Douglas L. Gin
Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
(303) 492-7640 (ChBE) ECCH 138
(303) 735-1107 (CHEM)
douglas.gin@colorado.edu
Curriculum Vitae
Gin Research Group
Education:
B.S. (Honors) in Chemistry, University of British Columbia. May 1988
Ph.D. in Chemistry, California Institute of Technology. June 1993
Awards:
•2008 CU-Boulder College of Engineering Faculty Research Award
•2007 CU-Boulder Inventor of the Year
•2007 Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence in Research, Scholarly and Creative Work Award
•2006 American Chemical Society Colorado Section Award
•2002 CU Boulder Residence Life Teaching Excellence Award
•1999 ACS PMSE/YCC Young Contributor to Polymer Materials Science
•1999-2001 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellow
•1997 Research Corporation Cottrell Teaching/Scholar Award
•1996-2001 National Science Foundation CAREER Award
•1996-2000 3M Nontenured Faculty Award
Selected Publications:
•Voss, B. A.; Bara, J. E.; Gin, D. L.;* Noble, R. D.* “Physically Gelled Supported Ionic Liquid Membranes with Enhanced CO2 Gas Transport,” in Chem. Mater. 2009, 21 (14), 3027–3029.
•Bara, J. E.; Gin, D. L.; Noble, R. D.* “Effect of “Free” Cation Substituent on Gas Separation Performance of Polymer–Room-temperature Ionic Liquid Composite Membranes,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2009, 48 (9), 4607–4610.
•Bara, J. E.; Carlisle, T. K.; Gabriel, C. J.; Camper, D.; Finotello, A.; Gin, D. L.;* Noble, R. D.* “A Guide to CO2 Separations in Imidazolium-based Room-temperature Ionic Liquids,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2009, 48, 2739–2751.
•Hatakeyama, E. S.; Ju, H.; Gabriel, C. J.; Lohr, J. L.; Bara, J. E.; Noble, R. D.; Freeman, B. D.;* Gin, D. L.* “New Protein-resistant Coatings for Water Filtration Membranes Based on Quaternary Ammonium and Phosphonium Polymers,” J. Membr. Sci. 2009, 330, 104–116.
•Bara, J. E.; Gabriel, C. J.; Carlisle, T. K.; Camper, D.; Finotello, A.; Gin, D. L.;* Noble, R. D.* “Gas Separations in Fluoroalkyl-functionalized Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids Using Supported Liquid Membranes,” Chem. Eng. J. 2009, 147, 43–50.
•Bara, J. E.; Gin, D. L.; Noble, R. D.* “Effect of Anion on Gas Separation Performance of Polymer–Room-temperature Ion Liquid Composite Membranes,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2008, 47 (24), 9919–9924.
•Camper, D.; Bara, J. E.;* Gin, D. L.; Noble, R. D.* “Room-Temperature Ionic Liquid–Amine Solutions: Tunable Solvents for Efficient and Reversible Capture of CO2,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2008, 47 (21), 8496–8498.
•Carlisle, T. K.; Bara, J. E.; Noble, R. D.;* Gin, D. L.* “ Interpretation of CO2 Solubility and Selectivity in Nitrile-Functionalized Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids using a Group Contribution Approach,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2008, 47 (18), 7005–7012.
Research Interests:
One of the frontiers in materials chemistry is the architectural control of synthetic materials on the nanometer-scale. Nanometer-scale architecture is primarily responsible for the impressive properties of many biological structural materials (e.g., bone) and the unique reactivity of many inorganic supercage catalysts (e.g., zeolites). Unfortunately, very few techniques for constructing man-made materials offer compositional or architectural control on this size regime. One of the principal questions that we are addressing is whether materials with unique or superior bulk properties would result if nanometer-scale architectural control could be achieved with modern engineering components.
Over the past eight years, my group and I have developed a successful research program directed at constructing functional materials with controlled nanostructures by designing self-organizing monomers based on thermotropic and lyotropic (i.e., amphiphilic) liquid crystals (LCs). LCs are molecules that self-assemble into organized phases that are intermediate between crystalline solids and isotropic liquids. In these mesophases, the molecules are dynamic and behave like a viscous fluid, while still maintaining a degree of order reminiscent of a crystalline solid. LCs may adopt various phases, depending on (1) the temperature (i.e., thermotropic LCs) or (2) their concentration in a solvent such as water (i.e., lyotropic or amphiphilic LCs) (Figure 1). Through molecular design, we have been able to incorporate functional properties into the LC assemblies and subsequently polymerize them into robust polymer networks with preservation of their nanostructure. These ordered matrices serve as the basis for our new materials synthesis, as well as a platform for investigating structure–property relationships on this size regime. These new LC monomers and assemblies also serve as novel platforms for examining the effect of nanostructure on polymerization kinetics, connectivity, etc., in addition to functional properties.
Figure 1. Common Thermotropic and Lyotropic Liquid Crystalline Phases.
The goals of our research program are fundamental in concept and applied in their long range perspective. We are interested not only in the design of organic monomers with self-assembly properties but also intensely interested in the effects of engineered order on their useful bulk properties. We endeavor to tailor our chemistry to provide control over nanoarchitecture, chemical composition, and processing in our new materials. These factors are crucial if these strategies are to evolve into viable technologies. In order to accomplish these goals, we have taken the approach of initially designing relatively simple molecules to test fundamental concepts such as (1) the viability of polymerizing certain LC assemblies, and (2) whether these assemblies are capable of enhancing or modifying particular properties. Once these proofs of concept have been demonstrated, our subsequent goal is the design of more elaborate building blocks to more thoroughly probe chemical behavior on this size regime.
