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Description
The large-scale anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere leads to many unintended consequences, from rising sea levels to ocean acidification. While a clean energy infrastructure is growing, mid-term strategies that are compatible with the current infrastructure should be developed. Carbon capture and storage in fossil-fuel power plants is

The large-scale anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere leads to many unintended consequences, from rising sea levels to ocean acidification. While a clean energy infrastructure is growing, mid-term strategies that are compatible with the current infrastructure should be developed. Carbon capture and storage in fossil-fuel power plants is one way to avoid our current gigaton-scale emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, for this to be possible, separation techniques are necessary to remove the nitrogen from air before combustion or from the flue gas after combustion. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a relatively new class of porous material that show great promise for adsorptive separation processes. Here, potential mechanisms of O2/N2 separation and CO2/N2 separation are explored.

First, a logical categorization of potential adsorptive separation mechanisms in MOFs is outlined by comparing existing data with previously studied materials. Size-selective adsorptive separation is investigated for both gas systems using molecular simulations. A correlation between size-selective equilibrium adsorptive separation capabilities and pore diameter is established in materials with complex pore distributions. A method of generating mobile extra-framework cations which drastically increase adsorptive selectivity toward nitrogen over oxygen via electrostatic interactions is explored through experiments and simulations. Finally, deposition of redox-active ferrocene molecules into systematically generated defects is shown to be an effective method of increasing selectivity towards oxygen.
ContributorsMcIntyre, Sean (Author) / Mu, Bin (Thesis advisor) / Green, Matthew (Committee member) / Lind, Marylaura (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description
Among the alternative processes for the traditional distillation, adsorption and membrane separations are the two most promising candidates and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are the new material candidate as adsorbent or membrane due to their high surface area, various pore sizes, and highly tunable framework functionality. This dissertation presents an investigation

Among the alternative processes for the traditional distillation, adsorption and membrane separations are the two most promising candidates and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are the new material candidate as adsorbent or membrane due to their high surface area, various pore sizes, and highly tunable framework functionality. This dissertation presents an investigation of the formation process of MOF membrane, framework defects, and two-dimensional (2D) MOFs, aiming to explore the answers for three critical questions: (1) how to obtain a continuous MOF membrane, (2) how defects form in MOF framework, and (3) how to obtain isolated 2D MOFs. To solve the first problem, the accumulated protons in the MOF synthesis solution is proposed to be the key factor preventing the continuous growth among Universitetet I Oslo-(UiO)-66 crystals. The hypothesis is verified by the growth reactivation under the addition of deprotonating agent. As long as the protons were sufficiently coordinated by the deprotonating agent, the continuous growth of UiO-66 is guaranteed. Moreover, the modulation effect can impact the coordination equilibrium so that an oriented growth of UiO-66 film was achieved in membrane structures. To find the answer for the second problem, the defect formation mechanism in UiO-66 was investigated and the formation of missing-cluster (MC) defects is attributed to the partially-deprotonated ligands. Experimental results show the number of MC defects is sensitive to the addition of deprotonating agent, synthesis temperature, and reactant concentration. Pore size distribution allows an accurate and convenient characterization of the defects. Results show that these defects can cause significant deviations of its pore size distribution from the perfect crystal. The study of the third questions is based on the established bi-phase synthesis method, a facile synthesis method is adopted for the production of high quality 2D MOFs in large scale. Here, pyridine is used as capping reagent to prevent the interplanar hydrogen bond formation. Meanwhile, formic acid and triethylamine as modulator and deprotonating agent to balance the anisotropic growth, crystallinity, and yield in the 2D MOF synthesis. As a result, high quality 2D zinc-terephthalic acid (ZnBDC) and copper-terephthalic acid (CuBDC) with extraordinary aspect ratio samples were successfully synthesized.
ContributorsShan, Bohan (Author) / Mu, Bin (Thesis advisor) / Forzani, Erica (Committee member) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Lin, Jerry (Committee member) / Liu, Jingyue (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description
In the past, the photovoltaic (PV) modules were typically constructed with glass superstrate containing cerium oxide and EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) encapsulant containing UV absorbing additives. However, in the current industry, the PV modules are generally constructed without cerium oxide in the glass and UV absorbing additives in EVA to

