EVENT DETAILS
Title: Novel Mixed Matrix Polymer Membranes for Critical Gas Separations
Abstract:
Polymeric membranes, which present an efficient solution for emergent technologies, such as CO2 capture and natural gas purification, are effective at the selective and efficient transport of gases. The field of polymer membrane design is primarily based on empirical observation, which limits the discovery of new, advanced materials most appropriate for separating a given gas pair. Instead of relying on exhaustive experimental investigations, we apply machine learning on a limited set of experimental gas permeability data to predict the behavior of over 10,000 homopolymer architectures that are currently known. However, this approach, while extremely efficient, suggests that the current polymers used in membrane applications represent the best that this template can provide - thus new platforms are required to improve performance. To this end, we thus propose novel membranes based on polymers grafted onto nanoparticles (GNPs). The issues raised by these methods and ways to use and leverage them to improve performance systematically are the major focus of my talk.
Biography: Sanat K. Kumar creates, analyzes, and models new classes of polymer-based materials with improved properties. A particular focus is on hybrid materials (polymer with inorganic filler) with relevance to biomimicry, and energy storage and conversion. His work in this area spans all topics of polymer nanocomposites including self-assembly, microstructure, glassy segmental dynamics and vitrification, elasticity and reinforcement, linear and nonlinear mechanical-dynamical phenomena, chain relaxation, nanoparticle diffusion and dynamics. The work in this group combines theory, simulation, and experiment to advance the science of energy conversion and storage and more recently to mimic biology (e.g., the development of hierarchical morphologies as found in Nacre with the goal of achieving unprecedented improvements in properties and the use of DNA to guide the assembly of nanoparticle into desired structures).
TIME Wednesday November 2, 2022 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
LOCATION A230, Technological Institute map it
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CONTACT Joy Trehan joy.trehan@northwestern.edu
CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)