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- Volume 6, 2015
Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering - Volume 6, 2015
Volume 6, 2015
- Preface
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A Conversation with Adam Heller
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 1–12More LessAdam Heller, Ernest Cockrell Sr. Chair in Engineering Emeritus of the John J. McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, recalls his childhood in the Holocaust and his contributions to science and technology that earned him the US National Medal of Technology and Innovation in a conversation with Elton J. Cairns, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Heller, born in 1933, describes the enslavement of his father by Hungarians in 1942; the confiscation of his family's home, business, and all its belongings in 1944; and his incarceration in a brick factory with 18,000 Jews who were shipped by the Hungarians to be gassed by Germans in Auschwitz. Dr. Heller and his immediate family survived the Holocaust and arrived in Israel in 1945. He studied under Ernst David Bergmann at the Hebrew University, and then worked at Bell Laboratories and GTE Laboratories, where he headed Bell Lab's Electronic Materials Research Department. At GTE Laboratories, he built in 1966 the first neodymium liquid lasers and in 1973 with Jim Auborn conceived and engineered the lithium thionyl chloride battery, one of the first to be manufactured lithium batteries, which is still in use. After joining the faculty of engineering of The University of Texas at Austin, he cofounded with his son Ephraim Heller TheraSense, now a major part of Abbott Diabetes Care, which produced a microcoulometer that made the monitoring of glucose painless by accurately measuring the blood glucose concentration in 300 nL of blood. He also describes the electrical wiring of enzymes, the basis for Abbott's state-of-the-art continuous glucose monitoring system. He discusses his perspective of reducing the risk of catastrophic global warming in a wealth-accumulating, more-energy-consuming world and provides advice for students entering careers in science or engineering.
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An Integrated Device View on Photo-Electrochemical Solar-Hydrogen Generation
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 13–34More LessDevices that directly capture and store solar energy have the potential to significantly increase the share of energy from intermittent renewable sources. Photo-electrochemical solar-hydrogen generators could become an important contributor, as these devices can convert solar energy into fuels that can be used throughout all sectors of energy. Rather than focusing on scientific achievement on the component level, this article reviews aspects of overall component integration in photo-electrochemical water-splitting devices that ultimately can lead to deployable devices. Throughout the article, three generalized categories of devices are considered with different levels of integration and spanning the range of complete integration by one-material photo-electrochemical approaches to complete decoupling by photovoltaics and electrolyzer devices. By using this generalized framework, we describe the physical aspects, device requirements, and practical implications involved with developing practical photo-electrochemical water-splitting devices. Aspects reviewed include macroscopic coupled multiphysics device models, physical device demonstrations, and economic and life cycle assessments, providing the grounds to draw conclusions on the overall technological outlook.
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Synthetic Biology for Specialty Chemicals
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 35–52More LessIn this review, we address recent advances in the field of synthetic biology and describe how those tools have been applied to produce a wide variety of chemicals in microorganisms. Here we classify the expansion of the synthetic biology toolbox into three different categories based on their primary function in strain engineering—for design, for construction, and for optimization. Next, focusing on recent years, we look at how chemicals have been produced using these new synthetic biology tools. Advances in producing fuels are briefly described, followed by a more thorough treatment of commodity chemicals, specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals. Throughout this review, an emphasis is placed on how synthetic biology tools are applied to strain engineering. Finally, we discuss organism and host strain diversity and provide a future outlook in the field.
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Chemical Looping Technology: Oxygen Carrier Characteristics
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 53–75More LessChemical looping processes are characterized as promising carbonaceous fuel conversion technologies with the advantages of manageable CO2 capture and high energy conversion efficiency. Depending on the chemical looping reaction products generated, chemical looping technologies generally can be grouped into two types: chemical looping full oxidation (CLFO) and chemical looping partial oxidation (CLPO). In CLFO, carbonaceous fuels are fully oxidized to CO2 and H2O, as typically represented by chemical looping combustion with electricity as the primary product. In CLPO, however, carbonaceous fuels are partially oxidized, as typically represented by chemical looping gasification with syngas or hydrogen as the primary product. Both CLFO and CLPO share similar operational features; however, the optimum process configurations and the specific oxygen carriers used between them can vary significantly. Progress in both CLFO and CLPO is reviewed and analyzed with specific focus on oxygen carrier developments that characterize these technologies.
