ChE 2026 Spring Seminar Series – Piran Kidambi, PhD

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Title: Atomically Thin Membranes: Fundamental to Applications

Speaker: Piran R. Kidambi, PhD
Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida

Abstract: 2D nanomaterials offer fundamentally new opportunities to study, understand and control mass transport at the sub-nanometer-scale. Specifically, they allow for quantum tunneling and size-selective ionic/molecular transport/sieving. I will discuss our recent work in 2D material synthesis and processing to enable i) large-area atomically thin Helium barriers, ii) fully functional nanoporous atomically thin membranes for desalination, dialysis, and molecular separations, iii) bottom-up formation of nanopores in 2D lattices, iv) new approaches to probe sub-nanometer scale defects in centimeter scale 2D-single-crystals, v) size-selective defect sealing for functional large-area 2D membranes, vi) roll-to-roll manufacturing of atomically thin membranes, and vii) proton transport through atomically thin membranes for advancing energy conversion/storage and security. Finally, I will discuss transport in 1D nanomaterials (carbon nanotubes) for hemodialysis as well as some of our efforts to move these technologies to the commercial arena.

Bio: Bio:
Piran R. Kidambi is an Associate Professor at the University of Florida. After receiving his PhD from the University of Cambridge, he pursued postdoctoral research at MIT through a Lindemann Trust Fellowship. Kidambi’s research leverages the intersection between (i) nanomaterial synthesis, (ii) process engineering, and (iii) in situ metrology, to enable bottom-up materials design and synthesis for energy, separations, and healthcare applications. His research has been recognized via several awards and honors including ASME Rising Star (2024), 2024 Donald D. Harrington Faculty Fellowship at UT Austin, AIChE NSEF Young Investigator (2023), DOE Early Career Award (2022), ACS PMSE Young Investigator (2022), NSF CAREER (2020), ECS Toyota Young Investigator (2020), and Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Award (2018), among others.