In the past, the photovoltaic (PV) modules were typically constructed with glass superstrate containing cerium oxide and EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) encapsulant containing UV absorbing additives. However, in the current industry, the PV modules are generally constructed without cerium oxide in the glass and UV absorbing additives in EVA to increase quantum efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells in the UV regions. This new approach is expected to boost the initial power output of the modules and reduce the long-term encapsulant browning issues. However, this new approach could lead to other durability and reliability issues such as delamination of encapsulant by damaging interfacial bonds, destruction of antireflection coating on solar cells and even breakage of polymeric backbone of EVA. This work compares the durability and reliability issues of PV modules having glass without cerium oxide and EVA with (aka, UVcut or UVC) and without (aka, UVpass or UVP) UV absorbing additives. In addition, modules with UVP front and UVC back EVA have also been investigated (aka, UVhybrid or UVH). The mini-modules with nine split cells used in this work were fabricated at ASU’s Photovoltaic Reliability Laboratory. The durability and reliability caused by three stress variables have been investigated and the three variables are temperature, humidity/oxygen and UV dosage. The influence of up to 800 kWh/m2 UV dosage has been investigated at various dosage levels. Many material and device characterizations have been performed to ascertain the degradation modes and effects. The UVC modules showed encapsulant discoloration at the cell centers as expected but the UVH modules showed a ring-shaped encapsulant discoloration close to the cell edges as evidenced in the UV fluorescence (UVF) imaging study. The PV modules containing UVP on both sides of cells with limited access to humidity or oxygen through backsheet (covered backsheet with adhesive aluminum tape) seem to experience encapsulant delamination as evidenced in the UVF images. Plausible explanations for these observations have been presented.
ContributorsArularasu, Pooja (Author) / Tamizhmani, Govindasamy (Thesis advisor) / Mu, Bin (Thesis advisor) / Varman, Arul M (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description
Rapid development of new technology has significantly disrupted the way radiotherapy is planned and delivered. These processes involve delivering high radiation doses to the target tumor while minimizing dose to the surrounding healthy tissue. However, with rapid implementation of these new technologies, there is a need for the detection of

Rapid development of new technology has significantly disrupted the way radiotherapy is planned and delivered. These processes involve delivering high radiation doses to the target tumor while minimizing dose to the surrounding healthy tissue. However, with rapid implementation of these new technologies, there is a need for the detection of prescribed ionizing radiation for radioprotection of the patient and quality assurance of the technique employed. Most available clinical sensors are subjected to various limitations including requirement of extensive training, loss of readout with sequential measurements, sensitivity to light and post-irradiation wait time prior to analysis. Considering these disadvantages, there is still a need for a sensor that can be fabricated with ease and still operate effectively in predicting the delivered radiation dose.



The dissertation discusses the development of a sensor that changes color upon exposure to therapeutic levels of ionizing radiation used during routine radiotherapy. The underlying principle behind the sensor is based on the formation of gold nanoparticles from its colorless precursor salt solution upon exposure to ionizing radiation. Exposure to ionizing radiation generates free radicals which reduce ionic gold to its zerovalent gold form which further nucleate and mature into nanoparticles. The generation of these nanoparticles render a change in color from colorless to a maroon/pink depending on the intensity of incident ionizing radiation. The shade and the intensity of the color developed is used to quantitatively and qualitatively predict the prescribed radiation dose.

The dissertation further describes the applicability of sensor to detect a wide range of ionizing radiation including high energy photons, protons, electrons and emissions from radioactive isotopes while remaining insensitive to non-ionizing radiation. The sensor was further augmented with a capability to differentiate regions that are irradiated and non-irradiated in two dimensions. The dissertation further describes the ability of the sensor to predict dose deposition in all three dimensions. The efficacy of the sensor to predict the prescribed dose delivered to canine patients undergoing radiotherapy was also demonstrated. All these taken together demonstrate the potential of this technology to be translatable to the clinic to ensure patient safety during routine radiotherapy.
ContributorsSubramaniam Pushpavanam, Karthik (Author) / Rege, Kaushal (Thesis advisor) / Sapareto, Stephen (Committee member) / Nannenga, Brent (Committee member) / Green, Matthew (Committee member) / Mu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description
Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is a significant public health concern and has been the recent focus of novel, control systems-based interventions. Healthy Mom Zone (HMZ) is an intervention study that aims to develop and validate an individually tailored and intensively adaptive intervention to manage weight gain for overweight or

Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is a significant public health concern and has been the recent focus of novel, control systems-based interventions. Healthy Mom Zone (HMZ) is an intervention study that aims to develop and validate an individually tailored and intensively adaptive intervention to manage weight gain for overweight or obese pregnant women using control engineering approaches. Motivated by the needs of the HMZ, this dissertation presents how to use system identification and state estimation techniques to assist in dynamical systems modeling and further enhance the performance of the closed-loop control system for interventions.

Underreporting of energy intake (EI) has been found to be an important consideration that interferes with accurate weight control assessment and the effective use of energy balance (EB) models in an intervention setting. To better understand underreporting, a variety of estimation approaches are developed; these include back-calculating energy intake from a closed-form of the EB model, a Kalman-filter based algorithm for recursive estimation from randomly intermittent measurements in real time, and two semi-physical identification approaches that can parameterize the extent of systematic underreporting with global/local modeling techniques. Each approach is analyzed with intervention participant data and demonstrates potential of promoting the success of weight control.

In addition, substantial efforts have been devoted to develop participant-validated models and incorporate into the Hybrid Model Predictive Control (HMPC) framework for closed-loop interventions. System identification analyses from Phase I led to modifications of the measurement protocols for Phase II, from which longer and more informative data sets were collected. Participant-validated models obtained from Phase II data significantly increase predictive ability for individual behaviors and provide reliable open-loop dynamic information for HMPC implementation. The HMPC algorithm that assigns optimized dosages in response to participant real time intervention outcomes relies on a Mixed Logical Dynamical framework which can address the categorical nature of dosage components, and translates sequential decision rules and other clinical considerations into mixed-integer linear constraints. The performance of the HMPC decision algorithm was tested with participant-validated models, with the results indicating that HMPC is superior to "IF-THEN" decision rules.
ContributorsGuo, Penghong (Author) / Rivera, Daniel E. (Thesis advisor) / Peet, Matthew M. (Committee member) / Forzani, Erica (Committee member) / Deng, Shuguang (Committee member) / Pavlic, Theodore P. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) is the most commonly used encapsulant in photovoltaic modules. However, EVA degrades over time and causes performance losses in PV system. Therefore, EVA degradation is a matter of concern from a durability point of view.

This work compares EVA encapsulant degradation in glass/backsheet and glass/glass field-aged

Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) is the most commonly used encapsulant in photovoltaic modules. However, EVA degrades over time and causes performance losses in PV system. Therefore, EVA degradation is a matter of concern from a durability point of view.

This work compares EVA encapsulant degradation in glass/backsheet and glass/glass field-aged PV modules. EVA was extracted from three field-aged modules (two glass/backsheet and one glass/glass modules) from three different manufacturers from various regions (cell edges, cell centers, and non-cell region) from each module based on their visual and UV Fluorescence images. Characterization techniques such as I-V measurements, Colorimetry, Different Scanning Calorimetry, Thermogravimetric Analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy were performed on EVA samples.

The intensity of EVA discoloration was quantified using colorimetric measurements. Module performance parameters like Isc and Pmax degradation rates were calculated from I-V measurements. Properties such as degree of crystallinity, vinyl acetate content and degree of crosslinking were calculated from DSC, TGA, and Raman measurements, respectively. Polyenes responsible for EVA browning were identified in FTIR spectra.

The results from the characterization techniques confirmed that when EVA undergoes degradation, crosslinking in EVA increases beyond 90% causing a decrease in the degree of crystallinity and an increase in vinyl acetate content of EVA. Presence of polyenes in FTIR spectra of degraded EVA confirmed the occurrence of Norrish II reaction. However, photobleaching occurred in glass/backsheet modules due to the breathable backsheet whereas no photobleaching occurred in glass/glass modules because they were hermetically sealed. Hence, the yellowness index along with the Isc and Pmax degradation rates of EVA in glass/glass module is higher than that in glass/backsheet modules.

