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New paper published in the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry on TMAH recovery

New paper published in the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. In cooperation with former group member Choonsoo Kim (now at Kongju University, Korea), we have used redox flow desalination for the valorization of tetramethylammonium hydroxide as a value-added organic compounds from wastewater which is widely being used as an etching solvent, photoresist developer, and surfactant
in semiconductor and display industries. By applying a low cell voltage (<1.2 V), a reversible redox
reaction allowed a continuous removal of TMAH from the wastewater stream and a simultaneous recovery for reuse as a form of tetramethylammonium cation. The TMAH removal rate was approximately
4.3 mM/g/h with a 40% recovery ratio.

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New paper published in Communications Materials on 2D high entropy materials

New perspective paper published in Communications Materials. The high entropy concept is ideally suited for MXenes but also capable to be a unique tool to tailor and improve electrochemical properties in other materials.

Multiple principal element or high-entropy materials have recently been studied in the two-dimensional (2D) materials phase space. These promising classes of materials combine the unique behavior of solid-solution and entropy-stabilized systems with high aspect ratios and atomically thin characteristics of 2D materials. The current experimental space of these materials includes 2D transition metal oxides, carbides/carbonitrides/nitrides (MXenes), dichalcogenides, and hydrotalcites. However, high-entropy 2D materials have the potential to expand into other types, such as 2D metal-organic frameworks, 2D transition metal carbo-chalcogenides, and 2D transition metal borides (MBenes).

So, what is our perspective article about? We discuss the entropy stabilization from bulk to 2D systems, the effects of disordered multi-valent elements on lattice distortion and local electronic structures and elucidate how these local changes influence the catalytic and electrochemical behavior of these 2D high-entropy materials. We also provide a perspective on 2D high-entropy materials research and its challenges and discuss the importance of this emerging field of nanomaterials in designing tunable compositions with unique electronic structures for energy, catalytic, electronic, and structural applications.

This perspective paper has been the result of our collaboration with my dear friend Babak Anasori (with his team: Kartik Nemani and Brian Wyatt) from Purdue University and our team (including Mohammad Torkamanzadeh).

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Joint work presented at the MAKRO 2023

Joint work is presented by the Gallei Group at the Macromolecular Colloquium Freiburg (MAKRO 2023). Check out our paper with the title “Stabilizing isoporous, self-assembled block copolymer structures in membranes and cellulose hybrid materials” if you attend the event!

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Ph.D. students Behnoosh Bornamehr and Mohammad Torkamanzadeh win in open access / open science competition of Saarland University

Very happy to see both Behnoosh Bornamehr and Mohammad Torkamanzadeh winning in the essay competition on open science / open data of Saarland University! This makes for a 100% win rate for applicants from our team 😉 Open access is not without challenges and caveats and the journey toward a world of true open science remains a high goal for the future. I am happy to see that our students actively engage in the conversation and contribute their valuable insights and share their experience!

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