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Project title

Breathing Space - Porous Material Nanocomposites for Efficient Oxygen Separation From Air

Primary Funding Agency

Irish Research Council

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

University College Dublin (UCD)

Lead Applicant

n/a

Project Abstract

A critical complication in the treatment of CoViD patients over the last 18 months has been the periodic lack of bottled oxygen to maintain blood saturation levels, resulting in thousands of deaths, especially in poorer and developing countries. Oxygen separation is a multibillion-Euro industry but still relies on fractional distillation from liquid air, a technology unchanged since the late 1800s. This project will design, produce and investigate cutting-edge nanocomposite particles as a substrate for oxygen separation from air. By combining magnetic nanoparticle cores (MNPs) with metal-organic frameworks shells (MOFs), I will form porous MOF composites formed over MNP shells that will be used to attract paramagnetic oxygen molecules, trapping the oxygen in the pores of the MOF shell. The oxygen can then be actively desorbed by local particle heating by oscillating electric fields. This work aims to produce porous magnetic composite membranes for continuous-flow separation of oxygen from the air. The synthesis in this work will address critical challenges in nanocomposite design, requiring us to develop control over the core size and shell size/porosity to optimise the materials for the identified applications. As well as potentially transforming medical oxygen separation, a further significant advancement could be made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy generation through the oxyfuel process, which requires a cheap source of purified oxygen. Hence, the work can be genuinely transformative, using nano-structuring to develop new emergent properties, evaluating the key factors determining the properties and assessing them for real-world applications

Grant Approved

�110,000.00

Research Hub

n/a

Research Theme

Air Science

Start Date

01/09/2022

Initial Projected Completion Date

31/08/2026