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Opportunities

Dr. Coronell welcomes the applications of hard-working and creative students interested in performing research related to physico-chemical processes for water treatment at the undergraduate, master’s, PhD or post-doctoral level.  Opportunities vary each year.  If you are interested in applying, please send an email to Dr. Coronell (coronell@unc.edu) together with your CV or resume and main research interests. Special consideration will be given to applicants with interest in: (a) membrane processes and materials, and (b) removal of contaminants using granular materials in packed beds.

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Announcements

August 2022: Irene Manning’s paper (collaboration with Leibfarth Lab, Chemistry) entitled “Hydrolytically stable ionic fluorogels for high-performance PFAS remediation from natural water” is accepted for publication in Angewandte Chemie (DOI: 10.1002/ange.202208150).

July 2022: Mikayla Armstrong’s paper entitled “Trends and errors in reverse osmosis membrane performance calculations stemming from test pressure and simplifying assumptions about concentration polarization and solute rejection” is accepted for publication in Journal of Membrane Science (DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2022.120856).

July 2022: Anna Fraser’s paper (collaboration with Dingemans Group, Applied Physical Sciences) entitled “Linear versus Nonlinear Aromatic Polyamides: The Role of Backbone Geometry in Thin Film Salt Exclusion Membranes” is accepted for publication in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c09810).

May 2022: Our group delivers two oral and one poster presentation at the 2022 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Annual Meeting. In this conference, Dr. Coronell served as co-chair of the session Materials for Electrochemical Applications. The full references to the corresponding conference abstracts can be found in the Publications section.

April 2022: Haley Macdonald receives a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship in support of her work in novel sorbents for PFAS remediation.  Congratulations, Haley!

January 2022: Fei Liu’s paper studying the effect of osmotic ballast properties on battery performance is accepted for publication in Water Research (DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118076 ).

December 2021: A recent paper by Kasia Grzebyk and Mikayla Armstrong studying the effect of MPD supply on polyamide film properties in TFC membranes is selected as a November Editor’s Choice Article in Journal of Membrane Science (link here).

November 2021: Kasia Grzebyk and Mikayla Armstrong’s paper entitled “Accessing greater thickness and new morphology features in polyamide active layers of thin-film composite membranes by reducing restrictions in amine monomer supply” is accepted for publication in Journal of Membrane Science (DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2021.120112).

November 2021: Riley Vicker’s paper entitled “Molecular methods for assessing the morphology, topology, and performance of polyamide membranes” is accepted for publication in Journal of Membrane Science (DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2021.120110).

November 2021: Dr. Coronell gives an invited presentation at the Emerging Topics in Electrochemical Engineering: Electrochemical Separations (Invited Talks) session, American Institute of Chemical Engineering (AIChE) Annual Meeting. The title of the presentation was “Concentration dependence of ion exchange membrane permselectivity: Modelling and experimental validation”.

October 2021: Ryan Kingsbury’s paper entitled “Tunable anion exchange membrane conductivity and permselectivity via non-covalent, hydrogen bond crosslinking” is accepted for publication in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c15474).

August 2021: Our group gave four oral presentations at the 2021 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Annual Meeting. The full references to the corresponding conference abstracts can be found in the Publications section.

August 2021: Dr. Coronell joins the Editorial Board of JMS Letters.

June 2021: Alex Gorzalski’s paper entitled “Impact of model selection on predicted contaminant degradation in water treatment” is awarded the AWWA Water Science & Research Division Best Paper Award, for AWWA Water Science.

May 2021: Holly Haflich receives the WRRI-Sea Grant Graduate Student Competition from the NC Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI) and NC Sea Grant.

March 2021: Ariel Atkinson’s paper entitled “2-aminoimidazole membranes reduce mass of fouling and improve performance” is accepted for publication in Journal of Membrane Science (DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2021.119262).

March 2021: Panitan (Wan) Jutaporn’s paper entitled “Efficacy of selected pretreatment processes in the mitigation of low-pressure membrane fouling and its correlation to their removal of microbial DOM” is accepted for publication in Chemosphere (DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130284).

February 2021: Jingbo Wang’s paper entitled “Effect of feed water pH on the partitioning of alkali metal salts from aqueous phase into the polyamide active layers of reverse osmosis membranes” is accepted for publication in Environmental Science & Technology (DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c06140).

February 2021: Alex Gorzalski gives an oral presentation at the 2021 American Water Works Association (AWWA) Virtual Summit. The title of his presentation was “Quantifying treatment efficacy for pathogens and emerging contaminants using the Damköhler number”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

August 2020: Fei Liu’s paper (collaboration with Call Group, NCSU) entitled “Effect of cross-chamber flow electrode recirculation on pH and faradaic reactions in capacitive deionization” is accepted for publication in Desalination (DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2020.114600).

June 2020: Ryan Kingsbury’s paper entitled “Modelling and validation of concentration dependence of ion exchange membrane permselectivity: significance of convection and Manning’s counter-ion condensation theory” is accepted for publication in Journal of Membrane Science (DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2020.118411).

June 2020: Elvin Hossen’s paper (collaboration with Call Group, NCSU) entitled “Temporal variation of power production via reverse electrodialysis using coastal North Carolina waters and its correlation to temperature and conductivity” is accepted for publication in Desalination (DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2020.114562).

May 2020: Our group delivers three oral and one poster presentation at the 2020 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Annual Meeting (online). In this conference, Dr. Coronell served as co-chair of the sessions Membranes for Electrochemical Applications I/II/III. The full references to the corresponding conference abstracts can be found in the Publications section.

April 2020: Alex Gorzalski’s paper entitled “Impact of model selection on predicted contaminant degradation in water treatment” is accepted for publication in AWWA Water Science (DOI: 10.1002/aws2.1178).

April 2020: Alex Gorzalski’s paper studying the use of reactor networks to model water treatment reactor hydraulics is recognized by the Journal AWWA as in the top 10% of most downloaded papers within 12 months after publication in years 2018-2019. Congratulations to Alex!

April 2020: Elango Kumarasamy and Irene Manning’s paper (collaboration with Leibfarth Lab, Chemistry) studying novel ionic fluorogels for PFAS removal from water is featured on the cover of the April issue of ACS Central Science. Congratulations to Elango and Irene!

