Nanotechnology based Oxygen Separation Membrane for use in Oxygen Concentrator

Air is comprised of different gasses where oxygen is one of the fundamental life sources for human beings. There are various methods of separating oxygen from water and air. The different molecules of air can be separated by using certain filters that are commercially available in household a

Project Title

Nanotechnology based Oxygen Separation Membrane for use in Oxygen Concentrator

Project Area of Specialization

Biomedical Engineering

Project Summary

Air is comprised of different gasses where oxygen is one of the fundamental life sources for human beings.

There are various methods of separating oxygen from water and air. The different molecules of air can be separated by using certain filters that are commercially available in household and health care oxygen concentrators. Primary molecules of air are oxygen and nitrogen and both have their industrial applications, so our main objective is to design a contraption that separates and collects the oxygen from open air. This is achieved by the method of synthesizing Nanofibrous polymeric membrane via electrospinning technique. The fabrication of the nanofiber filter was attained by utilizing PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) as the main polymer accompanied by the addition of filler zeolite 13-X which is commercially used in oxygen concentrators due to it having chemical properties of binding nitrogen which in turn separates the oxygen by absorbing nitrogen,

The whole process of employing the zeolite-13X can be further analyzed and inspected by the means of SEM (Scanning electron microscopy), TEM (Transmission electronic microscopy), and FTIR (Fourier transform infrared).

This whole setup then further will be housed where oxygen is separately collected into the different chambers and then the result will be compared with standard commercially available oxygen concentrators, we aim to implement the device in the local industry of Pakistan and for those hospitals who are unable to purchase costly medical devices because it will be cheaper than imported oxygen concentrators, the system will be portable, provides 90%-93% enriched oxygen to the patients.

Project Objectives

• Preparation of PET (Polyethylene terephthalate), polymeric membrane nanofiber
• Benchmark the performance of the Nanofibrous film that we may use for the separation of oxygen.
• Characterization of nanofiber film through the Scanning electronic microscope (SEM), Transmission electronic microscope (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared technique (FTIR)
• Synthesize the electromechanical housing for a low-cost oxygen concentrator device.
• Attainment of pure oxygen and compare that results with the standard available oxygen concentrators

Project Implementation Method

This project is divided into the following phases.

1. Electrospinning Setup

2. Membrane formation 

Succeeding the electrospinning setup, we will move to the design of a filter for that we will make a solution of different percentages

To make a homogenous solution we will take polymer (PET) dissolved in inorganic solvent (trifluoroacetic acetic acid, TFA ) and chloroform, the total solution weightage of 10% 12% 20% is enough for the preparation of standard nanofibers.

Then this homogenous solution proceeds for electrospinning, where we fabricate our nanofibers, after the successful attempt we will add our adsorbant chemical Zeolite 13X which has high nitrogen adsorption capacity while it passes the oxygen without any reaction.

3. Characterization (To observe chemical properties of membrane)

• Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
• Transmission electronic microscopy (TEM)
• Fourier Transform infrared technique (FTIR)
• Particle size analysis (PSA)

4. Housing Designing (Electromechanical setup)

To collect the oxygen we need an electromechanical setup shown below

 

                                                                             Procedure 

• Our first target is to make housing designs where FAN produces air that can be controlled.
• Silica Get is used inside the pipe to absorb the moisture.
• The air contains N2/O2, through the zeolite 13-X Nitrogen gets adsorbed.
• At the end of the pipe, we placed a collector or any container that stores the oxygen.
• To check the concentration of oxygen we will place a medical-grade oxygen sensor (OOM202 Sensor).

First, we will design the Electrospinning setup shown below.

Benefits of the Project

ADVANTAGES OF TECHNIQUE (Electrospinning)

The electrospinning technique is considered one of the most prominent strategies to synthesize thin, continuous, and novel Nanofibers for numerous applications Nanofibers with desired characteristics such as high surface area, porosity, and diameters ranging from tens of nanometers to few micrometers can be designed using electrospinning. For instance, enhancing the gas separation performance of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene fibers by incorporating 10 wt% of natural zeolite, which was reported by Calderon et al.

ADVANTAGES OF PROJECT

There are many advantages as we are focusing to develop both filters that separate oxygen and majorly low-cost oxygen concentrator

• Medical Device/Oxygen concentrator companies
• Face Mask Companies for pollution absorption
• Chemical Industries based on the Combustion process
• Military, they can use as an oxygen mask
• Automobile Industry
• Dehumidification/Waterproof layer
• Tissue Engineering Research Labs
• Household oxygen concentrators
• Less energy consumption
• Simple to handle and environmentally friendly project

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The second point is to compare our result with the commercially available oxygen concentrators so that we can implement the device in our internal communities, and local industries that are unable to procure costly medical devices.

The final deliverable outcome of our project is we shall come up with two main products, first is a nanotechnology-based oxygen mask and the other is a small-scale oxygen concentrator where we aim to achieve maximum pure oxygen by using the technique of electrospinning.

Final Deliverable of the Project

Hardware System

Core Industry

Health

Other Industries

Medical , Others

Core Technology

Wearables and Implantables

Other Technologies

NeuroTech, Clean Tech

Sustainable Development Goals

Good Health and Well-Being for People, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Required Resources

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