Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering
Seminar
Monday, February 17th, 3:00 p.m.
MERC (Maddox Engineering Research Center), Room 102
Dr. Devin Shaffer, Assistant Professor
University of Houston
Topic: Designing New Membrane Materials for Improved Desalination Performance
Abstract: Membrane processes are widely used for the desalination of seawater, brackish groundwater, and recycled wastewater because of their relative energy efficiency and excellent treated water quality. Low throughput and a susceptibility to fouling are challenges that limit the applications of membrane desalination processes. New membrane materials are needed to overcome these limitations and expand the uses of membrane desalination for increasing water supplies and improving water quality. This presentation will discuss the design and fabrication of new membrane materials with tunable properties and higher throughput compared to conventional membrane desalination. Molecular layer-by-layer (mLbL) assembly will be introduced as a tool to control the properties of desalination membranes and to better understand their performance. Recent work on the fabrication and characterization of covalent organic framework (COF) membranes will be presented, and the potential applications of these membranes for high throughput membrane desalination will be discussed.
Biography: Dr. Devin L. Shaffer is an assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Houston. Prior to joining to the University of Houston, he completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in the Materials Science and Engineering Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and earned his PhD in Environmental Engineering at Yale University. Dr. Shaffer’s research is focused on membrane separations, with an emphasis on membrane materials and processes for water purification and resource recovery.