Date of Award

12-2011

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Chemical Engineering

Advisor

William J. DeSisto

Second Committee Member

Michael D. Mason

Third Committee Member

Douglas M. Ruthven

Abstract

There are three components that need to be understood to create new porous membranes for industrial applications. 1.) To understand appropriate synthesis conditions to create a successful membrane system. 2.) To understand how the microstructures generated in synthesis affect the transport properties of that system. 3) To be able to characterize the heterogeneity of the fabricated membrane’s transport and physical structure.

Presented within this manuscript are new characterization methods to increase the understanding in membrane technology. It will be demonstrated that the novel application of standard fluorescent methods and the development of new fluorescent methods techniques allows for the measurement of molecular interactions and transport properties on length scales capable of providing valuable information in the field of membrane science, as well as expanding new applications in fluorescent techniques.

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