Speaker: Prof Jeffrey C. Grossman, MIT
Title: "Modeling membrane materials for enhanced separations: from atoms to commercial pilots. "
Abstract: Membranes offer a route to reducing the energy demands of industrial separations, but realizing that promise requires materials that combine selectivity with durability and scalability. I will discuss how molecular modeling, coupled with experiment, has guided the development of graphene oxide and nanoporous silicon membranes for industrial separations and critical mineral recovery. Following these materials from atomic-scale predictions to commercial pilots, I will highlight how fundamental science informs technology development and how commercialization generates new research questions. These examples also reveal limitations of current simulation methods and opportunities for machine learning to connect materials design with synthesis and performance under real operating conditions.
Bio: Jeffrey C. Grossman is the Morton and Claire Goulder and Family Professor in Environmental Systems and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research combines computational and experimental materials science to develop technologies for clean energy, water, and sustainable manufacturing, with particular emphasis on membranes and separations. He co-founded Via Separations and SiTration to translate discoveries in graphene oxide and nanoporous silicon into technologies for industrial separations and critical materials recovery. Grossman received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, and was a Lawrence Fellow at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory before joining MIT in 2009. He served as head of MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering from 2020 to 2023 and was a founding director of the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium as well as the Tata-MIT Alliance. A Fellow of the American Physical Society and an MIT MacVicar Faculty Fellow, he has received MIT’s Bose Award for Excellence in Teaching and Committed to Caring Award for graduate mentorship.
In person attendance at this seminar is only open to Columbia University affiliates. External guests are welcome to attend remotely. Please contact [email protected] if you need the Zoom link for this seminar.