Clemson University

Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Fall 2013 Seminar Series

Fundamental Studies of Relaxation Dynamics

in Gas Separation Membrane Polymers

 

Dr. Douglass S. Kalika

Chemical and Materials Engineering Department

University of Kentucky

 

The successful development of polymeric materials for use as gas separation membranes requires the determination of fundamental materials science relationships that link polymer chemistry and physical behavior to desired outcomes in separation performance.  Over the last decade, our research group at the University of Kentucky has examined a range of emerging membrane material platforms with a focus on the characterization of relaxation dynamics in these membranes and their relation to polymer structure, free volume and separation properties.  This work has helped to identify key aspects of polymer composition, architecture and morphology in establishing design rules for the tailoring and optimization of gas separation membrane materials.

The presentation will touch on three classes of gas separation membrane polymers: rubbery amorphous networks with high ethylene oxide content for CO2 separations, nanocomposite membranes based on glassy polymers, and thermally-modified aromatic polyimides with exceptional permeability and thermal/chemical resistance. In each case, dynamic thermal analysis techniques (i.e., dynamic mechanical analysis and broadband dielectric spectroscopy) have been used to elucidate the sub-glass and glass-rubber relaxation characteristics of the polymers as related to their structural details and formulation history.  Information obtained through these methods provides valuable insight as to inherent segmental mobility and motional constraint, relaxation environment, and their influence on small molecule transport.

 

Dr. Douglass Kalika is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.  Dr. Kalika holds degrees in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California at Berkeley, and joined the faculty at Kentucky in 1990.  His research is in the area of polymeric materials and synthetic membranes, and encompasses polymer viscoelasticity, blends, and polymer processing.  This work has resulted in over 50 archival publications and book chapters, as well as 115 presentations and invited lectures. Dr. Kalika has won numerous departmental and college awards for undergraduate teaching and received the UK College of Engineering Henry Mason Lutes Award for Undergraduate Education in 2007.  He has served as both Senior Associate Dean and Acting Dean of the University of Kentucky Graduate School and was named Chair of Chemical and Materials Engineering in 2009.  Dr. Kalika was elected AIChE Fellow in 2012.

Thursday, October 10, 2013 at 2:00pm to 3:00pm

Earle Hall, 100 206 South Palmetto

Notice of Non-Discrimination

Event Type

Seminars

Target Audience

General Public

Contact Name:

Diana Stamey

Contact Phone:

656-1182

Contact Email:

short@clemson.edu

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