The results implied that more acetic acid was produced in the non-cell region due to its double layer of EVA compared to the front EVA from cell region. But, since glass/glass module is hermetically sealed, acetic acid gets entrapped inside the module further accelerating EVA degradation whereas it diffuses out through backsheet in glass/backsheet modules. Hence, it can be said that EVA might be a good encapsulant for glass/backsheet modules, but the same cannot be said for glass/glass modules.
ContributorsPatel, Aesha Parimalbhai (Author) / Tamizhmani, Govindasamy (Thesis advisor) / Green, Matthew (Committee member) / Mu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
A new type of electronics was envisioned, namely edible electronics. Edible electronics are made by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certified edible materials which can be eaten and digested by human body. Different from implantable electronics, test or treatment using edible electronics doesn’t require operations and perioperative complications.

This dissertation

A new type of electronics was envisioned, namely edible electronics. Edible electronics are made by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certified edible materials which can be eaten and digested by human body. Different from implantable electronics, test or treatment using edible electronics doesn’t require operations and perioperative complications.

This dissertation bridges the food industry, material sciences, device fabrication, and biomedical engineering by demonstrating edible supercapacitors and electronic components and devices such as pH sensor.

Edible supercapacitors were fabricated using food materials from grocery store. 5 of them were connected in series to power a snake camera. Tests result showed that the current generated by supercapacitor have the ability to kill bacteria. Next more food, processed food and non-toxic level electronic materials were investigated. A “preferred food kit” was created for component fabrication based on the investigation. Some edible electronic components, such as wires, resistor, inductor, etc., were developed and characterized utilizing the preferred food kit. These components make it possible to fabricate edible electronic/device in the future work. Some edible electronic components were integrated into an edible electronic system/device. Then edible pH sensor was introduced and fabricated. This edible pH sensor can be swallowed and test pH of gastric fluid. PH can be read in a phone within seconds after the pH sensor was swallowed. As a side project, an edible double network gel electrolyte was synthesized for the edible supercapacitor.
ContributorsXu, Wenwen (Author) / Jiang, Hanqing (Thesis advisor) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Green, Matthew (Committee member) / Mu, Bin (Committee member) / Yu, Hongbin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description
In Nepal, a viable solution for environmental management, food and water security is the production of biochar, a carbon material made of plants burned in low oxygen conditions. Currently, the biochar is manufactured into charcoal briquettes and sold on the market for energy usage, however this may not provide the

In Nepal, a viable solution for environmental management, food and water security is the production of biochar, a carbon material made of plants burned in low oxygen conditions. Currently, the biochar is manufactured into charcoal briquettes and sold on the market for energy usage, however this may not provide the best value for community members who make less than a dollar a day and sell the biochar for as little as 16 cents per kilogram. This thesis seeks to improve the price of biochar and help their livelihoods as well as explore innovative solutions. One way to improve biochar while addressing water security problems is to create activated carbon, which uses its heightened porosity to adsorb contaminants from water or air. Activated carbon is also worth 100x the price of biochar. This thesis evaluates the mass content of biochar produced in Nepal, comparing it to literature values, and performed gravimetric and thermogravimetric analysis, comparing it to Activated Charcoal. Analysis of the biochar system used in Nepal reveals that the byproduct of biochar, biofuels, is highly underutilized. The higher heating value of biochar is 17.95 MJ/kg, which is much lower than other charcoals which burn around 30 MJ/kg. Low volatile content, less than 5% in biochar, provides a smokeless briquette, which is favorable on the market, however low heating value and misutilizations of biofuels in the solution indicate that creating a briquette is not the best use for biochar. Ash content is really high in this biochar, averaging around 12% and it may be due to the feedstock, a composite between Mikania and Lantana, which have 5.23% and 10.77% ash content respectively. This does not necessarily indicate a poor quality biochar, since ash values can vary widely between charcoals. Producing activated charcoal from this biochar is a favored solution; it will increase the price of the biochar, provide water security solutions, and be an appropriate process for this biochar, where heating value and underutilization of biofuel byproducts pose a problem.
ContributorsCayer, Joelle Marie Caroline (Author) / Chhetri, Netra (Thesis director) / Henderson, Mark (Committee member) / Deng, Shuguang (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
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Description
Separation of carbon dioxide and methane for the upgrade of natural gas through use of pressure swing adsorption could potentially save large amounts of energy from the current, costly process of cryogenic distillation and provides greater cost effectiveness for carbon dioxide capture, and provide larger product flowrates than membrane permeation

