Professor T. Grant Glover

Professor T. Grant Glover
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
University of South Alabama
Abstract

The Role of Mass Transfer and Thermodynamics in Metal-Organic Framework Based Gas Separations

As global demand for CO2 mitigation and clean drinking water accelerates, reticular materials, such as metal-organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks, will play an increasing role in solving these challenges. Although many novel porous materials have been developed over the last 20 years, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are uniquely suited to solve complex problems because they can be synthesized with atomic-scale precision and in a nearly infinite number of structural combinations. Beyond drinking water and CO2 mitigation, these materials have been examined for a variety of other globally relevant applications including, CH4 storage, olefin/paraffin separations, catalysis, toxic gas filtration, space life-support, and others. All of these proposed applications raise numerous questions about the thermodynamics and mass transfer of gases in these materials and how to best tailor them to provide precision control over the material’s adsorption isotherms and diffusion rates. Defects in the crystal structures add additional complexities, some of which can be addressed by pairing molecular simulations and experiments. This seminar will discuss some of these applications and illustrate the connection between MOF structure, mixed-gas adsorption isotherms, and diffusion. These concepts will be discussed in the context of the adsorption of CO2 in humid gas streams and atmospheric water harvesting.

T. Grant Glover

Since 2012 Prof. Glover has operated an externally funded research group focused on understanding mixed-gas adsorption, mass transfer in porous materials, and absorption in ionic liquids. In 2017 he received the Russ and Robin Lea Faculty Innovation Award, and the South Alabama College of Engineering Excellence in Research Award. He has published numerous journal publications, government reports, and patents detailing gas adsorption and porous materials development, and he is the editor of the 2018 book Gas Adsorption in Metal-Organic Frameworks: Fundamentals and Applications published by CRC Taylor & Francis. His current research projects examine CO2 capture from flue gas, direct CO2 capture from air, atmospheric water harvesting, CO2 capture with task-specific ionic liquids, and CO2/H2O binary adsorption measurements for novel materials design. Prof. Glover is the program director of the University of South Alabama’s newly implemented Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, which he spearheaded from conception through final state approval. Before his academic appointment, Prof. Glover worked for SAIC/Leidos as a Defense Department contractor where he executed experiments studying the filtration of acutely toxic compounds from air, managed a pilot scale test facility, and supervised novel adsorbent materials research for chemical defense. During his time at SAIC/Leidos he received the Living Our Values Award and the SAIC Division Level Employee of the Year Award. Prof. Glover holds a B.S. degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University under the direction of Prof. Douglas LeVan, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship with Prof. Omar M. Yaghi at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Hosted by Professor Lee Penn