Alan R. Greenberg
Professor and Associate Chair
Membrane Applied Science & Technology
(MAST) Center Executive Director
303-492-6613
Alan.Greenberg@Colorado.EDU
Education
- Ph.D. Biomedical/Materials Engineering, Drexel University, 1978
- M.S. Environmental Engineering, Drexel University, 1972
- B.S. Metallurgical Engineering, Drexel University, 1969
Professional Recognition
- Named as a Technical Expert for the Singapore Environment and Water Industry Development Council (2006)
- Outstanding ME Faculty Member (2005)
- Plenary presentation at the 2nd International Conference on the Application of Membrane Technology, Beijing, China (2002)
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (1998)
- Keynote presentation at the Euromembrane '97, Third International Symposium, University of Twente, The Netherlands (1997).
Research Interests
- Formation, characterization and performance of membranes
- Mechanical properties of materials in bulk and thin-film form
- Physical and mechanical behavior of biological materials
The Greenberg research group has significant expertise in membrane formation including the design and control of processing conditions to achieve desired membrane and thin-film morphologies. Recent work has involved the creation of inorganic membranes from polymer precursors, and the group is now studying the use of atomic layer deposition for control of morphology and surface chemistry. Our research has successfully utilized an integrated modeling and experimental approach that has led to the development of first-principles models that describe important membrane formation processes. The Greenberg research group has pioneered the development of a number of innovative real-time techniques for nondestructive measurement of material performance. To date such techniques include acoustic time-domain reflectometry for characterization of membrane phenomena such as fouling, pendant-drop mechanical analysis for the study of degradation mechanisms in interfacially polymerized films, and techniques for the simultaneous real-time measurement of mechanical and transport behavior of polymeric thin films and membranes under high-pressure, high-temperature conditions.
Selected Publications
- E. Kujundzic, A.C. Fonseca, E.A. Evans, M. Peterson, A.R. Greenberg and M. Hernandez, “Ultrasonic Monitoring of Early-Stage Biofilm Growth on Membranes and Polymeric Surfaces.” J. Microbiological Methods, in press.
- Il Juhn Roh, Alan R. Greenberg, and Vivek P. Khare, “Synthesis and Characterization of Interfacially Polymerized Polyamide Thin Films.” Desalination 191, 279-290 (2006).
- Robert Buchwald, Michael D. Breed, Alan R. Greenberg, and Gard Otis, “Mechanical Properties of Honey Bee Waxes (Apis ss.p).” Journal of Experimental Biology, 209, 3984-3989 (2006).
- Yiping Liu, Ken Gall, Martin L Dunn, Alan R Greenberg, and Julie Diani, “Thermomechanics of Shape Memory Polymers: Uniaxial Experiments and One-dimensional Constitutive Model.” International Journal of Plasticity, 22(2), 279-313 (2006).
- D. Li, A.R. Greenberg, W.B. Krantz, and R.L. Sani, “Membrane Formation via Thermally Induced Phase Separation (TIPS) – Model Development and Validation.” Journal of Membrane Science, 279, 50-60 (2006).
- Z. Zhang, V.M. Bright, and A.R. Greenberg, “Use of capacitive microsensors and ultrasonic time-domain reflectometry for in-situ quantification of concentration polarization and membrane fouling in pressure-driven membrane filtration.” Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical; 117 (2), 323-331 (2006).
- V.P. Khare, A.R. Greenberg, and W.B. Krantz, “Vapor Induced Phase Separation - Effect of the Humid Air Exposure Step on Membrane Morphology: Part I. Insights from Mathematical Modeling,” Journal of Membrane Science, 258, 140-156 (2005).
- Vivek P. Khare, Alan R. Greenberg, and William B. Krantz, “Investigation of the Viscoelastic and Transport Properties of IP Barrier Layers Using Pendant Drop Mechanical Analysis,” Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 94, 558-568, (2004).