(6ht) Transport and Structure in Polymer Membranes for Energy-Efficient Separations

With the world’s population growing rapidly, the need for clean water is greater than ever. Among water purification methods, membrane-based separations draw attention because of their energy efficiency (they do not require an energy-intensive phase-change step, as in distillation), small footprint, and ability to eliminate trace contaminants. However, only a few membrane materials and formation methods are used in industry today, and current membranes often have inadequate efficiency (i.e., selectivity), productivity (i.e., permeability), and chemical stability to be used with water from all sources. To overcome these challenges, new polymer membrane materials and formation methods are needed that will allow us to precisely tune pore size and pore size distributions and to control chemical stability for better separation performance.

Transport of small molecules and ions through polymer membranes is predominantly controlled by the polymer nanostructure. Therefore, morphological control of the membrane structure by tuning chain architecture, synthetic routes, and post-synthesis treatment is a critical aspect of membrane system design. My graduate research focused on the water and salt transport properties (permeation, diffusion and sorption) of ion-containing polymers (sulfonated aromatic hydrocarbons) prepared by a new membrane formation method, i.e., solvent-free melt processing. My postdoctoral research centers on extending my understanding of a polymer’s physical structure by designing and synthesizing highly-structured polymeric systems and performing extended transport property studies, including sorption behavior of biomolecules and ionic conductivity for applications in bioengineering and electrochemical systems. These porous conducting polymers can be used as polymer electrolytes in electrochemical systems and as blood filtering devices for biomedical applications.

My research is directed at understanding the fundamental structure-property relationships of water and ion transport in polymers and composite materials. These interests span disciplines from chemical engineering and chemistry to materials science. The advancement of the technologies mentioned above is highly dependent on the development of polymer membranes that selectively permeate only desired components, while maintaining their chemical stability. My goal is to develop correlations between design, synthesis, structure, and transport properties of polymers for targeting applications in energy-efficient separations, batteries and biomedical devices. Synthetic work will focus on such highly-structured polymers as ion-containing polymers, block copolymers, and random copolymers, and polymer characterization will focus on water purification, electrochemical systems, and biomedical devices.

Teaching Interests:

I find teaching and mentoring the next generation of scientists to be the most satisfying aspect of working in academia. Both in classroom instruction and in a research laboratory, my goal is to help students identify important problems and to arrive at intelligent solutions by using critical thinking skills.

My education and experiences have prepared me well to teach both undergraduate and graduate courses in the Chemical Engineering department. Additionally, as a graduate student and a postdoctoral researcher, I have supervised the research projects of three undergraduate students and several high school students. Seeing these students succeed has been amazingly rewarding to me, and I look forward to continuing this mentorship with my future graduate students and post-docs.