February 2020: Elango Kumarasamy and Irene Manning’s paper (collaboration with Leibfarth Group, Chemistry) entitled “Ionic fluorogels for remediation of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances from water” is accepted for publication in ACS Central Science (DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.9b01224). See “First Reaction” article on this work at DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c00164.

February 2020: Ryan Kingsbury’s paper entitled “Comparison of water and salt transport properties of ion exchange, reverse osmosis, and nanofiltration membranes for desalination and energy applications” is accepted for publication in Journal of Membrane Science (DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2020.117998).

December 2019: Panitan (Wan) Jutaporn’s paper entitled “Assessment of C-DBP and N-DBP formation potential and its reduction by MIEX® DOC and MIEX® GOLD resins using fluorescence spectroscopy and parallel factor analysis” is accepted for publication in Water Research (DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.115460).

November 2019: Alex Gorzalski gives an oral presentation at the 2019 American Water Works Association (AWWA) Water Quality Technology Conference and Exposition, Dallas, TX. The title of his presentation was “What a ‘free chlorine burn’ can tell us about reactor mixing, and why it matters for disinfection”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

November 2019: Alex Gorzalski gives a poster presentation at the 2019 American Water Works Association (AWWA) Water Quality Technology Conference and Exposition, Dallas, TX. The title of his poster was “Effect of Reactor Model Selection on Predictions of Contaminant Degradation”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

October 2019: Panitan (Wan) Jutaporn gives an oral presentation at the 2019 International Water Association (IWA) Specialist Conference on Natural Organic Matter in Water, Tokyo, Japan. The title of her presentation was “Parallel Factor Analysis of Fluorescence EEM Spectra to Assess Reduction of Trihalomethanes and Haloacetonitriles Formation Potentials by MIEX Resin”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

October 2019: Dr. Coronell gives an invited presentation on behalf of our PFAST Team 3 at the 12th Annual Environmental Health Summit PFAS: Integrating Science and Solutions in North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. The title of the presentation was “Removal of PFAS from drinking water by reverse osmosis membranes, residential filters, and a novel resin”.

October 2019: Dr. Coronell is selected as a member of the 2019 Class of Influential Researchers by the global team of editors and editorial advisory board members of ACS Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. Congratulations to Dr. Coronell!

September 2019: Ryan Kingsbury’s paper entitled “Influence of water uptake, charge, Manning parameters and contact angle on water and salt transport in commercial ion exchange membranes” is accepted for publication in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research (DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.9b04113).

August 2019: Dr. Coronell gives a keynote talk in the session “Novel Polymeric Materials & Polymer-Based Processes for Energy-Efficient Treatment of Water & Resource Recovery” at the 258^th Annual Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), San Diego, CA. The title of his presentation was “Comparison of water and salt transport properties in ion exchange and desalination membranes”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

August 2019: Dr. Coronell gives an invited presentation on behalf of our PFAST Team 3 at the PFAST Network Science Symposium, Chapel Hill, NC. The title of the presentation was “Removal of PFAS from drinking water sources”.

August 2019: Alex Gorzalski, co-advised with Dr. Gregory Harrington (University of Wisconsin), successfully defends his doctoral dissertation. Alex investigated modeling approaches to improve predictions of contaminant degradation in water treatment reactors. Congratulations, Alex!

August 2019: Kasia Grzebyk, co-advised with Dr. Howard Weinberg, successfully defends her doctoral dissertation. Kasia investigated methods to modify interfacial polymerization reaction conditions in high-pressure membrane fabrication for enhanced organic micropollutant removal. Congratulations, Kasia!

July 2019: Alex Gorzalski’s paper entitled “Assessing reactor segregation and mixing by modeling residual disinfectant conversion” is accepted for publication in AWWA Water Science (DOI: 10.1002/aws2.1154).

June 2019: Mikayla Armstrong receives an NC Safewater Fund Scholarship from the North Carolina American Water Works Association & North Carolina Water Environment Association (NC AWWA-WEA) in support of her membrane research. Congratulations, Mikayla!

May 2019: Our group delivers one oral and three poster presentations at the 2019 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA. In this conference, Dr. Coronell served as co-chair of the session Ion-Exchange and Electrofunctional Membrane Materials. The full references to the corresponding conference abstracts can be found in the Publications section.

May 2019: Professor Stapleton gives an invited presentation on behalf of our PFAST Team 3 at the Emerging PFAS Contaminants in the Cape Fear Region: University Collaborations on Environmental, Drinking Water and Health Effects, Wilmington, NC. The title of the presentation was “What can we do to remove PFAS from our drinking water sources?”.

May 2019: Ryan Kingsbury successfully defends his doctoral dissertation. Ryan investigated selective mass transport in ion exchange membranes for clean energy and water processes. Congratulations, Ryan!

May 2019: Mikayla Armstrong receives a Best Poster Award in the 2019 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Annual Meeting for her work on polymer coatings to modify membrane performance. Congratulations, Mikayla!

April 2019: Riley Vickers receives a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship in support of his work in molecular- and micro-scale simulations of membrane materials.  Congratulations, Riley!

April 2019: Ryan Kingsbury gives an oral presentation at the 2019 Annual Materials Research Society (MRS) Spring Meeting, Phoenix, AZ. The title of his presentation was “Physically-crosslinked ion exchange membranes defy conductivity-selectivity tradeoff”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

April 2019: Ryan Kingsbury gives an invited oral presentation at the 257^th Annual Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Orlando, FL. The title of his presentation was “Beyond swelling degree: Counter-ion hydration and its effect on ion exchange membrane performance”. In this conference, Dr. Coronell served as co-chair of the session Aqueous Contaminant Separation, Resource Recovery, and Clean Energy Generation by Electrochemical Processes. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

February 2019: Kasia Grzebyk gives a poster presentation at the 2019 American Water Works Association (AWWA)-American Membrane Technology Association (AMTA) Membrane Technology Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, LA. The title of her poster was “A closer look at interfacial polymerization of polyamide high-pressure membranes”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

February 2019: Ariel Atkinson’s paper entitled “Scalable fabrication of anti-biofouling membranes through 2-aminoimidazole incorporation during polyamide casting” is accepted for publication in Journal of Membrane Science (DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2019.02.033).

January 2019: Panitan (Wan) Jutaporn’s paper entitled “Fluorescence spectroscopy for assessing trihalomethane precursors removal by MIEX resin” is accepted for publication in Water Science & Technology (DOI: 10.2166/wst.2019.036).