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Gasification of Woody Biomass
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 77–99More LessInterest in biomass to produce heat, power, liquid fuels, hydrogen, and value-added chemicals with reduced greenhouse gas emissions is increasing worldwide. Gasification is becoming a promising technology for biomass utilization with a positive environmental impact. This review focuses speci-fically on woody biomass gasification and recent advances in the field. The physical properties, chemical structure, and composition of biomass greatly affect gasification performance, pretreatment, and handling. Primary and secondary catalysts are of key importance to improve the conversion and cracking of tars, and lime-enhanced gasification advantageously combines CO2 capture with gasification. These topics are covered here, including the reaction mechanisms and biomass characterization. Experimental research and industrial experience are investigated to elucidate concepts, processes, and characteristics of woody biomass gasification and to identify challenges.
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Design Criteria for Future Fuels and Related Power Systems Addressing the Impacts of Non-CO2 Pollutants on Human Health and Climate Change
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 101–120More LessConcerns over the economics, supply chain, and emissions of greenhouse gases associated with the wide use of fossil fuels have led to increasing interest in developing alternative and renewable fuels for stationary power generation and transportation systems. Although there is considerable uncertainty regarding the economic and environmental impacts of alternative and renewable fuels, there is a great need for assessment of potential and emerging fuels to guide research priorities and infrastructure investment. Likewise, there is a great need to identify potential unintended adverse impacts of new fuels and related power systems before they are widely adopted. Historically, the environmental impacts of emerging fuels and power systems have largely focused on carbon dioxide emissions, often called the carbon footprint, which is used to assess impacts on climate change. Such assessments largely ignore the large impacts of emissions of other air pollutants. Given the potential changes in emissions of air pollutants associated with the large-scale use of new and emerging fuels and power systems, there is a great need to better guide efforts to develop new fuels and power systems that can avoid unexpected adverse impacts on the environment and human health. This review covers the nature of emissions, including the key components and impacts from the use of fuels, and the design criteria for future fuels and associated power systems to assure that the non-CO2 adverse impacts of stationary power generation and transportation are minimized.
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Graphene Mechanics: Current Status and Perspectives
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 121–140More LessThe mechanical properties of 2D materials such as monolayer graphene are of extreme importance for several potential applications. We summarize the experimental and theoretical results to date on mechanical loading of freely suspended or fully supported graphene. We assess the obtained axial properties of the material in tension and compression and comment on the methods used for deriving the various reported values. We also report on past and current efforts to define the elastic constants of graphene in a 3D representation. Current areas of research that are concerned with the effect of production method and/or the presence of defects upon the mechanical integrity of graphene are also covered. Finally, we examine extensively the work related to the effect of graphene deformation upon its electronic properties and the possibility of employing strained graphene in future electronic applications.
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Smart Manufacturing
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 141–160More LessHistoric manufacturing enterprises based on vertically optimized companies, practices, market share, and competitiveness are giving way to enterprises that are responsive across an entire value chain to demand dynamic markets and customized product value adds; increased expectations for environmental sustainability, reduced energy usage, and zero incidents; and faster technology and product adoption. Agile innovation and manufacturing combined with radically increased productivity become engines for competitiveness and reinvestment, not simply for decreased cost. A focus on agility, productivity, energy, and environmental sustainability produces opportunities that are far beyond reducing market volatility. Agility directly impacts innovation, time-to-market, and faster, broader exploration of the trade space. These changes, the forces driving them, and new network-based information technologies offering unprecedented insights and analysis are motivating the advent of smart manufacturing and new information technology infrastructure for manufacturing.
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Current Trends and Challenges in Biointerfaces Science and Engineering
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 161–186More LessThe cellular microenvironment is extremely complex, and a plethora of materials and methods have been employed to mimic its properties in vitro. In particular, scientists and engineers have taken an interdisciplinary approach in their creation of synthetic biointerfaces that replicate chemical and physical aspects of the cellular microenvironment. Here the focus is on the use of synthetic materials or a combination of synthetic and biological ligands to recapitulate the defined surface chemistries, microstructure, and function of the cellular microenvironment for a myriad of biomedical applications. Specifically, strategies for altering the surface of these environments using self-assembled monolayers, polymer coatings, and their combination with patterned biological ligands are explored. Furthermore, methods for augmenting an important physical property of the cellular microenvironment, topography, are highlighted, and the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches are discussed. Finally, the progress of materials for prolonged stem cell culture, a key component in the translation of stem cell therapeutics for clinical use, is featured.
