Membrane Research Lab

What we are working on
Benny Freeman’s research program explores the relationship between polymer structure, processing and properties. More specifically, his research group studies the effect of polymer structure on the solubility, diffusivity, and permeability of small molecules in polymers and polymer-based materials. These fundamental studies bear directly upon membranes for liquid, gas, and vapor separations; controlled drug delivery devices and techniques; barrier plastics for food and specialty packaging; monomer and solvent removal from formed polymers; and physical aging of glassy polymeric materials and membranes

Benny Freeman
William J. (Bill) Murray, Jr. Endowed Chair of Engineering and Professor of Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin.

Personnel
Our group is organized around three broad topics: gas separations, liquid separations, and barrier materials. There are approximately fifteen Ph.D. students in the research group, and our research is supported by a variety of federal, state, industrial sponsors.

Research
Our research program is largely experimental in nature and focuses on polymers and polymer-based composite materials, with particular emphasis on the fundamentals of transport of small molecules in polymers, which is applied in areas such as gas separation membranes, liquid separation membranes, water purification, and barrier packaging.