Universität Stuttgart
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Item Open Access Modeling of porous polymer membrane formation(2017) Hopp-Hirschler, Manuel; Nieken, Ulrich (Prof. Dr.-Ing.)Porous polymer membranes are used in several separation processes, e.g. in dialysis or in water purification. The morphology of the membrane affects the quality of separation, e.g. selectivity, as well as the mechanical stability of the membrane. To control the morphology of the membrane during the preparation process we first need to understand the mechanism that leads to different pore structures. It is desirable to use a numerical model to predict the pore type and detailed structure. Wet-casting is a very common preparation process for porous polymer membranes where a liquid precipitation agent is used. Herein, a polymer solution and a coagulation bath is brought into contact. After contact the polymer solution is driven into a miscibility gap and starts to phase separate into a polymer lean and a polymer rich phase. Starting from the contact area between polymer solution and coagulation bath a pore structure grows where the polymer rich phase leads to the pore matrix. Although the process is used frequently in the last decades, its mechanism is still not fully understood. Therefore, the motivation in this thesis is to bridge experimental observations from membrane science to theoretical physics where concepts exist to understand the formation of pore structures in porous polymer membranes.Item Open Access Interfacial mechanics and liquid crystal structure of liquid gallium(2021) Yunusa, Muhammad; Sitti, Metin (Prof. Dr.)This dissertation aims to shed light on the fundamental aspects of supercooled liquid gallium. First, the mechanical properties of the oxide skin encapsulating the supercooled liquid gallium droplet is investigated. By leveraging the supercooling behavior of gallium and the formation of its oxide skin, we characterized the emergence of wrinkling at the interface and adhesion energy between the liquid gallium and rigid substrate. An interfacial energy of 0.238 ± 0.008 J m-2 was measured between gallium droplet and flat glass. Second, seed induced crystallization of supercooled liquid gallium on the different substrate materials revealed the dependence of the kinetics of crystallization on thermal behavior of the substrate. Such approach further elucidates on the importance of interface temperature during crystallization with a preferred orientation. The third part of the dissertation reports an unprecedented liquid crystal structure in supercooled liquid gallium. By the use of techniques applied in liquid crystal (LC) research, observation of LC texture in supercooled liquid gallium was realized. Reflective polarized optical microscopy (R-POM) on liquid gallium sandwiched between glasses treated with rubbed polymers reveals the onset of an anisotropic reflection of possible dimer molecules or clusters at 120°C that increases on cooling and persists down to room temperature or below. On the other hand, when gallium is sandwiched between substrates that align conventional liquid crystal molecules normal to the surface, the reflection is isotropic. This observation of LC structure of a highly electrically conductive supercooled liquid gallium provides an unexpected new field of materials science and liquid crystal research.Item Open Access Abscheidung von CO2 aus Rauchgasen in einem Sprühwäscheprozess mit aminbasierten Absorptionsmitteln(2023) Seyboth, Oliver; Scheffknecht, Günter (Prof. Dr. techn.)Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wird die Geschwindigkeit der Absorption von CO2 durch einzelne fallende Absorptionsmitteltropfen in einem eigens entwickelten Versuchsaufbau messtechnisch untersucht. Durch Variation der relevanten Prozessparameter wie CO2-Partialdruck, Beladung des Absorptionsmittels und Tropfengröße werden damit für verschiedene Absorptionsmittel Daten gewonnen, die eine überschlägige Dimensionierung eines Sprühwäschers für die großtechnische Anwendung ermöglichen. Gleichzeitig werden wichtige Erkenntnisse zum Einfluss der einzelnen Prozessparameter auf die Effizienz des Abscheideprozesses gewonnen.Item Open Access Soft materials for acoustic applications(2022) Choi, Eunjin; Fischer, Peer (Prof. Dr.)Ultrasound finds wide application in imaging and testing because ultrasound can penetrate tissue and is benign. Gaseous microbubbles strongly scatter ultrasound and are therefore used as contrast agents. Ultrasound responsive materials can be used for many industrial and biomedical applications. Ultrasound can also be used to exert forces and manipulate particles solution and biological cells. In this thesis, material systems are developed for three application areas: 1) models of human organs for the quantitative evaluation of surgical procedures with ultrasound; 2) the fabrication of soft objects by assembling polymeric particles with ultrasound and the acoustic hologram; and 3) the characterization of antibubbles as novel contrast agents that can carry a fluid load. Organ phantoms serve as tools in medical fields to train and plan medical procedures. However, current organ phantoms miss important features or are not realistic. Current models tend to possess a Young’s modulus that is much higher than that of tissue. Furthermore, many of the current models do not show the correct contrast in a medical imaging setting. This thesis presents high fidelity organ phantoms that possess the correct elasticity, compliance, optical appearance, and correct ultrasound contrast. One model is developed for cystoscopy (CY) of the bladder. Another phantom for the transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). The quality of the phantoms is validated by medical practitioners. For CY, the execution time of the medical practitioners is recorded to completely map the inside of the bladder phantom while localizing tumor models that have been embedded in the bladder wall. For TURP, the quality of the resection is compared with ultrasound imaging before and after the surgical simulation. Parameters are defined to quantify the success of the procedure. The phantoms developed as part of this thesis have received high satisfaction scores from medical practitioners. The parameters reflect the experience of the surgeons. In assembling soft matter, one challenge is that existing 3D printing methods are slow. In contrast, the use of ultrasound patterns shaped with a recently invented acoustic hologram allows objects to be built at once. In this thesis, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) particles have been assembled into two-dimensional shapes with ultrasound. To fix the assembly, the PDMS has been physically functionalized with an initiator using swelling. Suitable swelling solutions have been determined based on their solubility. The stability of the physisorbed initiators is evaluated, and the functionalized PDMS particles are fixed via photopolymerization after assembly in aqueous polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate (PEG-DMA) solutions. The fabrication steps can be repeated to increase the thickness of structures that are mechanically stable. The antibubble is an emerging ultrasound contrast agent. It has an inverse form to a conventional bubble in that a substance in the core is surrounded by a gaseous layer. The antibubble is acoustically responsive and, compared to conventional microbubbles, can carry a much greater load. In this thesis, the structure of antibubbles is examined. In particular, the volume of the load is quantified, and the amount of gas per bubble is estimated. The stability of the core substance against diffusion is investigated and shown to be stable for over 11 h.Item Open Access Degradation study on solid oxide steam electrolysis(2020) Hörlein, Michael Philipp; Friedrich, K. Andreas (Prof. Dr.)Untersuchung der Degradation von Festoxidzellen im Elektrolysebetrieb von Wasserdampf anhand von Variationen der Betriebsbedingungen.