Understanding Selective Membranes for Resource Recovery and Water Safety
Project Description
Selective recovery of ions remains one of the unsolved grand challenges for water treatment. Current selectivity between ions of the same charge is usually less than 3, in stark contrast to the incredible selectivities achieved in gas separations (>10,000). This work will aim to study the interplay of the nanoscale geometry of confined materials and how they can make use of poorly understood mechanisms for ion selectivity: dehydration of water adhered to ions, the "softness" of hydration shells, surface-charge, tuned-spacing of nanomaterials for size-selectivity, etc.
Start Date
March 1, 2026
Postdoc Qualifications
Experience in water treatment
Robust publication record
Track record mentoring younger students
Co-advisors
David Warsinger, dwarsing@purdue.edu, Mechanical Engineering, www.warsinger.com
John Howarter, howarter@purdue.edu, Materials Engineering
Bibliography
Y. Ji, J Choi, Y Fang, H. S. Pham, A. T. Nou, L. S. Lee, J. Niu, D.M. Warsinger, Electric Field-Assisted Nanofiltration for PFOA Removal with Exceptional Flux, Selectivity, and Destruction, Environmental Science & Technology, 57, 47, 18519–18528, 2023 (Supplemental Cover).
R. Epsztein, E. Shaulsky, N. Dizge, D. M. Warsinger, and M. Elimelech, “Role of ionic charge density in donnan exclusion of monovalent anions by nanofiltration,” Environmental science & technology, vol. 52 (7), pp. 4108-4116 2018.
Y. Roy, D. M. Warsinger, and J. H. Lienhard V, “Effect of temperature on ion transport in nanofiltration membranes: Diffusion, convection and electromigration,” Desalination, vol. 420, pp. 241 – 257, 2017.
A. Naderi Beni, S. M. Alnajdi, J. Garcia-Bravo, and D. M. Warsinger, Semi-batch and batch low-salt-rejection reverse osmosis for brine concentration. Desalination, vol 583, pp.117670, 2024