COLLABORATORS

Our research focuses on developing environmentally-benign and energy-efficient membranes
to solve pressing separations at the water-energy-environment-food nexus interface

Current research themes

Waste upcycling to fabricate membranes for various applications

This project focuses on transitioning membrane synthesis to a circular economy by using waste plastic as a zero-carbon footprint source for membrane fabrication. We control the thermodynamics and kinetics of the membranes formed by tuning the governing factors dictating the morphology of phase inversion membranes. This enables us to precisely tune the membrane pore density, and therefore the selectivity of our synthesized membranes. We investigate the performance of these membranes for commercially important separations.

Porous non-toxic polymeric composite cyclodextrin membranes for advanced nanofiltration

This project aims to synthesize membranes of a novel class of organic porous nanomaterial called cyclodextrins (CD’s). CD’s work well with polymers to create a stable, continuous polymer phase due to their unique cavity shape and amphipathic nature. Our main objective is to substitute the hydroxyl groups of CD’s to create derivatives. By forming derivatives and functionalizing CD’s, we aim to develop highly selective membranes, and subsequently test them for nanofiltration applications.

Thin film composite Pebax® 1657 membranes for pervaporation and carbon dioxide capture

Pebax® 1657 is an excellent hydrophillic commercial block co-polymer with poly (ethylene oxide) blocks providing the hydrophillicity and hydrphobic polyamide segments providing mechanical strength to the polymer chain. This project aims to synthesize thin film composite Pebax 1657 membranes, and test them for two major applications namely, pervaporation and carbon dioxide capture