GT Separations Science and Engineering Center

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🎉 Congratulations to Dr. Ryan Lively on being named a national finalist for the 2025 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists! 👏

An incredible recognition of his leadership in sustainable separations and carbon capture research — one that continues to inspire the next generation of ChBE researchers.

Check out our new website - ssc.chbe.gatech.edu !✨Along with center news and lots of research, you will find a "separations" page where you can learn more about six separations that have huge impacts on our daily lives. Thanks
@impactmedialab.bsky.social for turning our science into art!

This work combines machine learning with transport modeling to guide the selection of high-performing microporous polymers for OSRO. Grateful to the editors and reviewers for recognizing its impact!🎉

Excited to share that our recent J. Membr. Sci. paper led by Young Joo Lee (Lively group, @GTChBE) has been selected as an Editor’s Choice Article for the July 2025 issue!🎉👏

Check it out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#MembraneScience #MachineLearning #OSRO #EditorsChoice #Sustainability

Near-cryogenic direct air capture using adsorbents Direct air capture (DAC) of CO2 is a key component in the portfolio of negative emissions technologies for mitigating global warming. However, even with the most potent amine sorbents, large-scale DAC...

This approach cuts DAC energy demand to as low as 1.7-3.3 GJ/tCO₂ and slashes the levelized cost of capture by ~60%, opening a scalable, low-cost path for gigaton-scale carbon removal. Read more: pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

Excited to share that in our latest Energy Environ. Sci. paper led by Seo-Yul Kim (Lively group, GTChBE), we propose a new concept: near-cryogenic direct air capture (DAC) using physisorbents like Zeolite 13X and CALF-20, thermally coupled with LNG regasification.

Performance Degradation of Amine-Infused Fiber Sorbents for Direct Air Capture: Mechanisms and Solutions Sorbent stability poses significant impacts on long-term performance of direct air capture (DAC) of CO2 and levelized cost of capture (LCOC). We report the DAC performance degradation of amine-infused...

Aminolysis between PEI and CA reduces CO₂ capacity, but pre-hydrolysis or switching to PES can preserve up to 97% capacity over 20 cycles. A critical step forward in designing robust DAC contactors! Read more👉 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

We have good news to share! 🎉 In our latest Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. publication, led by Yuxiang Wang (Lively group, GTChBE), we identify a key degradation pathway in amine-infused cellulose acetate fiber sorbents for direct air capture.

Self-Supported Branched Poly(ethylenimine) Monoliths from Inverse Template 3D Printing for Direct Air Capture 3D-printed inverse templates are combined with ice templating to develop self-supported branched poly(ethylenimine) monoliths with regular channels of varying channel density and ordered macropores. A maximum uptake of 0.96 mmol of CO2/g of monolith from ambient air containing 45.5% RH is achieved from dynamic breakthrough experiments, which is a 31% increase compared to the CO2 uptake from adsorption under dry conditions for the same duration. The breakthrough experiments show characteristics of internal mass-transfer limitations. The cyclic dynamic breakthrough experiments indicate stable operation without significant loss in CO2 uptake across eight cycles. Moreover, the self-supported monolith shows minimal loss in adsorption capacity (7.7%) upon exposure to air containing 21% oxygen at 110 °C, in comparison to a conventional sorbent consisting of poly(ethylenimine) impregnated on Al2O3 (18.9%). The monoliths exhibit good mechanical stability, contributed by elastic deformation, corresponding to up to 74% strain and lower pressure drop compared to many existing monoliths in the literature.

These self-supported sorbents achieve a 31% increase in CO₂ uptake under humid conditions, exhibit excellent mechanical stability, and reduce pressure drop for scalable DAC applications. Learn more: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Thrilled to share our latest ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces publication! 🎉 Led by Pavithra Narayanan (Lively & Jones groups, GTChBE), we developed 3D-printed, ice-templated poly(ethylenimine) monoliths for direct air capture.

These innovative membranes demonstrate high selectivity for complex hydrocarbon mixtures, offering energy-efficient solutions for processes and reducing carbon emissions in chemical processing.
Read more: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#MembraneScience #Sustainability #SeparationTechnology

Excited to share our latest Science publication! Led by Yi Ren (Lively Lab, GTChBE), we developed fluorine-rich poly(arylene amine) membranes with exceptional resistance to swelling in organic solvents.