November 2018: Panitan (Wan) Jutaporn gives an oral presentation at the 2018 Regional International Water Association (IWA) Diffuse Pollution Conference, Chiang Mai, Thailand. The title of her presentation was “Fluorescence spectroscopy for assessing THM precursors removal by MIEX resin”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

November 2018: Alex Gorzalski gives an oral presentation at the 2018 American Water Works Association (AWWA) Water Quality Technology Conference and Exposition, Toronto, ON, Canada. The title of his presentation was “Modeling Residence Time Distribution in Clearwells and Ozone Contactors Using Reactor Networks”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

October 2018: Ryan Kingsbury’s paper entitled “Microstructure determines water and salt permeation in commercial ion exchange membranes” is accepted for publication in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b14494).

October 2018: Ryan Kingsbury is one of 10 finalists in the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) event at UNC-Chapel Hill. Ryan presented his work on using salt water to store energy. Congratulations, Ryan!

September 2018: Professor Sun gives an invited presentation on behalf of our PFAST Team 3 at the Duke University Integrated Toxicology & Environmental Health Program 2018 Symposium ̶ Emerging Contaminants in the Ambient Environment: Perspectives to Guide North Carolina’s PFAS Monitoring Network, Durham, NC. The title of the presentation was “What can we do to remove PFAS from our drinking water sources?”.

August 2018: Dr. Coronell gives an invited presentation at the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) – Membranes: Materials and Processes, New London, NH. The title of the presentation was “Advancing the understanding of ion exchange membranes properties”.

August 2018: Lin Lin’s paper entitled “Relative importance of geometrical and intrinsic water transport properties of active layers in the water permeability of polyamide thin-film composite membranes” is accepted for publication in Journal of Membrane Science (DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2018.08.002).

July 2018: Jingbo Wang successfully defends her doctoral dissertation. Jingbo developed a method to quantify and studied the partitioning of alkali metals and neutral inorganic acids in membranes for water purification. Congratulations, Jingbo!

June 2018: Alex Gorzalski receives the Abel Wolman Fellowship from the American Water Works Association (AWWA).

June 2018: Ryan Kingsbury receives 3rd place in the Best Poster Award at the 2018 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Annual Meeting.

June 2018: Our group delivers one oral and one poster presentations at the 2018 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Annual Meeting, Lexington, KY. The full references to the corresponding conference abstracts can be found in the Publications section.

June 2018: Panitan (Wan) Jutaporn gives an oral presentation at 2018 Asian Conference on Sustainability, Energy & the Environment (ACSEE), Kobe, Japan. The title of her presentation was “Fluorescence spectroscopy and PARAFAC modeling for assessing the reduction of THM and halogenated volatiles precursors by MIEX resin”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

June 2018: Mikayla Armstrong receives an NC Safewater Fund Scholarship from the North Carolina American Water Works Association & North Carolina Water Environment Association (NC AWWA-WEA) in support of her membrane research. Congratulations, Mikayla!

April 2018: Kasia Grzebyk gives an invited poster presentation at the 2018 American Water Works Association (AWWA)-American Membrane Technology Association (AMTA) Membrane Technology Conference & Exposition, West Palm Beach, FL. The title of her poster was “Optimizing and evaluating thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes for water reuse applications”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

April 2018: Dr. Coronell gives an invited presentation at RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC. The title of his presentation was “Membranes for clean water and clean energy applications”.

April 2018: Kasia Grzebyk gives an invited poster presentation at the 2018 American Water Works Association (AWWA)-American Membrane Technology Association (AMTA) Membrane Technology Conference & Exposition, West Palm Beach, FL. The title of her poster was “Optimizing and evaluating thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes for water reuse applications”.

March 2018: Alex Gorzalski’s paper entitled “Modeling water treatment reactor hydraulics using reactor networks” is accepted for publication in Journal of the American Water Works Association (DOI: 10.1002/awwa.1071).

March 2018: Ariel Atkinson’s paper entitled “Grafting of bioactive 2-aminoimidazole into active layer makes commercial RO/NF membranes anti-biofouling” is accepted for publication in Journal of Membrane Science (DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2018.03.044).

March 2018: Ryan Kingsbury’s paper entitled “Junction potentials bias measurements of ion exchange membrane permselectivity” is accepted for publication in Environmental Science & Technology (DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b05317).

February 2018: Shan Zhu’s paper entitled “Impact of solution composition on the resistance of ion exchange membranes” is accepted for publication in Journal of Membrane Science (DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2018.02.050).

December 2017: Alex Gorzalski gives an invited presentation at the EPA Region 3 Nutrients and Harmful Algal Blooms Technical Workshop, Philadelphia, PA. The title of his presentation was “Real-time modeling of cyanotoxin oxidation”.

November 2017: Alex Gorzalski receives the Best Student Paper Award for his paper at the 2017 American Water Works Association (AWWA) Water Quality Technology Conference and Exposition, Portland, OR. The title of his presentation was “Real-time modeling of cyanotoxin oxidation in clearwells”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

November 2017: Jingbo Wang receives a Graduate Silver Medal for Poster Presentation at the 131st Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Raleigh, NC. The title of her poster was “Partitioning of inorganic solutes in active layers of RO membranes and the effect of feed water pH on solute partition coefficients”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

August 2017: Our group delivers three oral and two poster presentations at the 11th International Congress on Membranes and Membrane Processes (ICOM 2017), San Francisco, CA. The full references to the corresponding conference abstracts can be found in the Publications section.

August 2017: Zoe Gobetz gives a poster presentation (collaboration with Call Group, NCSU) at the 2017 NC State Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. The title of her poster was “Impact of salinity gradient seasonal variability on reverse electrodialysis power generation”.

July 2017: Ryan Kingsbury receives a North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Student Fellowship Award.

July 2017: Fei Liu receives the Best Poster Award at the 11th International Congress on Membranes and Membrane Processes (ICOM).

July 2017: Ryan Kingsbury’s paper in collaboration with the Call Lab at NCSU entitled “Impact of natural organic matter and inorganic solutes on energy recovery from five real salinity gradients using reverse electrodialysis” is accepted for publication in Journal of Membrane Science (DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2017.07.038).

July 2017: Jingbo Wang receives a Dissertation Completion Fellowship from UNC-Chapel Hill to support the last leg of her PhD studies. Congratulations, Jingbo!

June 2017: Our group delivers two oral presentations at the 2017 Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) Conference, Ann Arbor, MI. The full references to the corresponding conference abstracts can be found in the Publications section.

