​Professor Pinnau's research interests are in membrane processes for separation of gases and liquids – natural gas treatment, CO2 sequestration, hydrogen recovery, olefin/paraffin separation, and water purification. His research focuses on:

• Synthesis of high-performance polymers

• Development of high-performance membranes for gas and liquid separations

• Hybrid organic/inorganic membranes

• Nanostructured microporous polymer membranes

• Thin-film technology

• Membrane modifications (surface coatings/fouling resistance)

• Pressure-dependent pure- and mixed-gas permeation properties of Nafion
  M. Mukaddam, E. Litwiller, I. Pinnau
  J. Membr. Sci. 513, 140-145, (2016)
• