(594a) Electrospun Nanoparticle/Nanofiber Composites (ENNCs) As New Core-Shell Adsorbent Materials

Core-shell structures have potentials to increase selectivity and/or attenuate contaminants uptake by forming a protective shell on the external surfaces of a porous adsorbent particle. These materials function by a kinetically selective mechanism, where the shell provides a barrier that slows the uptake rate of an undesirable component through either a solution-diffusion or molecular sieving mechanism. One critical factor to consider is the shell thickness, which controls the diffusion barrier. However, currently used models do not address the shell thickness as a parameter at all. It is essential for predictive kinetic equations to be developed for the field of core-shell sorbent design to progress. In this work, we solve the diffusion equations for core-shell sorbents using finite-element methods and compare to a derived analytical model to describe the uptake equations for core-shell sorbents. We also use CO2/N2 separation as a good example to demonstrate the potential of electrospun nanoparticle/nanofiber composites (ENNCs) as new core-shell adsorbent materials.