{"545141":{"#nid":"545141","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Influential Research at ChBE: Professor David Sholl\u2019s Work with MOFs","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s School of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering is known for the far-reaching impact of the research conducted by our faculty. In this Q\u0026amp;A feature, we spotlight research by Professor and School Chair \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chbe.gatech.edu\/faculty\/sholl\u0022\u003EDavid Sholl\u003C\/a\u003E into metal-organic frameworks that has been widely cited in other studies in recent years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2010, Sholl co-authored the paper \u201cCan Metal-Organic Framework Materials Play a Useful Role in Large-Scale Carbon Dioxide Separations?\u201d in \u003Cem\u003EChemSusChem\u003C\/em\u003E. Since that time, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/cssc.201000114\/abstract\u0022\u003Ethis study\u003C\/a\u003E has amassed 273 citations in other journal articles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMetal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are a relatively new class of crystalline nanoporous materials that can be synthesized with a diverse range of pore dimensions, topologies, and chemical functionality. Their applications include gas storage, purification, separation, and catalysis. In the paper, Sholl and his co-authors explored the body of knowledge surrounding the possibility of using MOFs in large-scale carbon dioxide separations, such as separating CO2 from power plant flue gas. They found that potential exists, despite some challenges.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQ\u0026amp;A\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWhy is this research into MOFs important?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EChemical processes like adsorption and membrane-based separations using porous materials have potential to be radically more cost-effective for large-scale chemical separations than existing commercial technologies. Achieving this long-term outcome requires development of materials with carefully tailored properties and their incorporation into well designed processes. MOFs are far more chemically versatile and \u201cdesignable\u201d than other porous materials, which has driven tremendous world-wide interest in these materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cem\u003EHow has the use of MOFs in large-scale carbon dioxide separations evolved since the publication of this paper? Are there still challenges?\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere are certainly still challenges \u2013 capturing CO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E in an economically viable way is a grand challenge engineering problem. But great progress has been made in recent years in creating stable materials and incorporating MOFs into composite materials and carefully designed processes that have real promise for large-scale chemical separations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWhy do you think this paper has been cited so frequently?\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI hope that the paper was successful in identifying some of the key research gaps and challenges that existed (and still exist) in an area that was receiving a great deal of interest and funding. It is relatively easy to write a review paper that simply lists all the studies that have been done in an area. We tried to go beyond this to provide a roadmap for future research and development.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDo you continue to research MOFs? What is some related research you\u2019ve published?\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMy group and multiple others in ChBE continue to pursue research on MOFs for a host of applications. For example, a large part of the DOE-funded Energy Frontier Research Center that is led by ChBE faculty focuses on understanding and enhancing the stability of MOFs in real world environments such as those discussed in our 2010 article.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Sholl, other authors of the paper in \u003Cem\u003EChemSusChem\u003C\/em\u003E include Seda Keskin and Timothy M. van Heest. Keskin is now a faculty member at Koc University in Turkey and van Heest is the co-founder of an Atlanta area startup company.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2012, Sholl co-authored another highly cited paper, \u0022Ultem \u00ae \/ZIF-8 mixed matrix hollow fiber membranes for CO2\/N-2 separations\u201d (99 citations) in the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Membrane Science\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s School of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering is known for the far-reaching impact of the research conducted by our faculty. In this Q\u0026amp;A feature, we spotlight research by Professor and School Chair David Sholl into metal-organic frameworks that has been widely cited in other studies in recent years.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Influential Research at ChBE: Professor David Sholl\u2019s Work with MOFs"}],"uid":"27271","created_gmt":"2016-06-15 15:17:42","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:57","author":"Brad Dixon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-06-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-06-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"368331":{"id":"368331","type":"image","title":"David Sholl","body":null,"created":"1449245827","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:17:07","changed":"1475895107","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:47","alt":"David Sholl","file":{"fid":"74901","name":"130710br217.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/130710br217.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/130710br217.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5407155,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/130710br217.jpg?itok=15sQ9-Aj"}}},"media_ids":["368331"],"groups":[{"id":"1240","name":"School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"38811","name":"David Sholl"},{"id":"142621","name":"metal-organic frameworks"},{"id":"172130","name":"MOFs"},{"id":"167750","name":"School of Chemical \u0026 Biomolecular Engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBrad Dixon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:braddixon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebraddixon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E), 404-385-2299\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["braddixon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}