6/20/2023 Molly Fried
Professor Xiao Su has been awarded the 2023 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Separations division FRI/John G. Kunesh Award. The award is presented at the Separations Division Awards Dinner at the annual Fall AIChE meeting.
Written by Molly Fried
Professor Xiao Su has been awarded the 2023 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Separations division FRI/John G. Kunesh Award. The award is presented at the Separations Division Awards Dinner at the annual Fall AIChE meeting.
The award honors the memory of past Separations Division Chairman and Technical Director of Fractional Research, Inc, John G. Kunesh. The recipient of the award is chosen on the basis of their significant discoveries, important research, development of new products and processes, their introduction of new educational concepts, service to the separation division and community.
“It is a great honor to receive this prestigious award, and I believe it really helps acknowledge all of the amazing work done by my students and postdocs, who have worked hard on our separations research over the past few years,” said Professor Su.
Professor Su focuses on the development of new sustainable separations, through a combination of molecular design and electrochemical engineering. His team explores electrochemically-mediated separations for sustainable critical element recovery, chemical manufacturing, and environmental remediation. A significant effort is also devoted to the integration of reactions and separations electrochemically for process intensification.
Earlier in the year, Professor Su directed a study that was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on the remediation of short-chain PFAS through the use of electrosorption to clean environmental waters. Short-chain PFAS are more difficult to separate from water than the industry-retired long-chain PFAS, but Professor Su’s research on electrodes that attract a range of short-chain PFAS and release molecules is laying the groundwork for removing the poplar short-chain PFAS from the environment.
His group also did research published in the journal of nature Communications on advanced nitrate-to-ammonia electrocatalysis methods. The study focused on using as little energy as possible to separate and up-concentrate nitrate from water, while at the same time converting the nitrate to ammonium. His work outlined usage for real-world conditions that farmers would be able to implement on their land with a very small footprint.
Within the area of organic separations, Professor Su recently published work which demonstrated the use of electrochemical separations for homogeneous catalyst recovery, as well as the enantioselective interaction of chiral metallopolymers, driven by electrochemical reactions. These studies represent the promising application of electrochemical separation processes for sustainable, industrially relevant processes in chemical and biochemical manufacturing.
“Overall, this award serves to encourage work in the growing field of electrochemical and field-assisted separations, and highlight its strong connection to chemical engineering,” said Professor Su.