Electrodialysis is a membrane separation process that uses an electrical potential to drive the separation. The performance of these systems is largely based on the performance of their ion exchange membranes (IEMs). This research focused on enhancing the performance of IEMs for electrodialysis through surface modification techniques involving chitosan bonded to the surface of commercially available cation exchange membranes (CEMs). The surface functionalization techniques resulted in membranes with improved electrodialysis performance. This research also explored the processing framework to produce functionalized sulfonated PEEK (sPEEK) nanofibers for future consideration as cation exchange membranes. Chitin was deacetylated to form the functionalized biopolymer chitosan, then applied to the surface of CEMs, rendering them more hydrophilic. These membranes were evaluated across several electrodialysis performance metrics. Results demonstrate that adjusting the degree of deacetylation of chitosan to enhance membrane hydrophilicity positively impacted electrodialysis performance. Furthermore, this research evaluated the effectiveness of similarly functionalized membranes to extract Lithium from brine solutions. The chitosan-coated membranes showed improved electrodialysis performance, including enhanced flux, limiting current density, system resistance, selectivity, and fouling resistance. Lastly, the sPEEK nanofibers were produced for the fabrication of ion exchange membranes by manipulating operational parameters to assess their impact. This research presents the successful functionalization of PEEK via sulfonation and electrospinning of the resulting sPEEK. These nanofibers were then pressed to form a solid sPEEK membrane. It was observed that changes in electrical potential and rotational speed influenced fiber diameter and spinnability. A correlation was established between membrane surface hydrophilicity and electrodialysis performance metrics in desalination and lithium extraction applications. This research advanced the understanding of structure-property relationships for CEMs. The research herein proposes techniques for industries such as desalination and lithium extraction that can meet growing demands for clean water and sustainable methods for producing high-value raw material streams.

A number of studies have explored the impact of multitasking on specific cognitive skills, primarily with regard to non-media multitasking activities. While briefly addressing technology, its use in the modern era regarding media multitasking and its associated cognitive declines has not been extensively examined. Forty-nine participants were required to complete a series of cognitive tasks including the Stroop Color and Word Test and the Trail Making Test. Data were also collected for how often participants media multitask, the amount of technology they use, as well as other demographic variables. The goal of this study was to empirically examine the role of technology use and media multitasking on cognitive processes such as selective attention and task switching. It was hypothesized that those grouped as high media-multitaskers would predict a faster reaction time on the Stroop task, in line with previous literature by Cain & Mitroff (2011). Results showed a significant relationship exhibiting a negative correlation between the two factors, thereby accepting the hypothesis. Findings conclude with considerations for both the use and design of technological interfaces and devices as they apply to a variety of operational settings and high-tech environments.

Bilingualism has been studied extensively in multiple disciplines, yet we are still trying to figure out how exactly bilinguals think. A bilingual advantage has been observed in various experimental studies, but also has not been observed in many other studies. A bilingual advantage has been shown in tasks using selective attention. These tasks study the effects of language interference, where two types of interference are observed: interlingual (between-languages) and intralingual (within one language). This study examined language interference in Spanish-English bilinguals, using an auditory-visual simultaneous translation experimental setup. 16 college English monolinguals and 17 college Spanish-English bilinguals were tested. The task was to ignore the word in the headphones and to translate/repeat the word on the screen into English. Distractor words went to either the right, left, or both headphone ears. Subjects were given 72 words to translate, words were randomized, and ear of the distractor word was randomized. The monolingual group was not affected by any independent variables tested except screen word length. Bilinguals did worse when the word and audio were in Spanish, and when the word and audio were different words. No ear advantage was observed. Proficiency levels and first language had no effects on bilingual performance. More intralingual interference was observed for bilinguals only, no significant interference occurred for monolinguals. A slight bilingual advantage was found but not fully, because of the high load of the task and introduction of another language. In conclusion, bilinguals did not have a cognitive advantage in this experiment setup.

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