Molecular Design Foundry: Enabling Separation Processes
Material Measurement Laboratory, Applied Chemicals and Materials Division
NIST only participates in the February and August reviews.
A postdoctoral associate will be responsible for exploratory research in four principal areas (predictive modeling, molecular simulation, chemical synthesis, verification measurements). In combination, these four tools comprise the toolset for discovery of innovative substances (e.g., ionic liquids) that enable chemical separations that were heretofore unfeasible. We refer to this toolset as our Molecular Design Foundry because the essential aims are to design, synthesize and test new molecules. The postdoc will take a lead role on our team and will work closely on the research with experts from our group, other groups in our Division and collaborating university labs. A problem of crucial importance was chosen to test the tools in our foundry – separation of an azeotrope. This remains a nearly intractible problem for chemical manufacturers. Our approach is to develop an innovative (never before seen in the lab) substance that will serve as an entrainer. An entrainer is a substance that shifts thermodynamic equilibrium away from an azeotropic composition, and thereby achieves an efficient chemical separation of an azeotropic mixture. For results dissemenation, the postdoc will be the responsible lead author of patent submissions and research manuscripts.