June 2017: Kasia Grzebyk is awarded the Dr. W. Wesley Eckenfelder, Jr. Scholarship from Brown and Caldwell.

June 2017: Ryan Kingsbury gives an invited presentation at the Annual UNC Institute for the Environment Presentations to Duke Energy Foundation, Duke Energy Offices, Raleigh, NC. The title of his presentation was “Energy from saltwater”.

June 2017: Mikayla Armstrong receives an NC Safewater Fund Scholarship from the North Carolina American Water Works Association & North Carolina Water Environment Association (NC AWWA-WEA) in support of her membrane research. Congratulations, Mikayla!

May 2017: Seokjong Byun’s paper entitled “Method for monitoring chloride levels in steam condensate in thermal power plants using reverse osmosis membranes and an ion selective electrode” is accepted for publication in Separation Science and Technology (DOI: 10.1080/01496395.2017.1344248).

May 2017: Dr. Coronell is awarded the Duke Energy Faculty Fellowship. This fellowship supports one faculty member per year interested in assembling teams to pursue interdisciplinary funding opportunities on energy topics.

May 2017: Dr. Coronell attends the UNC Chancellor’s Faculty Entrepreneurship Workshop, hosted by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development. This 2.5 day workshop is by invitation only and seeks to provide faculty members with the tools and techniques needed to develop and implement potentially impactful ideas for societal good.

May 2017: Alex Gorzalski receives the Larson Aquatic Research Support (LARS) Scholarship from the American Water Works Association (AWWA) in support of his work on the optimization of water treatment plant operations. Congratulations, Alex!

May 2017: Jingbo Wang receives a Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the Graduate School to support the completion of her doctoral work on the characterization of transport phenomena in thin-film composite and thin-film nanocomposite membranes. This fellowship is given to select doctoral candidates to allow them to focus on research and writing full-time in their final year.  Congratulations, Jingbo!

April 2017: Ryan Kingsbury, on behalf of Dr. Coronell, gives an invited presentation at the UNC Innovation Showcase, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. The title of the presentation was “Osmotic ballasts make energy extraction from saltwater more efficient”.

April 2017: Dr. Coronell gives an invited presentation at the Chemical Engineering Seminar Series, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. The title of his presentation was “Advancing the understanding of the structure-performance relationships of reverse osmosis membranes”.

April 2017: Jingbo Wang is invited to present a poster at the UNC Graduate Student Recognition Celebration. The title of her poster was “Partitioning of alkali metal salts and boric acid from aqueous phase into the polyamide active layers of reverse osmosis membranes”.

April 2017: Alex Gorzalski receives the National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and US Department of Defense (DoD). Alex’s work focuses on the optimization of water treatment plant operations.  Congratulations, Alex!

April 2017: Jingbo Wang is awarded the Best Poster Presentation Award at the UNC Academic Research Conference for her characterization work on transport phenomena in thin-film composite and thin-film nanocomposite membranes. This award is presented by the UNC Graduate and Professional Student Federation.  Congratulations, Jingbo!

April 2017: A paper co-authored by Dr. Coronell entitled “Electricity generation using continuously recirculated flow electrodes in reverse electrodialysis” is accepted for publication in the Journal of Power Sources (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2017.04.061).

April 2017: Ryan Kingsbury gives an oral presentation at the UNC Innovation Showcase. The title of his talk was “Osmotic ballasts make energy extraction from saltwater more efficient”.

March 2017: Lamar (Tony) Perry successfully defends his doctoral dissertation. Tony studied thin film nanocomposite membranes for water purification. Congratulations, Tony!

March 2017: Fei Liu (collaboration with Call Group, NCSU) gives a poster presentation at the 19th Annual Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI) Conference, Raleigh, NC. The title of his presentation was “Energy recovery from five natural salinity gradients in North Carolina using reverse electrodialysis”. The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

January 2017: Jingbo Wang’s paper entitled “Partitioning of alkali metal salts and boric acid from aqueous phase into the polyamide active layers of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes” is accepted for publication in Environmental Science & Technology (http://dx.doi.org10.1021/acs.est.6b04323).

January 2017: Panitan (Wan) Jutaporn’s paper entitled “Characterization of ultrafiltration membrane foulant using fluorescence signature of natural organic matter in surface water” is accepted for publication in Thai Environmental Engineering Journal.

December 2016: Ariel Atkinson successfully defends her doctoral dissertation.  Ariel’s work focused on the development of a novel anti-biofouling membrane. Congratulations, Ariel!

December 2016: Ryan Kingsbury’s paper entitled “Osmotic ballasts enhance faradaic efficiency in closed-loop, membrane-based energy systems” is accepted for publication in Environmental Science & Technology (http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b03720).

December 2016: Kasia Grzebyk is one of four national recipients of an American Membrane Technology Association-US Bureau of Reclamation (AMTA-USBR) Fellowship for Membrane Technology. The research funded is for work that innovates water treatment in membrane related research and results in the advancement of membrane technologies in the water, wastewater, or water reuse industries. The official announcement can be found here (https://www.amtaorg.com/2016-amta-usbr-fellowship-awards). Congratulations, Kasia!

November 2016: Jingbo Wang presents our work on “Water-filled voids account for a large volume fraction of the polyamide active layers of thin-film composite membranes” as a poster at the Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network (RTNN) Research Showcase in Chapel Hill, NC.

September 2016: Dr. Coronell joins the Editorial Board of npj Clean Water, a Nature partner journal.

August 2016: Ryan Kingsbury gives an oral presentation at the 2016 ACS Fall Meeting in San Diego, CA.  The title of his presentation was “Osmotic ballasts improve the energy efficiency of closed-loop electrodialytic processes”.  The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

August 2016: Dr. Douglas Call from North Carolina State University gives a presentation about one of our collaborative papers at the 2016 ACS Fall Meeting in San Diego, CA.  The title of the presentation was “Electricity generation from natural and engineered salinity gradients using reverse electrodialysis”.  The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

August 2016: Alex Gorzalski’s paper entitled “Elemental composition of membrane foulant layers using EDS, XPS, and RBS” is accepted for publication in the Journal of Membrane Science (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2016.08.055).

August 2016: Alex Gorzalski re-joins our group as a PhD student. Alex will work on optimizing the operation of conventional drinking water treatment plants. Welcome back, Alex!

