About this Event
Chem Club Invited Speaker & Joint with Biology
“MOF-Polymer Hybrids - At the Interface of New Materials”
Abstract: The integration of polymers and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has the potential to generate hybrid materials with the best qualities of both. Polymer-MOF hybrids have been prepared and investigated for a wide range of applications from mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) for separations and catalysis, to more complex structural composites, such as 3D-printed materials. Our group has taken an increasing interest in the science at the polymer-MOF interface and the results of our investigations will be presented. Our studies include ‘top-down’ approaches, such as the preparation of MMMs with exceptionally high MOF content that show potential utility in both separations and catalysis. In collaborative studies with theorists and spectroscopists, we are attempting to better characterize polymer-MOF interactions in MMMs and the interface between these materials. Our ultimate objective is to improve our understanding of polymer-MOF interactions, to better control these interfaces, and ultimately improve the performance of MMMs in various applications. Other investigations from our laboratory utilize ‘bottom-up’ approaches for making hybrid materials from polymer ligands to generate a new class of porous solids termed ‘polyMOFs’. polyMOFs demonstrate unique properties and morphologies when compared to their conventional MOF counterparts, and efforts to develop these materials as a class of processible MOFs will be presented.
Biography: After high school, Dr. Cohen moved to the San Francisco bay area to attend Stanford University (Go Cardinal!) where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. Upon completion of my undergraduate education he moved across the bay to attend graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley where he studied under the guidance of Prof. Kenneth N. Raymond. After completing his Ph.D. at U.C. Berkeley, Dr. Cohen moved to Boston, to perform postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Prof. Stephen J. Lippard at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After about two and a half years in Boston he moved to his present position at the University of California, San Diego (Go Tritons!). On July 1, 2011, Dr. Cohen was promoted to the position of Professor, and served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at U.C. San Diego from July 2012 to June 2015. Dr. Cohen was born in 1972 in Los Angeles, CA. He was raised in the city of Woodland Hills in the San Fernando Valley. He has been living in San Diego since 2001. In June of 2005 he became the proud father of his daughter Sabrina. His hobbies include recreational sports, movies, and classic cars.
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