We demonstrate, on the basis of molecular dynamics simulations, the possibility of an efficient water-ethanol separation using nanoporous carbon membranes, namely carbon nanotube membranes, nanoporous graphene sheets, and multilayer graphene membranes. While these carbon membranes are in general permeable to both pure liquids, they exhibit a counter-intuitive "self-semi-permeability" to water in the presence of water-ethanol mixtures. This originates in a preferred ethanol adsorption in nanoconfinement that prevents water molecules from entering the carbon nanopores. An osmotic pressure is accordingly expressed across the carbon membranes for the water-ethanol mixture, which agrees with the classic van't Hoff type expression. This suggests a robust and versatile membrane-based separation, built on a pressure-driven reverse-osmosis process across these carbon-based membranes. In particular, the recent development of large-scale 'graphene-oxide' like membranes then opens an avenue for a versatile and efficient ethanol dehydration using this separation process, with possible application for bio-ethanol fabrication.
Characterizing and modeling the mechanical behavior of an anion exchange membrane for carbon capture applications
Department One（第一系）；Department Two（第二系）；Steve Sanghi College of Engineering, Northern Arizona University（北亚利桑那大学史蒂夫·桑基工程学院）；McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin（德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校麦凯塔化学工程系）；School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University（亚利桑那州立大学物质、运输与能源工程学院）
Influence of carbon nanocone structure on ultra-efficient water flow
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais（米纳斯吉拉斯联邦大学）；Universidade Federal da Bahia（巴伊亚联邦大学）；Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul（南里奥格兰德联邦大学）；Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST（加泰罗尼亚纳米科学与纳米技术研究所）