August 2016: Panitan (Wan) Jutaporn successfully defends her doctoral dissertation. Wan studied fouling of ultrafiltration membranes by organic matter. Congratulations, Wan!

August 2016: John Eskew joins our group as an undergraduate researcher working on reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes. Welcome, John!

July 2016: Sophie Foltron joins our group as an undergraduate researcher working on reverse electrodialysis. Welcome, Sophie!

July 2016: Jingbo Wang receives a Certificate of Merit for her presentation during the 2016 Spring National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Division of Environmental Chemistry. Her presentation was entitled “Partitioning of inorganic contaminants into the polyamide active layers of thin-film composite membranes for water purification”. Congratulations, Jingbo!

June 2016: Mikayla Armstrong receives the NC Safewater Fund Scholarship North Carolina American Water Works Association & North Carolina Water Environment Association (NC AWWA-WEA) in support of her membrane research work.  Congratulations, Mikayla!

June 2016: Will Blanks joins the group as an undergraduate researcher working on reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes. Welcome, Will!

May 2016: Lamar (Tony) Perry receives a Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the Graduate School to support the completion of his doctoral work on thin-film nanocomposite membranes. This fellowship is given to select doctoral candidates to allow them to focus on research and writing full-time in their final year.  Congratulations, Tony!

May 2016: A paper in collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. Suzuki entitled “Relationship between performance deterioration of a polyamide reverse osmosis membrane used in a seawater desalination plant and changes in its phyisochemical properties” is accepted for publication in Water Research (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.04.068).

April 2016: Panitan (Wan) Jutaporn’s paper entitled “Minimization of Low-Pressure Membrane Fouling Using a Magnetic Ion Exchange (MIEX®) Resin” is accepted for publication in Water Research (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2016.04.007).

April 2016: Sabrina Sultana finishes her internship in our group and starts her new job in GlassPoint Solar, Inc. in California.  Good luck, Sabrina!

March 2016: Mikayla Armstrong receives the American Water Works Association (AWWA) ARCADIS Scholarship in support of her work in membranes for water purification.  Congratulations, Mikayla!

March 2016: Ryan Kingsbury receives a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship in support of his work in energy storage and generation from salinity gradients.  Congratulations, Ryan!

March 2016: Dr. Coronell gives an invited seminar at Dow Filmtec in Minneapolis, MN.  The title of the seminar was “Using membrane characterization to further the understanding of fundamental and applied aspects of polyamide RO/NF membranes”.

March 2016: Lamar (Tony) Perry receives the Doctoral Advancement Award from the Graduate School and Initiative for Minority Excellence (IME) at UNC.  Congratulations, Tony!

March 2016: Dr. Coronell gives a keynote presentation entitled “Water Water-filled voids account for a significant volume fraction of the polyamide active layers of thin-film composite membranes and affect their water and solute transport properties” in the Membrane Technology for Water-Energy Sustainability session at the 2016 ACS Spring Meeting in San Diego, CA.

March 2016: Jingbo Wang, Ryan Kingsbury, and Ariel Atkinson give oral presentations at the 2016 ACS Spring Meeting in San Diego, CA.  The titles of their presentations were “Partitioning of inorganic contaminants into the polyamide active layers of thin-film composite membranes for water purification” (Jingbo), “Energy storage by reversible desalination: A concentration battery based on electrodialysis” (Ryan), and “Development of innovative anti-biofouling polyamide thin film composite membranes with biofilm inhibiting 2-aminoimidazoles incorporated” (Ariel).  The full references to the corresponding conference abstracts can be found in the Publications section.

March 2016: Jingbo Wang, Ryan Kingsbury, and Ariel Atkinson receive the Graduate Professional Students Federation (GPSF) Travel Award at UNC.  Congratulations!

February 2016: Ariel Atkinson presents her research on “Incorporation of novel anti-biofilm molecules into NF/RO membranes for biofouling control” at the 2016 AWWA-AMTA Membrane Technology Conference and Exposition in San Antonio, TX.

November 2015: A paper co-authored by Dr. Coronell entitled “Impact of liquid-filled voids within the active layer on transport through thin-film composite membranes” is accepted for publication in the Journal of Membrane Science (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.11.033).

October 2015:  Shan Zhu joins our group as a postdoctoral research associate.  Shan will work on salinity gradient energy.

September 2015:  Lin Lin’s paper entitled “Identifying facile and accurate methods to measure the thickness of the active layers of thin-film composite membranes – a comparison of seven characterization techniques” is accepted for publication in the Journal of Membrane Science (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.09.059).

September 2015:  Kasia Grzebyk is selected as an Emerging Leaders in Science & Society (ELISS) Fellow for their Class of 2016.  ELISS is a leadership development program, hosted at American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), that prepares graduate students to collaborate across boundaries to help solve complex issues for the benefit of society.  Congratulations, Kasia!

September 2015:  Lamar (Tony) Perry receives the Chancellor’s Doctoral Candidacy Award through the Initiative for Minority Excellence (IME) at UNC.  Congratulations, Tony!

September 2015:  Joshua Powell’s paper entitled “Amide Link Scission in the Polyamide Active Layers of Thin-Film Composite Membranes upon Exposure to Free Chlorine: Kinetics and Mechanisms” is accepted for publication in Environmental Science & Technology (http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b02110).

September 2015:  Lin Lin’s paper entitled “Investigating the void structure of the polyamide active layers of thin-film composite membranes” is accepted for publication in the Journal of Membrane Science (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.09.020).

July 2015:  Lamar (Tony) Perry received an invitation to attend the 2015 Building Engineering & Science Talent (BEST) Symposium at the Dow Chemical Company headquartered in Michigan.  As one of a few participants selected from across the country, Tony will deliver a two minute presentation for staff scientists and engineers, interact with staff across all levels of the organization, gain insight on research projects undertaken at Dow as well as gain valuable tips for a successful career at leading global organization. Congratulations, Tony!

July 2015:  Ryan Kingsbury has been named the 2015 Duke Energy Fellow by UNC’s Institute for the Environment for his work in energy storage and generation from salinity gradients. This fellowship provides support for doctoral students conducting energy-related research with the potential for broad societal impacts.  Congratulations, Ryan!

July 2015:  Ryan Kingsbury joins our group as a PhD student.  Ryan will work on salinity gradient energy.

