(371c) Mass Separation By Metamaterial Membranes

In this talk, we introduce a novel approach to perform mass separation based on mass-diffusion metamaterial devices that can shield one compound from reaching a certain spatial area while concentrating other compound towards that area. Such metamaterials provide the basis for a new method to manipulate mass diffusion and achieve separations in chemical and biomolecular engineering. We coordinate transform Fick’s law diffusion equation to simultaneously manipulate the diffusion paths of different species in both transient and steady state regimes. The design of a novel mass-separator metamaterial device is first introduced. We also present a fabrication procedure that allows for experimental realization of such metamaterial using commercially available homogeneous and isotropic polymeric materials. A practical proof-of-concept is introduced by separating a binary mixture of oxygen and nitrogen diffusing through a polymeric matrix. This work paves the way to achieve mass separations using metamaterials devices in chemical and biomolecular industries, science, and technology. Mass flow manipulation is of utmost importance in many processes in chemical engineering and, in particular, separations are critically important in different areas ranging from chemical manufacturing, recovery of biological solutes from wastes, to semiconductor crystal growth, and generation of artificial kidneys. The systematic method presented in this talk to achieve precise manipulation of molecular diffusion paths by coordinate transformations and metamaterials provides a novel tool to engineer separation processes in chemical engineering.