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US 2015/0318531 A1Published application
Polymer functionalized graphene oxide and thermally responsive ion permeable membranes made therefrom
AssigneeNorthwestern University
InventorsHarold H. Kung, Jingmei Shen, Mayfair C. Kung, Cary M. Hayner
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Abstract
Thermally responsive materials, porous membranes comprising the thermally responsive materials, and batteries incorporating the porous membranes as thermally responsive separation membranes are provided. Also provided are methods of making the thermally responsive materials. The thermally responsive materials comprise upper critical solution temperature (UCST) polymers covalently bound to a support substrate.
Claims20
A thermally responsive material comprising:
- a substrate;
- and
- polymer molecules covalently bonded to the substrate, the polymer molecules having an upper-critical solution temperature in non-aqueous solution, the polymer molecules characterized in that they phase separate from the non-aqueous solution at temperatures below the upper-critical solution temperature, but undergo a reversible conformational change at the upper-critical solution temperature such that they are miscible in the non-aqueous solution at temperatures above the upper-critical solution temperature;
- wherein the thermally responsive material is porous and electrically insulating.
1 more element
A battery comprising:
- a first electrode;
- a second electrode;
- a porous, electrically insulating, thermally responsive membrane between the first electrode and the second electrode, the porous, electrically insulating, thermally responsive membrane comprising:
- a substrate and polymer molecules covalently bonded to the substrate, the polymer molecules having an upper-critical solution temperature in non-aqueous solution, such that they phase separate from the non-aqueous solution at temperatures below the upper-critical solution temperature, but undergo a reversible conformational change at the upper-critical solution temperature such that they are miscible in the non-aqueous solution at temperatures above the upper-critical solution temperature;
- and
- a non-aqueous electrolyte in the pores of the porous membrane;
- wherein the ionic permeability of the porous, electrically insulating, thermally responsive membrane decreases at temperatures above the upper-critical solution temperature.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.