CEE 200-2 Seminar: Devin Shaffer, NRC Post-Doctoral Fellow will present, “Tailored Synthesis and Novel Measurements of Desalination Membranes”

Apr 18, 2017


CEE 200-2 Seminar: Devin Shaffer, NRC Post-Doctoral Fellow will present, “Tailored Synthesis and Novel Measurements of Desalination Membranes”

Speaker: Devin Shaffer
Affiliation: National Institute of Standards and Technology

Devin Shaffer, NRC Post-Doctoral Fellow at at the National Institute of Standards and Technology presents: “Tailored Synthesis and Novel Measurements of Desalination Membranes”

Abstract:
Membrane desalination is the most widely used desalination technology for treating drinking water and recycling wastewater. Expanding the applications of membrane desalination to unconventional source waters, such as oil and gas produced water, requires advanced membranes that can operate at high driving forces while resisting fouling and mineral scaling. The design of these membranes is challenged by a lack of well-defined structure-property relationships, which is partly attributed to conventional thin-film composite membrane fabrication that inextricably links membrane selective and support layers. Both the selective and support layers affect membrane performance, and independently tailoring their structure and properties for specific desalination applications is the ultimate goal of advanced membrane design.

In this seminar, I will present my research in tailoring the chemistry and topography of the polyamide selective layer of desalination membranes. The molecular layer-by-layer assembly process will be presented as an alternative synthesis strategy for fabricating model polyamide films and composite membranes. I will discuss how these model materials were used to study the effects of membrane selective layer chemistry on gypsum mineral scaling and their use as model materials in studies to elucidate diffusive transport limitations in the porous membrane support layer. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and neutron radiography will be highlighted as nontraditional membrane characterization techniques that enable experimental refinement of membrane transport models. Improved understanding of membrane transport, gained through new measurement approaches using model materials, provides insight into structure-property relationships that can guide the design of advanced desalination membranes.

Biography:
Dr. Devin Shaffer is currently a National Research Council (NRC) post-doctoral research fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where he works on the Polymer Membranes and Transport Media Project.  He earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Yale University under the guidance of Menachem Elimelech and his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Oklahoma State University. Between his undergraduate and graduate studies, Devin worked for eight years as a professional engineer in Arizona, where he designed drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities for municipal and tribal government clients.

Dr. Shaffer’s overarching research interests are membrane materials and processes for desalination. His current research examines the structure and transport properties of water treatment membranes using nontraditional measurement approaches including poroelastic relaxation indentation, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and neutron radiography.

Date/Time:
Date(s) - Apr 18, 2017
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Location:
Boelter Hall 4275
4275 Boelter Hall Los Angeles CA 90095