Separation of carbon dioxide and methane for the upgrade of natural gas through use of pressure swing adsorption could potentially save large amounts of energy from the current, costly process of cryogenic distillation and provides greater cost effectiveness for carbon dioxide capture, and provide larger product flowrates than membrane permeation separation. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of varying initial conditions of a MatLab simulation, courtesy of Mai Xu, a graduate student at ASU, designed to use Langmuir isotherms, mass transfer equations, and adsorbent and gas properties to simulate a pressure swing adsorption process with a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide gas feed. The effects that will be varied are the adsorption/desorption time, pressurization/depressurization time, adsorption feed composition, desorption purge composition, adsorption pressure, desorption pressure, adsorption flow rate, and desorption flow rate. The study found that the trends in methane purity and production generally follow the trends predicted by literature and relevant equations, with pressure boundaries being the largest impacting factor. In addition there was a markedly inverse correlation between purity of methane product and the productivity of the system. This trend was only violated in one instance, at very low vacuum pressure during desorption, which could indicate an area that requires further study. Overall, the main areas of improvement in pressure swing adsorption for this system would be improving the selectivity of adsorption of carbon dioxide over methane, which requires improvement and change of the adsorbent, and more extreme vacuum pressures during desorption, both of which will increase methane yield and reduce operating costs.
ContributorsCook, Alexander Charles (Author) / Deng, Shuguang (Thesis director) / Mu, Bin (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
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Description
Carbon capture is an essential way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One way to decrease the emissions is through the use of adsorbents such as zeolites. Dr. Dong-Kyun Seo’s group (School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University) synthesized the nanostructured faujasite (NaX). The zeolite was characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy

Carbon capture is an essential way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One way to decrease the emissions is through the use of adsorbents such as zeolites. Dr. Dong-Kyun Seo’s group (School of Molecular Sciences, Arizona State University) synthesized the nanostructured faujasite (NaX). The zeolite was characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and the physisorption properties were determined using ASAP 2020. ASAP 2020 tests of the nano-zeolite pellets at 77K in a liquid N2 bath determined the BET surface area of 547.1 m2/mol, T-plot micropore volume of 0.2257 cm3/g, and an adsorption average pore width of 5.9 Å. The adsorption isotherm (equilibrium) of CH4, N2, and CO2 were measured at 25ºC. Adsorption isotherm experiments concluded that the linear isotherm was the best fit for N2, and CH4 and the Sips isotherm was a better fit than the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm for CO2. At 25ºC and 1 atm the zeolite capacity for CO2 is 4.3339 mmol/g, 0.1948 mmol/g for CH4, and 0.3534 mmol/g for N2. The zeolite has a higher CO2 capacity than the conventional NaX zeolite. Breakthrough experiments were performed in a fixed bed 22in, 0.5 in packing height and width at 1 atm and 298 K with nano-zeolite pellets. The gas chromatographer tested and recorded the data every two minutes with a flow rate of 10 cm3/min for N2 and 10 cm3/min CO2. Breakthrough simulations of the zeolite in a fixed bed adsorber column were conducted on MATLAB utilizing varying pressures, flow rates, and fed ratios of various CO2, N2 and CH4. Simulations using ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) calculations determined that the selectivity of CO2 in flue gas (15% CO2 + 85% N2) is 571.79 at 1 MPa, significantly higher than commercial zeolites and literature. The nanostructured faujasite zeolite appears to be a very promising adsorbent for CO2/N2 capture from flue gas and the separation of CO2/N2.
ContributorsClark, Krysta D. (Author) / Deng, Shuguang (Thesis director) / Green, Matthew (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05