Seminar - Benjamin Hsiao

Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Co-founding Director, Innovative Global Energy Solutions Center

Benjamin Hsiao
Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Co-founding Director, Innovative Global Energy Solutions Center

Director, Center for Advanced Technology in Integrated Electric Energy Systems

Stony Brook University

Nanocelluloses for Water Purification

 

Abstract:

The fabrication of nanocellulose fibrous scaffolds can be accomplished by chemical and mechanical processes of natural polymeric celluloses from various resources, where some sources can provide “effortless extractability” with very low energy consumption. Nanofibrous scaffolds have very unique properties including interconnected pores, a very large surface-to-volume ratio and a high capacity for surface modifications, making them ideal candidates for fabrication of high throughput separation membranes (e.g., microfiltration and ultrafiltration) and/or highly efficient sorptive media.  Directed water channels in the barrier layer of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes can also be formed through the formation of interface between the nanofibers and barrier layer polymer matrix, while the gap thickness can be regulated by physical interactions or chemical bonding.  In the present context, advances in fundamental studies on cellulose microfibrils, the building block from the cell wall of any plant, and their interactions with metal ions by means of synchrotron x-ray and neutron techniques have provided us with new insight into the design and fabrication of highly permeable nanofibrous membranes, having a hierarchically tiered structure, which can enable higher flux, higher retention and lower energy consumption water purification.  Nanocelluloses may serve as a revolutionary platform technology for the design and fabrication of low cost, sustainable and highly efficient filtration and sorptive media.

Bio:

Dr. Benjamin S. Hsiao, a Distinguished Professor in Chemistry at Stony Brook University, received his B.S. degree from National Taiwan University in 1980, Ph.D. from University of Connecticut, and post-doctorate training at University of Massachusetts. He joined DuPont Company as a staff scientist and spent 8 years in R&D before coming to Stony Brook University. He served as Chair of the Chemistry Department and held Vice President for Research and Chief Research Officer positions at Stony Brook University. Currently, Hsiao is a Founding Co-Director of Innovative Global Energy Solutions Center (www.igesc.org), aiming to prototype ‘sustainability for off-grid communities of tomorrow’, using the Turkana Basin Institute in northern Kenya as a living laboratory. He is also the Director of Center for Advanced Technology in Integrated Electric Energy Systems (www.sbuciees.org), with the mission to enhance the development and integration of advanced technologies into electric energy systems on multiple scales.

Hsiao has achieved international prominence and has a distinguished reputation in polymer science. His research interests are mainly focused on the development of sustainable nanostructured materials for enengy and water pufication applications. He published over 444 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 43 reviews and chapters in books and encyclopedias, 228 conference proceedings, obtained 34 issued patents (including 20 US patents) and 21 pending patent applications, and edited 2 books.  He has also given over 297 invited lectures in universities, governmental and industrial research institutes, as well as over 502 presentations in scientific meetings. He was elected as Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Fellow of American Chemical Society, Fellow of American Physical Society, Fellow of Materials Research Society, Fellow of National Academy of Inventors, and received SUNY Distinguished Professor, AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassador, Hononary Professor from University of Queensland in Australia, Chang-Jiang Scholar from Education Ministry of China, Co-operative Research Award from Division of Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering of American Chemical Society, NSF Special Creativity Award and DuPont Young Faculty Award.