{"541721":{"#nid":"541721","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Defense by Wail Falath","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETHE SCHOOL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUnder the provisions of the regulations for the degree\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003EDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003Eon Tuesday, June 21, 2016\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E2:00 PM\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003Ein MRDC 3515\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ewill be held the\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPTFE DISSERTATION DEFENSE\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003Efor\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWail Falath\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0022Synthesis, Modification And Characterization of Economical, High Performance Reverse Osmosis Membranes\u0022\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee Members:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDr.\u0026nbsp;Karl Jacob, MSE (Advisor)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDr. Hamid Garmestani, MSE\u003Cbr \/\u003E Dr. Youjiang Wang, MSE\u003Cbr \/\u003E Dr. Donggang Yao, MSE\u003Cbr \/\u003E Dr.\u0026nbsp;Kyriaki Kalaitzidou, ME\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWater is becoming increasingly scarce as the demand for fresh water continues to increase in a drastic manner. One potential new water resource is desalination of sea and brackish water. Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes desalination is one of the many processes used to obtain potable water fit for human consumption from seawater. Nevertheless, the membranes used in this process are prone to fouling by microorganisms and Chlorine attack.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt has been shown from literature that developing an anti-fouling, Chlorine resistant, highly selective and highly permeable reverse osmosis membranes is a necessity. To develop such membranes, one should improve the hydrophilicity of the membrane surface, reduce its roughness and make the surface negatively charged. The overall goal of this research was the development of high performance reverse osmosis membranes materials with improved permeability, high salt rejection and superior biofouling and Chlorine resistance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe present research was designed to investigate novel poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) RO membranes with various fillers and combinations and their effectiveness as active RO separation layers with improved biofouling and Chlorine resistance. The uniqueness of this work was that the PVA polymer matrix was utilized as an active RO layer without the use of any polymeric or ceramic substrate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe crosslinked PVA RO membranes incorporated with various fillers were fabricated using dissolution casting method. The fabricated membranes were then characterized and analyzed using various techniques like attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), contact angle measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and mechanical testing. The actual reverse osmosis performance of the membranes, including permeation testing, salt rejection and Chlorine resistance was examined using a reverse osmosis permeation unit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis study showed that the incorporation of various fillers like Pluronic F127, MWCNTs, Vanillin, Gum Arabic or ZnO NPs into the PVA polymer matrix improved the overall RO performance of the membrane in terms of hydrophilicity, surface roughness, water permeability, salt rejection, Chlorine and biofouling resistance and mechanical strength.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe outcomes of this study have shown a great promise for the proposed crosslinked PVA membrane as an active RO separation layer without a substrate.\u0026nbsp;The results of this investigation showed that the fabricated RO membranes overcame common PVA drawbacks through appropriate crosslinking and through appropriate selection of fillers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Synthesis, Modification And Characterization of Economical, High Performance Reverse Osmosis Membranes"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2016-06-03 08:11:20","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 02:17:58","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2016-06-21T15:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2016-06-21T17:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2016-06-21T17:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2016-06-21 19:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2016-06-21 21:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2016-06-21 21:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"100811","name":"Phd Defense"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}