Past Event: Multiscale Engineering, Mathematics and Sciences Seminar

Chemistry and engineering of gas separation membranes made of atom-thick selective layer

Kumar Agrawal, Associate Professor and GAZNAT Chair of Advanced Separations at the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering at EPFL

Abstract

High-performance gas separation membranes are expected to play a crucial role in improving the energy efficiency of separation processes. Their development is crucial to tackle the important problem of low-penalty carbon capture for reducing carbon emission. Our laboratory is engaged in the chemistry and engineering of materials at the Å length scale to address challenges in the scalable fabrication of porous membranes separating molecules based on their relative diffusivities and affinities through custom-designed pores.  We focus on engineering ultrathin films, down to the thickness of a single atom (or unit cell), from chemically, thermally, and mechanically robust materials using scale-up-conducive chemistries with high precision in pore size and functionality.

In this seminar, I will present our work on the synthesis and scale-up of two-dimensional materials and their film.  I will discuss highly-scalable methods to introduce Å-scale pores in atom-thick film of graphene, explaining the mechanism of pore formation. I will discuss heteroatom doping which allows to enhance CO2/N2 selectivity for the postcombustion capture application. Finally, I will discuss a scalable synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOF) films for rapid hydrogen purification where the selective layer is only one unit-cell-thick film.

Biography

Kumar is an Associate Professor and GAZNAT Chair of Advanced Separations at the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering at EPFL. He received his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from IIT Bombay in 2005.  Following this, he joined the global R&D division of Procter & Gamble in Japan working on product design (2005-2008). He received his PhD degree from the University of Minnesota (2013), developing two-dimensional zeolites, one of the first 2d materials used for separations. He got his postdoctoral training on carbon materials in Strano group at MIT. His research group is developing scalable synthetic routes for the porous two-dimensional membranes with emphasis on carbon capture.  He is recipient of AIChE Separation Division FRI/John G. Kunesh Award, NAMS Young Membrane Scientist Award, ERC Starting Grant, etc. He is editorial board member of the Journal of Membrane Science.