Dive into our Distinguished Webinar Series featured lecture, “Polymeric membranes for precise sustainable separations” with Professor Suzana Nunes, Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs at King Abdullah University for Science & Technology (KAUST), hosted via Zoom on 28 September 2023.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Suzana Nunes is the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs at KAUST, where she is a Professor of Chemical and Environmental Science and Engineering. She has a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Campinas, Brazil, was a Humboldt postdoc Fellow in polymer physical chemistry at the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany, and visiting scientist at the Max-Planck for Polymer Science and Tokyo Institute of Technology. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, and of the Sao Paulo Academy of Science, Brazil. She is the laureate of the 2023 L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science International Award for Africa and the Arab States recognized for her achievements in chemistry. She is an Associate Editor of ACS Applied Polymer Materials and a member of the Journal of Membrane Science board.
She has decades of experience in polymeric membrane development with more than 290 publications in the field, 7 books, and several patents. In Germany, she was head of the department of membranes for sustainable energy at Helmholtz Association, having led strategic German and European projects on hydrogen technology and CO2 capture. At KAUST, her lab focuses on new polymeric materials, and their translation into membranes for liquid, gas, and vapor separations. She targets sustainable separations that would enable less energy-intensive processes in the chemical, petrochemical, and pharmaceutical industries. For this purpose, highly stable materials are required. Her group also explores green solvent alternatives for membrane preparation, considering polymers from non-fossil sources and methods that permit the recycling and polymeric materials and circular chemistry applied to membrane fabrication.
ABSTRACT
Chemical separations are responsible for a great part of the energy consumption in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and petrochemical industries, which leads to CO2 production with serious consequences for the climate and ocean conservation.
Membrane technology is an alternative solution in many cases with a lower carbon footprint than traditional processes.
While already very established for water desalination, the success of membrane technology in the chemical industry requires more stable and selective materials.
By working in the interface between materials science and nanoengineering, we are developing membrane systems with the right chemistry and morphology for challenging and precise molecular separations.
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