June 2015: A paper co-authored by Dr. Coronell entitled “Energy storage by reversible electrodialysis: the concentration battery” is accepted for publication in the Journal of Membrane Science (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.06.050).

June 2015:  Lin Lin’s poster, “The existence of water-filled voids in the polyamide active layers of thin-film composite (TFC) membranes challenges their current understanding as dense films” was presented at the 2015 Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) Conference in New Haven, CT.

June 2015:  Jingbo Wang and Lin Lin give oral presentations, and Joshua Powell, Jingbo Wang, and Lin Lin give poster presentations at the 2015 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Conference in Boston, MA.  The title of the presentations were “Characterization of the partitioning of alkali metal salts and boric acid from aqueous solution into the active layers of RO/NF membranes” (Jingbo), “Water-filled pores exist in the active layers of polyamide thin-film composite membranes” (Lin), and “Kinetics and mechanisms of amide link scission in the polyamide active layer of thin-film composite membranes upon exposure to free chlorine” (Joshua).  The full references to the corresponding conference abstracts can be found in the Publications section.

May 2015:  John Gilles successfully defends his Masters Technical Report.  John, co-advised with Dr. Mark Sobsey, studied point-of-use filtration for microbial and metal removal from water.  Congratulations, John!

April 2015:  Lin Lin successfully defends her doctoral dissertation.  Lin studied the characterization of physical and chemical properties of thin-film composite membranes.  Congratulations, Lin!

April 2015: Ariel Atkinson receives a Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the Graduate School to support the completion of her doctoral work on the development of a novel anti-biofouling membrane. This fellowship is given to select doctoral candidates to allow them to focus on research and writing full-time in their final year.  Congratulations, Ariel!

March 2015:  Lin Lin is awarded an Elias Klein Founders’ Travel Supplement by the North American Membrane Society (NAMS) to attend its 2015 Annual Meeting to present her paper entitled “Water-filled pores exist in the active layers of polyamide thin-film composite membranes”.  Congratulations, Lin!

March 2015: Lamar (Tony) Perry receives RTI International’s 2015 Professional Development Award (PDA) to support the completion of his doctoral work in thin-film (nano)composite membrane characterization. This award was established to promote development opportunities and continued growth beyond the scope of an employee’s traditional roles and responsibilities. Congratulations, Tony!

February 2015: Our research group, in collaboration with The Call Lab at NCSU, is awarded one of six three-year grants for the project “Salinity Gradient Energy – An Inexhaustible Clean Energy Resource for North Carolina”.  These are the first UNC Research Opportunities Initiative (ROI) awards supported by the North Carolina General Administration to advance game-changing collaborative research in areas of strategic importance to the state.  For more information, please click here.

December 2014: Sabrina Sultana successfully defends her Masters of Science in Materials Science.  Sabrina studied the ion exchange membranes for electrodeionization.  Congratulations Sabrina!

December 2014: Jingbo Wang is awarded the Grant-in-Aid of Research (GIAR) award from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, in support of her research on novel anti-biofouling membranes.  Congratulations, Jingbo!

November 2014: Panitan Jutaporn gives an oral presentation at the 2014 American Water Works (AWWA) Water Quality Technology Conference (WQTC) in New Orleans, Louisiana.  The title of the talk was “Membrane fouling minimization by a magnetic ion exchange (MIEX) resin”.  The full reference to the corresponding conference proceeding can be found in the Publications section.

October 2014: David Holcomb gives a poster presentation entitled “Granular brass media as a technology for the removal of dissolved copper and lead from water” at the 2014 Water and Health Conference: Where Science Meets Policy.  The full reference to the conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

August 2014: Ariel Atkinson is awarded the National Water Research Institute-American Membrane Technology Association (NWRI-AMTA) Fellowship for Membrane Technology in support of her research on the development of a novel anti-biofouling membrane.  Congratulations, Ariel!

August 2014: Mikayla Armstrong joins our group as a Masters student.  Mikayla will work on the removal of micropollutants by membrane-based processes.

July 2014: Alex Gorzalski’s paper entitled “Fouling of nanofiltration membranes in full- and bench-scale systems treating groundwater containing silica” is published in the Journal of Membrane Science (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2014.06.013).

June 2014: Joshua Powell gives an oral presentation, and Lin Lin, Jingbo Wang and Joshua Powell give poster presentations at the 2014 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Conference in Houston, Texas.  The title of the presentations were “Kinetics, mechanisms, and modeling of bulk chlorine uptake by polyamide active layers of reverse osmosis membranes upon exposure to free chlorine” (Joshua), “A sample stage for remotely-controlled, semi-automatic analysis of polymeric membrane samples using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry” (Jingbo), and “Nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membrane support degradation due to ion beam irradiation during Rutherford backscattering spectrometry analysis chlorine” (Lin).  The full references to the corresponding conference abstracts can be found in the Publications section.

January 2014: Joshua Powell’s paper entitled “Bulk chlorine uptake by polyamide active layers of thin-film composite membranes upon exposure to free chlorine – kinetics, mechanisms, and modeling” is published in Environmental Science & Technology (http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es4047632).

November 2013: Dr. Coronell gives an invited presentation at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina, as part of the Environmental Engineering and Science Seminar Series.  The title of his talk was “Chlorine Uptake by Polyamide Active Layers of Reverse Osmosis Membranes upon Exposure to Free Chlorine: Volume-Averaged versus Surface Results”.

November 2013: Alex Gorzalski gives an oral presentation at the 2013 American Water Works (AWWA) Water Quality Technology Conference (WQTC) in Long Beach, California.  The title of the talk was “Challenges in replicating full-scale fouling of nanofiltration membranes treating groundwater in laboratory crossflow systems”.  The full reference to the corresponding conference proceeding can be found in the Publications section.

August 2013: Dr. Coronell gives an invited presentation at the Water Resources Research Institute in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Dr. Coronell presented an overview of past and current research on membranes for water treatment at his laboratories at UNC-Chapel Hill.

August 2013: Sabrina Sultana joins our group as a Masters student.  Sabrina will work on water desalination by membrane-based processes.

August 2013: John Gilles joins our group as a Masters student, co-advised with Dr. Mark Sobsey.  John will work on point-of-use water treatment technologies.

August 2013: Kasia Grzebyk joins our group as a PhD student, co-advised with Dr. Howard Weinberg.  Kasia will work on the development of nanocomposite membranes for water purification.

