All across the world, people are facing a wealth of new and challenging problems, particularly the energy and environmental issues. For example, billions of tons of annual CO₂ emissions are the direct result of fossil fuel combustion to generate electricity. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. emitted 6.1 billion metric tons of CO₂ to the atmosphere in 2007. Producing clean energy from abundant sources, such as coal, will require a massive infrastructure and highly efficient capture technologies to curb CO₂ emissions. In addition to its environmental impact, CO₂ also reduces the heating value of the CH₄ gas streams in power plants and causes corrosion in pipes and equipment. To minimize the impact of CO₂ on the environment, the design of high-performance separation materials and technologies for efficient carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is urgent and essential. Our research in this area is creating novel nanostructured (membrane) materials with enhanced transport properties by ordering their nano-architectures via different methods and meanwhile exploring their novel and energy-sustainable scale up. They will be used for the following areas: CO₂ capture from mixture gas (e.g., flue gas and volatile organic compounds (VOC)) and small molecules/ions separation in aqueous mixtures (e.g., organic matters removal, desalination and Li⁺ separation). This project will heavily rely on experiments as well as active interdisciplinary collaborations.

The candidate will have chance to work closely with UK-based/international industrial partners, to present latest data in national/international conferences, and, therefore, to delivery new insights to the existing membrane society.