oil or in 1:4 (v:v) oil/water mixture. Nitrogen-rich membrane carbonised at the lowest temperature behaves differently from the others, whose sorption capacity by immersion in oil, despite the great number of sorbent and oil properties involved, is mainly controlled by the fraction of micropores. The encapsulation of water nanodroplets by the oil occurring during the immersion in oil/water mixture causes the oil-from-water separation ability to show an opposite behaviour compared to the sorption capacity. Overall, among the investigated membranes, the support produced with 2:1 mass ratio of the polymers and carbonisation at 650 °C exhibits the best performance both in terms of sorption capacity (73.5, 54.8 and 12.5 g g−1 for olive, sunflower seed and motor oil, respectively) and oil-from-water separation ability (74, 69 and 16 for olive, sunflower seed and motor oil, respectively). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Membranes for Energy and Environment: Synthesis and Characterization)
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