University at Buffalo (UB)
PhD student recognized by AIChE for developing scalable gas separation membranes
Narjes Esmaeili, PhD student in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
By Peter Murphy
Published August 31, 2026
Narjes Esmaeili, a PhD student in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering received the 2026 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Separation Division Dibakar Bhattacharyya Graduate Student Research Award for her work with membrane-based separations.
“Our membrane technology offers a more energy-efficient and potentially lower-cost alternative to conventional gas separation methods,” Esmaeili said.
The award recognizes Esmaeili’s work as lead author on a study published in the Journal of Membrane Science. Esmaeili and her co-authors — including four students in the CBE department, her advisor, Haiqing Lin, professor— describe a scalable fabrication approach for producing membranes for gas separation, addressing an important challenge in translating high-performing membrane technologies from laboratory-scale research toward larger-scale manufacturing. The selected paper is recognized for its research, investigation and design. The team of researchers also collaborated with industry partners Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. and National Carbon Capture Center.
“My PhD research focuses on developing advanced membrane materials for energy-efficient carbon capture,” Esmaeili said. “Membranes act like highly selective filters, allowing carbon dioxide to pass through while blocking other gases, making them a promising technology for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and industrial processes.”
According to Esmaeili, the research recognized by AIChE demonstrates that a new class of ultrathin nanocomposite membranes, which combine specially designed polymers with porous nanoparticles, can be fabricated using a continuous, roll-to-roll process — an industrial scalable approach that enables high-throughput membranes production while maintaining consistent quality. The ability to produce these effective membranes at a large scale brings them one step closer to practice deployment for carbon capture and other large-scale gas separation applications.
Esmaeili plans to continue working with different materials to address challenges in energy, environmental sustainability and health care, with an eye toward technologies that can be deployed in real-world applications.
“As I continue my career, I hope to pursue interdisciplinary research that combines polymer science, membrane technology and advanced materials engineering to develop practical solutions for carbon capture, clean energy and other emerging technologies that benefit society,” Esmaeili said.
