Our research engineers membranes as active, responsive, and reactive platforms—not passive barriers. Across carbon capture, adaptive separations, and bioseparation, we build membrane systems that perform chemistry, adapt to their environment, and solve problems that conventional separation approaches cannot.

Research Directions

Reactive Membranes for Carbon Capture and Conversion

Scientific question: How can membrane interfaces be engineered to couple selective CO₂ capture with catalytic conversion into value-added products, bypassing the thermodynamic and kinetic penalties of sequential capture-then-convert approaches?

What we pursue: We develop nanozyme-enabled membranes that integrate CO₂ capture with catalytic conversion by mimicking enzymatic reaction pathways and coupling chemistry with selective transport—enabling single-stage carbon utilization under mild, scalable conditions.

Applications include:

Integrated CO₂ capture and conversion (e.g., formate and syngas production)
Gas-phase and membrane reactor systems
Electrified and thermocatalytic carbon transformation platforms
Modular, process-intensified carbon utilization systems

Adaptive Membranes for Dynamic and Selective Separation

Scientific question: How can membrane transport and selectivity be dynamically modulated by external stimuli—redox state, electric field, or chemical environment—to enable programmable, feedback-controlled separations that are inaccessible under fixed operating conditions?

What we pursue: We design stimuli-responsive membranes that tune pore chemistry and transport properties in real time, creating separation systems that adapt to process demands rather than operating at a single fixed point.

Applications include:

Smart gas separations (CO₂, H₂, hydrocarbons) under variable feed conditions
Electrically tunable ion separations, desalination, and critical resource recovery
Process-intensified membrane reactors with adaptive selectivity
Precision multicomponent separations in complex aqueous environments

Reactive Membrane Platforms for Bioseparation and Antifouling

Scientific question: How can membrane surfaces be engineered to actively degrade foulants and process-relevant impurities in situ—converting a passive filtration barrier into a reactive purification interface that improves both selectivity and operational stability?

What we pursue: We engineer catalytic and nanozyme-functionalized membranes that degrade contaminants and neutralize fouling species during separation, enabling more robust and selective purification of complex biological and aqueous streams.

Applications include:

Biopharmaceutical purification (e.g., host cell protein degradation during monoclonal antibody processing)
Self-cleaning and antifouling membrane systems for sustained performance
Reactive filtration for complex biological matrices
Sustainable water purification with in situ contaminant degradation

Research Projects

Block Copolymers

We are developing membranes from molecularly defined copolymers, aiming to understand how polymer microstructure influences physicochemical and gas transport properties. A major area of interest is polyurethane-based membranes, where we examine how segmental composition and morphology affect gas permeability and selectivity. These insights support the rational design of high-performance membranes for advanced gas separation applications.

Microporous Polymers

We develop microporous polyimides using spirobisindane-based diamines and functional Tröger’s base (TB) units to achieve high gas separation performance. By tuning inter- and intra-chain interactions—such as incorporating carboxylic acid groups—we control microporosity, enhance selectivity, and improve resistance to plasticization under high-pressure gas feeds.

Mixed Matrix Membranes

We develop mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) that combine polymer processability with the molecular sieving ability of microporous fillers like MOFs and POSS. By nanosizing and amine-functionalizing Zr-MOF and POSS additives in a PIM-1 matrix, we achieve not only enhanced permeability but also unconventional selectivity improvements.

MOF Membranes

We synthesize Zr-MOF membranes with tailored ligand chemistry using in situ solvothermal and coordination modulation methods. Bulkier linkers create narrower pore apertures, enabling molecular sieving and high selectivity for hydrogen. Molecular simulations confirm that added benzene rings restrict larger gas molecules while allowing hydrogen to diffuse efficiently.

Nanozyme-enabled Membranes

We develop bio-inspired gas separation membranes by mimicking carbonic anhydrase (CA) enzymes, which efficiently convert CO₂ to bicarbonate. Using histidine-based bolaamphiphiles coordinated with zinc, we create nanoparticles that exhibit high CO₂ affinity and catalytic activity. These nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed in polymer matrices to enhance CO₂ solubility and catalyze reversible CO₂ hydration under humid conditions. The resulting membranes show exceptional CO₂ permeability and selectivity, combined with durable performance, offering a novel approach for efficient and stable CO₂ capture.

Nanolaminate Membranes

Graphene oxide (GO) and MXene-based membranes are promising materials for separation applications. Their 2D-layered structure permits the development of high-performance thin-film composite membranes at low filler contents.

We use nanodiamonds as fillers to improve membrane morphology and separation performance. Nanofiltration membranes made via ND-mediated interfacial polymerization show significantly higher water flux. In laminate membranes, incorporating positively charged nanodiamonds into graphene oxide nanolaminates enhances humidity resistance for hydrogen separation.

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