August 2013: Ariel Atkinson joins our group as a PhD student, co-advised with Dr. Howard Weinberg.  Ariel will work on the development of anti-biofouling membranes for water purification.

August 2013: Alex Gorzalski, “The Foulant Fighter”, is featured in UNC endeavors for his work on fouling and cleaning of nanofiltration membranes.  The full article can be found at The Foulant Fighter.

August 2013: Arianna Catenacci, visiting PhD student, returns to Politecnico di Milano in Italy after a six month visit with our research group.  We will miss her!

August 2013: Our research group, in collaboration with the Weinberg Research Group, is awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the project “Tailoring thin-film nanocomposite membranes for water reuse applications”.  This work is funded by the NSF Environmental Engineering Program.

July 2013: Lin Lin gives an oral presentation, and Panitan Jutaporn, Joshua Powell and Lamar Perry give poster presentations at the 2013 Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) Conference, Golden, Colorado.  The title of their presentations were “Relating water permeability of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes to the absorption of water by their active layers” (Lin), “Minimization of membrane fouling by a magnetic ion exchange (MIEX) resin” (Panitan), “Measuring chlorine uptake and chain scission in the polyamide active layers of reverse osmosis membranes upon exposure to free chlorine” (Joshua), and “User-friendly, bench-top method to quantify the volume-averaged charge density in isolated active layers of thin-film composite and nanocomposite membranes using a quartz crystal microbalance” (Lamar).  The full references to the corresponding conference abstracts can be found in the Publications section.

June 2013: Lamar Perry gives an oral presentation at the 2013 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Annual Meeting Boise, Idaho.  The title of the talk was “Measuring the volume-averaged charge density of active layers of thin-film composite and thin-film nanocomposite membranes using a quartz crystal microbalance”.  The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

May 2013: Alex Gorzalski was one of three students from UNC-Chapel Hill representing North Carolina’s graduate schools at Graduate Education Day at the State Capitol in Raleigh on May 22, 2013. Alex was invited to present his work on fouling phenomena and cleaning strategies for nanofiltration membranes treating North Carolina waters.  The event was sponsored by the North Carolina Conference of Graduate Schools to demonstrate the importance of graduate education to state legislators.

May 2013: Josh Powell successfully defends his Masters Technical Report.  Josh studied the degradation of polyamide membranes by free chlorine.  Congratulations Josh!

April 2013: Josh Powell receives the George C. Bunker Award, which is given annually by the ESE Department to an MSEE candidate who shows the most outstanding scholarship and professional promise.  Josh’s work focuses on characterizing the degradation of polyamide membranes by free chlorine.  Congratulations Josh!

April 2013: Alex Gorzalski successfully defends his Masters Technical Report.  Alex studied the fouling and optimum cleaning strategies of nanofiltration membranes used to treat groundwaters from North Carolina.  Congratulations Alex!

March 2013: Our research group is awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the project “GOALI: Application of an Innovative Anti-Biofilm Technology for Overcoming Biofouling on Water Purification Membranes”.  This work will be performed in collaboration with our industry partner, Agile Sciences, and is funded by the NSF Chemical and Biological Separations (CBS) Program and Grant Opportunities for Academic Liason with Industry (GOALI) Program.

March 2013: Alex Gorzalski gives an oral presentation at the 2013 WRRI Annual Conference and NCWRA Symposium in North Carolina State University.  The title of the talk was “Identification of Foulants and Optimum Cleaning Strategies for Nanofiltration and Reverse Osmosis Membranes Treating Groundwaters of Coastal North Carolina”.  The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

February 2013: Dr. Coronell et. al.’s invited article, entitled “Microanalysis of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes” is accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed Encyclopedia of Membrane Science and Technology (editors: Hoek, E.M.V.; Tarabara, V.V.). (ISBN: 978-0-470-90687-3)

February 2013: Arianna Catenacci from Politecnico di Milano in Italy joins our group as a visiting PhD student.  Arianna will be with us for six months, and will research the removal of contaminants from water using reductive media.

January 2013: Dr. Coronell is awarded the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health Teaching Innovation Award for the ESE department. One faculty member from each of the School’s eight academic units is selected by students in their department as the faculty member “who improves the student learning environment and outcomes by integrating new technologies, engaging students in interactive activities, employing creative assessment methods, introducing progressive curriculum and/or incorporating creative ideas.” Congratulations Dr. Coronell!

December 2012: Alex Gorzalski receives a Graduate Education Advancement Board Impact Award, which recognizes outstanding graduate research of particular benefit to the citizens of North Carolina. His work focuses on fouling and cleaning of nanofiltration membranes used for drinking water treatment in coastal North Carolina. Alex will showcase his research to state legislators and the campus community at the UNC Graduate School’s Student Recognition Celebration in April 2013. Congratulations Alex!

November 2012: Dr. Coronell’s paper entitled “Modeling the effect of charge density in the active layers of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes on the rejection of arsenic (III) and potassium iodide” is published in Environmental Science and Technology. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es302850p).

November 2012: Lamar Perry’s paper entitled “Reliable, bench-top measurements of charge density in the active layers of thin-film composite and nanocomposite membranes using quartz crystal microbalance technology” is published in the Journal of Membrane Science (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2012.11.023).

November 2012: A paper co-authored by Dr. Coronell entitled “Growth kinetics of interfacially polymerized polyamide layers by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry” is accepted for publication in the Journal of Membrane Science. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2012.11.040).

November 2012: Dr. Coronell presents a paper with Chuan Wang as the first author at the AWWA Water Quality Technology Conference 2012, Toronto, Canada. The talk is entitled “Dissolved copper and lead removal using granular brass media”.  The full reference to the corresponding conference proceeding can be found in the Publications section.

October 2012: Dr. Coronell gives an invited seminar at the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering at North Carolina A&T University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  The seminar is entitled “Application of Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and quartz crystal microbalance measurements to study the relationship between charge density in membranes for water purification and the rejection of contaminants of interest”.

September 2012: Eliot Meyer successfully defends his Masters Technical Report.  Eliot studied the degradation of the supports of thin-film composite and thin-film nanocomposite membranes during Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) analysis.  Congratulations Eliot!

August 2012: Jingbo Wang joins our group as a Master’s student. Jingbo will study transport phenomena in RO/NF/FO membranes.

August 2012: Brad Bennett  successfully defends his Masters Technical Report.  Brad studied the removal of nitrate from aqueous solution using zero-valent metals.  Congratulations Brad!

