Carol Assadourian

Dr. Hee Jeung Oh
Assistant Professor
Pennsylvania State University

“Molecular Scale Engineering of Polymer Membranes for Energy, Environment and Health”

April 24, 2025 from 3:30-4:30 PM in GLT 1.106

Abstract
Chemical separations are vital for accessing clean water, air, energy, medicine, food, and a safe environment. Membrane-based separations are particularly valued for their energy efficiency, compact size, and ability to differentiate molecular mixtures. Polymer membranes play crucial roles in various applications, including gas, liquid, and vapor separations, resource recovery, energy storage, packaging, and health-related devices, contributing significantly to sustainability and decarbonization efforts. To advance these technologies, innovative polymer membranes with precise transport properties and microstructures are needed. Charged polymer membranes, with anionic or cationic groups bonded to the polymer backbone, offer versatile transport properties. By altering the composition of charged groups and the polymer architecture, the transport properties of small molecules in polymer membranes can be varied. The seminar will present research on designing charged polymer membranes for improved separations, focusing on the fundamental mechanisms of polymer-penetrant interactions and diffusion pathways for selective transport.

Bio
Hee Jeung Oh is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. She earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). She completed her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, working under the supervision of Prof. Benny Freeman and Prof. Donald Paul. Before joining Penn State, her postdoctoral training was in Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, under the guidance of Prof. Nitash Balsara.

Photo caption: In his lab at MIT, Zachary Smith is designing membranes with tiny pores that can filter tiny molecules based on their size. Here, Smith holds a “membrane coupon,” which is a small piece of polymer that can filter gas molecules selectively. Credit: Jodi Hilton

Cockrell School of Engineering news, “Chemical engineering alumnus Zachary Smith wants to reduce the cost and carbon footprint of industrial processes by using highly efficient filters that can separate gases, liquids and ions at room temperature.”

Read more: Quality Digest by Anne Trafton entitled, “Designing Tiny Filters to Solve Big Problems“.

Published Jan. 12, 2025, in MIT News.

R.J. has “been selected as one of the three recipients of the 2025 NAMS Student Fellowship Award. R.J. will receive a check for $500, free registration to the NAMS meeting including a one year NAMS membership, three nights in the conference hotel, and will present in a special NAMS Award Session.”

As noted on the North American Membrane Society (NAMS) website, “The NAMS Student Fellowship Awards are presented annually to outstanding graduate students in the membrane science and technology area. Recipients will give an oral presentation during a special award session at the 2025 Annual Meeting.”

The Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology (TAMEST) awards Joan F. Brennecke and Benny D. Freeman with the 2025 Hill Prize in Engineering “for developing advanced, stable and energy-efficient membrane technology to separate olefins (such as ethylene and propylene) from paraffins, a process crucial in many industries including petrochemicals.” They are pictured here with Kay Bailey Hutchinson (middle).

“The Hill Prizes, funded by Lyda Hill Philanthropies, recognize and advance top Texas innovators and researchers whose work could have significant impact on science and society. The prizes propel high-risk, high-reward ideas and innovations that demonstrate very significant potential for real-world impact and can lead to new, paradigm-shifting paths in research.”

Katherine Kimball, supervised by graduate student R. J. Vogler, wins 3rd place in the Undergraduate Student Poster Competition at the 2024 AIChE Annual Meeting.

The poster is entitled, “Rapid Phase Separation Driven Formation of Biomimetic 2D Nanosheets”, Katherine Kimball, Ronald J. Vogler, Dominic Bujanos, Benny D. Freeman, and Manish Kumar.

Dominic Bujanos, supervised by graduate student R. J. Vogler, Wins 2nd Place in the Undergraduate Student Poster Competition at the 2024 AIChE Annual Meeting.

The poster is entitled, “Tunable Phase Separation of Detergents for the Crystallization of Membrane Proteins and Block Copolymers”, Dominic Bujanos, Katherine Kimball, Ronald J. Vogler, Benny D. Freeman, and Manish Kumar”.