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Defects in the Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers and Their Relevance for Directed Self-Assembly
Weihua Li, and Marcus MüllerVol. 6 (2015), pp. 187–216More LessBlock copolymer self-assembly provides a platform for fabricating dense, ordered nanostructures by encoding information in the chemical architecture of multicomponent macromolecules. Depending on the volume fraction of the components and chain topology, these macromolecules form a variety of spatially periodic microphases in thermodynamic equilibrium. The kinetics of self-assembly, however, often results in initial morphologies with defects, and the subsequent ordering is protracted. Different strategies have been devised to direct the self-assembly of copolymer materials by external fields to align and perfect the self-assembled nanostructures. Understanding and controlling the thermodynamics of defects, their response to external fields, and their dynamics is important because applications in microelectronics either require extremely low defect densities or aim at generating specific defects at predetermined locations to fabricate irregular device-oriented structures for integrated circuits. In this review, we discuss defect morphologies of block copolymers in the bulk and thin films, highlighting (a) analogies to and differences from defects in other crystalline materials, (b) the stability of defects and their dynamics, and (c) the influence of external fields.
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Clean Water for Developing Countries
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 217–246More LessAvailability of safe drinking water, a vital natural resource, is still a distant dream to many around the world, especially in developing countries. Increasing human activity and industrialization have led to a wide range of physical, chemical, and biological pollutants entering water bodies and affecting human lives. Efforts to develop efficient, economical, and technologically sound methods to produce clean water for developing countries have increased worldwide. We focus on solar disinfection, filtration, hybrid filtration methods, treatment of harvested rainwater, herbal water disinfection, and arsenic removal technologies. Simple, yet innovative water treatment devices ranging from use of plant xylem as filters, terafilters, and hand pumps to tippy taps designed indigenously are methods mentioned here. By describing the technical aspects of major water disinfection methods relevant for developing countries on medium to small scales and emphasizing their merits, demerits, economics, and scalability, we highlight the current scenario and pave the way for further research and development and scaling up of these processes.
This review focuses on clean drinking water, especially for rural populations in developing countries. It describes various water disinfection techniques that are not only economically viable and energy efficient but also employ simple methodologies that are effective in reducing the physical, chemical, and biological pollutants found in drinking water to acceptable limits.
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Thermoelectric Properties of Solution Synthesized Nanostructured Materials
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 247–266More LessThermoelectric nanocomposites made by solution synthesis and compression of nanostructured chalcogenides could potentially be low-cost, scalable alternatives to traditional solid-state synthesized materials. We review the progress in this field by comparing the power factor and/or the thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT, of four classes of materials: (Bi,Sb)2(Te,Se)3, PbTe, ternary and quaternary copper chalcogenides, and silver chalcogenides. We also discuss the thermal conductivity reduction associated with multiphased nanocomposites. The ZT of the best solution synthesized materials are, in several cases, shown to be equal to or greater than the corresponding bulk materials despite the generally reduced mobility associated with solution synthesized nanocomposites. For the solution synthesized materials with the highest performance, the synthesis and processing conditions are summarized to provide guidance for future work.
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Group Contribution Methods for Phase Equilibrium Calculations
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 267–292More LessThe development and design of chemical processes are carried out by solving the balance equations of a mathematical model for sections of or the whole chemical plant with the help of process simulators. For process simulation, besides kinetic data for the chemical reaction, various pure component and mixture properties are required. Because of the great importance of separation processes for a chemical plant in particular, a reliable knowledge of the phase equilibrium behavior is required. The phase equilibrium behavior can be calculated with the help of modern equations of state or gE–models using only binary parameters. But unfortunately, only a very small part of the experimental data for fitting the required binary model parameters is available, so very often these models cannot be applied directly. To solve this problem, powerful predictive thermodynamic models have been developed. Group contribution methods allow the prediction of the required phase equilibrium data using only a limited number of group interaction parameters. A prerequisite for fitting the required group interaction parameters is a comprehensive database. That is why for the development of powerful group contribution methods almost all published pure component properties, phase equilibrium data, excess properties, etc., were stored in computerized form in the Dortmund Data Bank. In this review, the present status, weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages, possible applications, and typical results of the different group contribution methods for the calculation of phase equilibria are presented.