August 2012: Dr. Coronell passes on his duties as faculty advisor of the UNC Chapter of Engineers without Borders (EWB) to Dr. Pete Kolsky.

June 2012: Dr. Coronell  gives an oral presentation, and Lamar Perry gives a poster presentation at the 2012 North American  Membrane Society (NAMS) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA.  The title of the presentations were “Relating contaminant rejection by thin-film composite membranes to the charge density in membrane active layers” (Coronell) and “Measuring charge density in thin-film composite and thin-film nanocomposite membranes” (Lamar).  The full references to the corresponding conference abstracts can be found in the Publications section.

April 2012: David Holcomb successfully defends his undergraduate honors thesis. David studied the use of reductive media for the removal of contaminants from water at the point of use.  Congratulations David!

March 2012: Alex Gorzalski gives a talk at the Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI) Annual Conference 2012, Raleigh, NC. The talk is entitled “Identification of membrane foulants for NF and RO membranes treating groundwaters from the Castle Hayne and Peedee aquifers in North Carolina”.  The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

March 2012: Peter Attayek’s paper entitled “A remotely-controlled, semi-automatic target system for Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and elastic recoiled detection analyses of polymeric membrane samples” is published in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics A. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2012.02.005)

February 2012: Dr. Coronell presents a paper with Lin Lin as the first author at the AWWA/AMTA Membrane Technology Conference and Exposition 2012, Glendale, AZ. The talk is entitled “Relating Water Permeability of Reverse Osmosis and Nanofiltration Membranes to the Polymer Density of their Active Layers”.  The full reference to the corresponding conference proceeding can be found in the Publications section.

January 2012: Lin Lin receives the Okun Scholarship from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. The Okun Scholarship is awarded to promising engineering students. Congratulations Lin!

December 2011: Dr. Seokjong Byun completes his post-doctoral research project in our group.  Good luck in South Korea!

November 2011: Dr. Coronell gives a seminar at the Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering Seminar Series at the North Carolina State University. The seminar is entitled “Thin-film composite membranes for water purification: Bench top quantification of charge density and relation between charge density and solute rejection”.

September 2011: David Holcomb receives the Honors Undergraduate Research Award to complete his undergraduate research. Congratulations David!

September 2011: Chuan Wang returns to Sun Yat-sen University in China after a 1 year exchange in our group.  We will miss her!

August 2011: David Holcomb joins our group as an undergraduate research assistant.  David will study the removal of heavy metals from water by redox processes.

August 2011: Brad Bennett joins our group as a Master’s student.  Brad will study the removal of heavy metals from water by redox processes.

August 2011: Dr. Coronell gives an invited seminar at the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy at Arizona State University.  The seminar is entitled “Quantification of physico-chemical properties of the active layers of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS)”.

July 2011: Joshua Powell joins our group as a Master’s student.  Joshua will work in the characterization of the active layers of reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes.

July 2011: Panitan Jutaporn joins our group as a PhD student.  Panitan will study fouling in low pressure membranes.

July 2011: Alex Gorzalski joins our group as a Master’s student. Alex will work in the project entitled “Identification of membrane foulants and optimum cleaning strategies for nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes treating groundwaters from the Castle Hayne and Peedee Aquifers” sponsored by The North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI).

May 2011: Dr. Coronell’s paper entitled “Depth heterogeneity of fully aromatic polyamide active layers in reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes” is published in Environmental Science and Technology. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es200007h).

January 2011: Dr. Seokjong Byun joins our group as a post-doctoral researcher.  Dr. Byun will work in the project entitled “Enhanced chloride/sulfate monitoring for steam samples” sponsored by The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

January 2011: The new target system for ion scattering analysis of polymer membrane samples is now operational at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL)! The target system was designed by our group in collaboration with Dr. Tom Clegg from the Physics and Astronomy Department. Special thanks for their help also go to Grayson Rich, Dr. Hugon Karwowski and Dr. Nalin Parikh.

January 2011: Lamar Anthony Perry joins our group as a PhD student. Lamar will be a membrane researcher.

January 2011: Our research group is awarded a grant by the North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI) for the project “Identification of membrane foulants and optimum cleaning strategies for nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes treating groundwaters from the Castle Hayne and Peedee Aquifers”.

December 2010: Our research group is awarded a grant by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for the project “Enhanced chloride/sulfate monitoring for steam samples”.

December 2010: Dr. Coronell is awarded the IBM Fund Jr. Faculty Development Award for research in membrane characterization.

December 2010: Our research group, through Peter Attayek, is awarded a grant from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, towards the project “Optimization of semi-automatic, motorized, remote-controlled stage for the analysis of polymeric membrane samples using Rutherford backscattering spectrometrydevelopment of a target stage for ion beam analysis of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes”.

September 2010: Chuan Wang from Sun Yat-sen University in China joins our group as a visiting PhD student.  Chuan will do research with us for 1 year, and will research the removal of heavy metals from water by redox processes.

September 2010: Dr. Coronell’s paper entitled “Ionization behavior, stoichiometry of association and accessibility of functional groups in the active layers of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes” is published in Environmental Science and Technology. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es100891r)

August 2010: Teresa Long joins our group as an undergraduate researcher. Teresa will study forward osmosis (FO) filtration.

August 2010: Lin Lin joins our group as a PhD student. Lin will work in the characterization of the active layers of reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes.

August 2010: Eliot Meyer joins our group as a Master’s student. Eliot will work in the characterization of the active layers of reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes.

July 2010: Dr. Coronell gives a talk at the 2010 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.  The talk is entitled “Characterization of the depth heterogeneity of the active layers of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes”.  The full reference to the corresponding conference abstract can be found in the Publications section.

July 2010: Peter Attayek joins our group as an undergraduate researcher.  Pete will develop a target stage for ion beam analysis of polymeric membranes.

July 2010: Dr. Coronell starts his appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill.

June 2010: Dr. Coronell becomes the faculty advisor of the UNC Chapter of Engineers without Borders (EWB).

April 2010: Dr. Coronell gives an invited seminar at the Condensed Matter Physics Seminar Series at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  The seminar is entitled “Quantitative characterization of physico-chemical properties of the active layers of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes, and their relation to membrane performance”.

April 2010: Dr. Coronell gives a seminar at the Environmental Science and Engineering Seminar Series at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  The seminar is entitled “Decoding Membranes”.

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