Abstract: Electrochemical membrane-based technologies are poised to play a pivotal role in meeting the growing global demand for clean water, sustainable energy, and critical materials due to their efficiency, compact footprint, and operational simplicity. At the core of these technologies are ion-exchange membranes (IEMs), which consist of charged polymers that selectively and efficiently transport ionic species. Two key parameters governing IEM performance are the ohmic resistance, which influences energy consumption, and membrane selectivity, which controls separation efficiency. While ohmic resistance is an extrinsic property that can be controlled by adjusting membrane thickness, selectivity is intrinsic and considerably more challenging to control. Membranes with enhanced selectivity are needed to accelerate the adoption of electrochemical membrane technologies for water purification, energy generation and storage, and critical materials recovery. In this presentation, I will discuss our recent progress in understanding and improving IEM selectivity. Specifically, I will discuss 1) the design of ultrahigh charge density IEMs for enhanced separation of oppositely charged ions and 2) selective separation of monovalent and divalent cations via a unique transport mechanism that operates without an applied electric field.
Bio: Dr. Jovan Kamcev is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering and Macromolecular Science & Engineering at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the University of Michigan in Fall 2019, he completed his postdoctoral training in Chemistry at University of California, Berkeley under the guidance of Prof. Jeffrey Long. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 2016 from The University of Texas at Austin under the guidance of Profs. Benny Freeman and Donald Paul. His research group focuses on developing structure/property relationships to guide the design of next-generation polymeric materials for water treatment, energy generation, and energy storage applications. He has been recognized with several awards including the DOE Early Career Award, NSF CAREER award, NAMS Young Membrane Scientist Award, AIChE’s 35 Under 35 Award, ECS Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship, and ACS PMSE Early Investigator Award.