News

NAMS 2004 Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii 26 – 30th June
Abstracts of Attendees

Conor Braman’s Abstract

Water transport and fouling properties of crosslinked poly(ethylene glycol)

C. Braman, University of Texas at Austin
B. Freeman, University of Texas at Austin

All current ultrafiltration membranes are finely porous and are, therefore, subject to fouling by particulates, organics, and other wastewater components, resulting in a dramatic decline in the water flux (Ho 1999). Our approach to enhancing the severely limited fouling resistance of conventional ultrafiltration membranes is based on coating them with highly water permeable, nonporous, fouling resistant polymers. Crosslinked poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) is used as the base material for the coatings because it is highly hydrophilic and has shown resistance to protein attachment (Ostuni 2001). [Read more…] about NAMS Conference, Honolulu, HI. 26 – 30 June 2004

Scientific American
JULY 2002
Filtering in Reverse – Membranes That Pass the Big Stuff Through
By: Steven Ashley

Read or Download the PDF

Sponsored by the Eastman Kokak Company

Professor Benny Freeman of the Chemical Engineering Department at University of Texas at Austin and Dr. Ingo Pinnau of Membrane Technology and Research (MTR) are winners of the 2002 Award for Cooperative Research in Polymer Science and Engineering presented by the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE). Dr. Brian Benecewicz, Chairman of the PMSE Cooperative Research Award Committee, announced the award, which has been presented annually since 1992, when it was endowed by a gift from the Eastman Kodak Company to PMSE. [Read more…] about 2002 Cooperative Research Award in Polymer Science and Engineering

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
April 9, 2001
Volume 79, Number15
CENEAR 79 15 pp.32-38
ISSN 0010-2347

WATERWORKS
Research accelerates on advanced water-treatment technologies as their use in purification grows

MAIRIN B. BRENNAN, C&EN WASHINGTONConventional water purification is a tried-and-true process that hasn’t changed much in decades: Coagulation and flocculation, sedimentation, sand or gravel filtration, and chlorine disinfection are the customary steps. Wresting fresh water from seawater is also a long-standing technique, especially in oil-rich, water-starved countries where the cost of the energy-intensive process is not an issue. [Read more…] about C&EN: Science & Technology: Waterworks

ambience: soda pouring, fizzing

Anyone who’s ever opened a bottle of soda knows that sound. But why is it that even unopened plastic soda bottles lose their fizz over time? I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

“The carbon dioxide that gives soda what people normally associate with as fizz is soluble and will dissolve into the wall of the plastic and be transported through the plastic and escape. In much the same way that air in your tires will eventually escape and the tire pressure goes down with time.”

Benny Freeman is an Associate Professor of chemical engineering at North Carolina State University. He’s been studying the effectiveness of plastic packaging. [Read more…] about Pulse Planet: Barrier Plastics