Speaker
Description
The adsorption process influenced by polyelectrolytes at soft interfaces plays a crucial role in various electrochemical, sensing, and separation technologies. Nonetheless, the intricate interfacial energetics at the microscopic level of conducting polymer-semiconductor nanocomposites are still not well comprehended. This investigation delves into the interfacial energetics and charge-driven adsorption phenomena in polyethersulfone-polyaniline (PES-PANI) nanocomposites, analysing the relationships between electronic structure, polarisation, and mesoscopic transport to elucidate the resulting adsorption behaviour stemming from the nanoscale heterogeneity within a condensed-matter and surface-physics context.
The composite facilitates tunable charge distributions and adsorption sites by integrating the highly functionalised polymeric structure of PES, the conductive and redox-active properties of PANI, and the porous morphology of PES. Impedance spectroscopy and temperature-dependent conductivity measurements are employed to differentiate between bulk and interfacial contributions to charge transport, uncovering a transition from hopping-dominated conduction in isolated PANI domains to quasi-percolative transport at a critical filler fraction. Moreover, adsorption isotherms for model ionic adsorbates provide a quantitative understanding of how interfacial charge accumulation and screened Coulomb interactions influence adsorption free energies and selectivity. This study highlights the significance of charge dynamics and interfacial physics in influencing adsorption efficiency, moving beyond a solely chemical perspective centred on functional-group affinity. The findings present a physics-driven framework for developing advanced nanocomposite adsorbents that exhibit enhanced performance.
| Apply for student award at which level: | None |
|---|---|
| Consent on use of personal information: Abstract Submission | Yes, I ACCEPT |