A joint technology developed at the University of New Mexico and Sandia National Laboratories has received an R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine. The winners were announced by the editors of the magazine at its 53rd annual R&D 100 Awards Banquet on November 13th. The international competition recognizes the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace over the past year. The R&D 100 Awards recognize excellence across a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, optics, high-energy physics, materials science, chemistry and biotechnology. The chosen technologies come from established Fortune 500 companies, universities and other research institutions, and government labs. The awards not only recognize the efforts of the development team and partners, they provide a mark of excellence known to industry, government, and consumers.
The UNM/Sandia technology, a membrane designed for the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) and called a “memzyme,” won in the Mechanical/Materials category. The technology also received a gold award in the Green Tech Special Recognition category, one of four new categories within the newly established Special Recognition Awards.
The memzyme is gas-permeable, ultra-thin and enzymatically active, combining high CO2 permeability, high CO2 selectivity, and low fabrication costs for the first cost-effective technology for CO2 separation and purification. If the membrane were embedded in a large-scale format, such as a coal-fired power plant, a savings of 62 percent in the cost of generated electricity is projected relative to conventional technology. The new technology is forecast to save the U.S. coal industry alone $90B per year for electricity generation compared with best-in-class CO2 capture technology. The membrane produces nearly pure carbon dioxide (99%), which can be re-used for industrial applications. The membrane is also highly adaptable and can be used for fast, selective transport of other chemical species by embedding different enzymes. An example is methane mono-oxygenase, which converts methane gas to the more soluble methanol.
The technology was developed by Dr. Jeff Brinker, distinguished professor in UNM’s Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering and fellow at Sandia National Labs, Dr. Joseph Cecchi, dean of UNM’s School of Engineering and professor in the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering (pictured left), Dr. Susan Rempke, distinguished member of Sandia’s technical staff, Dr. Ying-Bing Jiang, research associate professor in UNM’s Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, and Dr. Yaqin Fu, postdoctoral fellow at UNM’s Center for Micro-Engineered Materials. The 2015 award is the fifth R&D 100 awards Dr. Brinker has received for his technologies.
The awards event was the culmination of a new Technology Conference created by R&D Magazine and held on November 12th and 13th. Attendees heard presentations on innovations in several areas of research and development. To read more about the award see the November 23, 2015 article, “Sandia National Labs, UNM receives R&D 100 award,” from UNM Newsroom, reprinted below.
Sandia National Labs, UNM receives R&D 100 award
Jeff Brinker, Ying-Bing Jiang recognized
C. Jeffrey Brinker
Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico received the 2015 Gold Award in Green Technology for the development of the CO2 memzyme.
It was selected as one of the 100 most technologically significant new projects of the year in the Mechanical/Materials category by R&D magazine. The CO2 memzyme is an extremely thin membrane to separate and capture carbon. This meets one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s targets to help reduce the threat of climate change.
The principal developers of the technology, include C. Jeffrey Brinker, UNM distinguished and regent’s professor in the Departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering and in Chemistry, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology. He is also co-director of the Center for Micro-Engineered Materials at UNM and a fellow at Sandia National Labs.
Ying-Bing Jiang
Ying-Bing Jiang, UNM research associate professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering, and senior research scientist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Susan B. Rempe, distinguished member of SNL’s technical staff, and UNM research professor in the Center for Micro-Engineered Materials and adjunct professor in the Department of Biology are also principal developers.
Other team members involved in development of the technology are Yaqin Fu, UNM postdoctoral associate; Dian Jiao, former SNL postdoctoral associate, Oscar Jiao, current computational scientist at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center; Juan Vanegas, SNL postdoctoral associate, and Joseph L. Cecchi, dean of the UNM School of Engineering and professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Source: http://news.unm.edu/news/sandia-national-labs-unm-win-r-d-100-award