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Microfluidic Strategies for Understanding the Mechanics of Cells and Cell-Mimetic Systems
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 293–317More LessMicrofluidic systems are attracting increasing interest for the high-throughput measurement of cellular biophysical properties and for the creation of engineered cellular microenvironments. Here we review recent applications of microfluidic technologies to the mechanics of living cells and synthetic cell-mimetic systems. We begin by discussing the use of microfluidic devices to dissect the mechanics of cellular mimics, such as capsules and vesicles. We then explore applications to circulating cells, including erythrocytes and other normal blood cells, and rare populations with potential disease diagnostic value, such as circulating tumor cells. We conclude by discussing how microfluidic devices have been used to investigate the mechanics, chemotaxis, and invasive migration of adherent cells. In these ways, microfluidic technologies represent an increasingly important toolbox for investigating cellular mechanics and motility at high throughput and in a format that lends itself to clinical translation.
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Biocatalysis: A Status Report
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 319–345More LessThis review describes the status of the fields of biocatalysts and enzymes, as well as existing drawbacks, and recent advances in the areas deemed to represent drawbacks. Although biocatalysts are often highly active and extremely selective, there are still drawbacks associated with biocatalysis as a generally applicable technique: the lack of designability of biocatalysts; their limits of stability; and the insufficient number of well-characterized, ready-to-use biocatalysts.
There has been significant progress on the following fronts: (a) novel protein engineering tools, both experimental and computational, have significantly enhanced the toolbox for biocatalyst development. (b) The deactivation of biocatalysts under various stresses can be described quantitatively via rational models. There are several cases of spectacular leaps of stabilization after accumulating all stabilizing mutations found in earlier rounds. The concept that stabilization against one type of stress commonly also stabilizes against other types of stress is now experimentally considerably better founded than a few years ago. (c) A host of developments of novel biocatalysts in the past few years, in part fueled by improved designability and improved methods of stabilization, has considerably broadened the toolbox for synthetic chemistry.
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Computational Modeling of Multiphase Reactors
J.B. Joshi, and K. NandakumarVol. 6 (2015), pp. 347–378More LessMultiphase reactors are very common in chemical industry, and numerous review articles exist that are focused on types of reactors, such as bubble columns, trickle beds, fluid catalytic beds, etc. Currently, there is a high degree of empiricism in the design process of such reactors owing to the complexity of coupled flow and reaction mechanisms. Hence, we focus on synthesizing recent advances in computational and experimental techniques that will enable future designs of such reactors in a more rational manner by exploring a large design space with high-fidelity models (computational fluid dynamics and computational chemistry models) that are validated with high-fidelity measurements (tomography and other detailed spatial measurements) to provide a high degree of rigor. Understanding the spatial distributions of dispersed phases and their interaction during scale up are key challenges that were traditionally addressed through pilot scale experiments, but now can be addressed through advanced modeling.
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Particle Formation and Product Formulation Using Supercritical Fluids
Vol. 6 (2015), pp. 379–407More LessTraditional methods for solids processing involve either high temperatures, necessary for melting or viscosity reduction, or hazardous organic solvents. Owing to the negative impact of the solvents on the environment, especially on living organisms, intensive research has focused on new, sustainable methods for the processing of these substances. Applying supercritical fluids for particle formation may produce powders and composites with special characteristics. Several processes for formation and design of solid particles using dense gases have been studied intensively. The unique thermodynamic and fluid-dynamic properties of supercritical fluids can be used also for impregnation of solid particles or for the formation of solid powderous emulsions and particle coating, e.g., for formation of solids with unique properties for use in different applications. We give an overview of the application of sub- and supercritical fluids as green processing media for particle formation processes and present recent advances and trends in development.
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