Porous medium with adjustable fluid permeability and associated systems and methods
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsYayuan Liu, Trevor Alan Hatton
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Abstract
The present disclosure is related to porous media with adjustable fluid permeabilities and related systems and methods. In certain cases, the fluid permeability of a porous medium can be adjusted by applying an electrical potential to the porous medium. In some such cases, the application of the electrical potential to the porous medium results in the deposition of material over or the removal of material from the porous medium. Also disclosed herein are systems and methods for capturing species (e.g., acid gases) in which porous media with adjustable fluid permeabilities are used, for example, to control the flow of fluid into and out of a medium used to capture the species.
Claims34
A method, comprising:
- transporting a fluid through a first electronically conductive porous solid such that a species from the fluid is captured by a medium adjacent to the first electronically conductive porous solid;
- altering an electrical potential applied between the first electronically conductive porous solid and a second electronically conductive porous solid such that the fluid permeability of the first electronically conductive porous solid is reduced and the fluid permeability of the second electronically conductive porous solid is increased;
- and
- releasing the species from the medium such that the species is transported through the second electronically conductive porous solid.
A device, comprising:
- a first electronically conductive porous solid;
- a second electronically conductive porous solid electronically coupled to the first electronically conductive porous solid;
- and
- a medium between the first electronically conductive porous solid and the second electronically conductive porous solid;
- wherein the device is configured such that:
- when an electrical potential is applied to the first and second electronically conductive porous solids with a first polarity, a fluid permeability of the first electronically conductive porous solid is reduced, and
- when an electrical potential is applied to the first and second electronically conductive porous solids with a second polarity opposite the first polarity, the fluid permeability of the second electronically conductive porous solid is reduced.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.