Description:

Our ninth ChBE seminar of the Spring Quarter will be presented by Krista Walton, detailed information is given below:

Date & Time: Thursday, May 26th 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Location: Ford ITW Room (refreshments will be available at 8:45am)
Speaker: Krista Walton, Georgia Institute of Technology
Title: How Environmental Factors Impact Performance of MOFs in Adsorption Systems

Abstract
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are permanently porous coordination polymers that have emerged as an important new class of porous materials with the potential to make an immediate impact in adsorption separation technologies. MOFs are synthesized by a self-assembly process in which metal or metal-oxide vertices are connected by rigid or semi-rigid organic molecules. The rational synthesis approach opens up the possibility for new advances in the development of new and improved adsorbents for air purification and the removal of toxic chemicals. MOFs have shown the potential to be designed for adsorbate-specific interactions, creating effective and selective “molecular sponges”. However, the density of active sites is often low, and the commercial use of MOFs is still limited by issues with chemical stability and synthesis scale-up. This seminar will discuss our recent progress in this area and will demonstrate the applicability of MOFs for adsorption separations and catalysis.

Bio
Krista Walton was born in Florence, Alabama, and grew up in nearby Elgin. She received a BSE degree from the University of Alabama-Huntsville and PhD from Vanderbilt University, both in chemical engineering. While at UAH, Dr. Walton worked as a process engineer at Solutia, Inc., in Decatur, AL, for 2 years as part of the cooperative education program. She completed her graduate work under the direction of Prof. M. Douglas LeVan and worked with Prof. Randall Snurr during her postdoctoral studies. Dr. Walton was the Tim and Sharon Taylor Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Kansas State University from 2006-2009 and then joined the faculty of the Georgia Institute of Technology in the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering in August 2009. She serves as Director in the AIChE Separations Division and Secretary/Treasurer of the International Adsorption Society.