Daniel here.
Our ten weeks are slipping away at a constantly accelerating rate! I want to encourage the team to keep up the hard work. (:
More reading this week. I am currently searching for data on methods for catalyzing/harnessing spontaneous reactions such as the desorption of dissolved ions from an MCDI cell. From what I am seeing, it is possible that the current information will force me down a different route than I had originally hoped. More info on that to come.
In the meantime, we have been constantly improving our electrode fabrication process here at Keck. We found that the grade of activated carbon that we were using to coat our electrodes, in combination with one of our current polymer membrane coat solutions, would wrinkle while it dried after the flow coating process. We were able to resolve the issue by diluting the polymer membrane solution less than before during synthesis, resulting in a thicker, more viscous solution. We found the coating to be smooth and it stayed flat on the carbon sheet once coated, we assume this is because the less the amount of water in the coating that has to evaporate during the drying, the less the coating will move and retract on the surface of the electrode, alleviating a great deal of the wrinkles.
(A freshly coated, undried resin-membrane electrode sample.)
We have also been mastering the art of calculating the data collected from our MCDI cell tests, and creating graphs and depictions of useful data in Microsoft Excel. I now better understand the strengths but also the limitations of this brilliant technology as we continue to develop it.
(Each recipe is carefully constructed and delineated on a page of the researcher’s notebook. In this case, page 89.)
We got a chance to – with Amit’s direction – make a batch of one of the activated carbon slurries we use as the core of our electrode. We also synthesized the polymer that will be cut, dried, dissolved, and will eventually become part of one of our ion exchange membranes. Below is a clip of solution being added to ethanol on a mixing plate to synthesize the polymer precipitate.
There is still much work to do and time is, unfortunately, limited, but I’m confident we have enough time, and more than enough resources at our disposal to do some great work at the end of the day.
That being said, Keck Hall has kindly approved my request for after-hours access to the facility. I plan to take full advantage of that extra time in my office these coming weeks!
Wish me energy and good ideas,
-Daniel S. Cana