Browsing by Author "Hwang, Chih-chau"

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    Composites for carbon dioxide capture
    (2017-08-01) Tour, James M.; Hwang, Chih-chau; Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark Office
    Composite materials and methods of preparing C02 capture include: (1) a porous solid support comprising a plurality of porous channels; and (2) a nucleophilic source associated with the porous channels of the porous solid support. The nucleophilic source is capable of converting the captured C02 to poly(C02). Methods of capturing C02 from an environment include associating the environment with the aforementioned composite materials to lead to the capture of C02 from the environment. Such methods may also include a step of releasing the captured C02 from the composite material. The associating step comprises a conversion of the captured C02 to poly(C02) in the composite material. A releasing step may also include a depolymerization of the formed poly(C02).
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    Nanocomposite oil sensors for downhole hydrocarbon detection
    (2016-06-28) Tour, James M.; Hwang, Chih-chau; Lu, Wei; Ruan, Gedeng; Tomson, Mason B.; Kan, Amy; Wang, Lu; Wong, Michael S.; Kini, Gautam; Hirasaki, George J.; Miller, Clarence; Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark Office
    Various embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to nanocomposites for detecting hydrocarbons in a geological structure. In some embodiments, the nanocomposites include: a core particle; a polymer associated with the core particle; a sulfur-based moiety associated with the polymer; and a releasable probe molecule associated with the core particle, where the releasable probe molecule is releasable from the core particle upon exposure to hydrocarbons. Additional embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to methods of detecting hydrocarbons in a geological structure by utilizing the nanocomposites of the present disclosure.
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    Nucleophilic porous carbon materials for CO2 and H2S capture
    (2017-03-28) Tour, James M.; Hwang, Chih-chau; Schipper, Desmond E.; Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark Office
    In some embodiments, the present disclosure pertains to methods of capturing a gas from an environment by associating the environment (e.g., a pressurized environment) with a porous carbon material that comprises a plurality of pores and a plurality of nucleophilic moieties. In some embodiments, the associating results in sorption of gas components (e.g., CO2 or H2S) to the porous carbon materials. In some embodiments, the methods of the present disclosure also include a step of releasing captured gas components from porous carbon materials. In some embodiments, the releasing occurs without any heating steps by decreasing environmental pressure. In some embodiments, the methods of the present disclosure also include a step of disposing released gas components and reusing porous carbon materials. Additional embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to porous carbon materials that are used for gas capture.
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    Porous carbon materials for CO2 separation in natural gas
    (2017-10-03) Tour, James M.; Schipper, Desmond E.; Hwang, Chih-chau; Tour, Josiah; Jalilov, Almaz S.; Ruan, Gedeng; Li, Yilun; Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark Office
    In some embodiments, the present disclosure pertains to materials for use in CO2 capture in high pressure environments. In some embodiments, the materials include a porous carbon material containing a plurality of pores for use in a high pressure environment. Additional embodiments pertain to methods of utilizing the materials of the present disclosure to capture CO2 from various environments. In some embodiments, the materials of the present disclosure selectively capture CO2 over hydrocarbon species in the environment.
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    Porous carbon materials for CO2 separation in natural gas
    (2017-03-21) Tour, James M.; Schipper, Desmond E.; Hwang, Chih-chau; Tour, Josiah; Jalilov, Almaz S.; Ruan, Gedeng; Li, Yilun; Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark Office
    In some embodiments, the present disclosure pertains to materials for use in CO2 capture in high pressure environments. In some embodiments, the materials include a porous carbon material containing a plurality of pores for use in a high pressure environment. Additional embodiments pertain to methods of utilizing the materials of the present disclosure to capture CO2 from various environments. In some embodiments, the materials of the present disclosure selectively capture CO2 over hydrocarbon species in the environment.