Using cnc router cut PVC foam boards as cell frame
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There's a lot I would love to add to this community. I think the way traditional methodology for this technology needs to be reapproached. Firstly, by using my open sourced membrane recipe you can glue it directly into a PVC cell. Secondly, using foam core PVC sheets which are readily available and cheap from cabinet shops like imeca allows for complex flow cell designs to be easily and rapidly produced with a simple CNC router on various sizes. I have a flow cell design already I'll be glad to upload. I'm new here so sorry there's a lot I love to want to share and am doing things one thing at a time.
You can find more details on the membrane on the following GitHub https://github.com/Rowow1/Open-sourced-off-the-shelf-ion-exchange-membrane
However I started a separate thread specifically for this membrane topic.@kirk said in New member introduction thread!:
This would be great to see! Feel free to start a thread in @general-discussion about your cell design. We had tossed around the idea of 2D-material milling/laser approaches to flow frames, but have stuck with 3D printed designs for now so that we can have internal geometries in the flow frames - 2D would certainly be easier and cheaper to make, but I was hesitant about the increased gasketing required/adhesives for sealing.
The key aspect of using the proposed PVC membrane recipe together with the pvc foam board actually completely eliminates the need for gaskets. You simply glue the membrane in place since its also made from pvc. Overall there's far less labor and requirements, forming a sealed (technically welded) bonded cell for a fraction of the price that 3d printing would cost. The long term goal and my personal next goal is to get into injection molding which of course is the best option.
Ill see about uploading the cell fusion 360 model soon depending on if people even care or not. But the point is the core principle idea of being able to use much cheaper pvc foam board material and mass produce these cells at a much better scale than one layer at a time with 3d printing. I was able to make unique geometries needed for flow cells with my 2d design.
As a comparison, you can buy these foam boards for $60-80 for 1/2" or 3/4" from imeca for a full 4x8ft sheet