CBE - Bioanalysis and Ion Separations with Membranes

These projects have two directions. In the first, we develop membranes for purifying rare-earth ions or other critical ions that are important in batteries and wind mills. The separations are designed to block the ion of interest and allow passage of unwanted ions.  See the following publication for an example.  Students will perform membrane filtration and participate in ion analysis using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy.

In the second direction, we are developing membranes that capture specific proteins for analysis. Binding of a fluorescent antibody to the capture protein allows determination of the protein concentration in minutes, whereas typical processes take hours. Students will prepare modified membranes, capture proteins, and perform fluorescence analyses. See the following publication for an example.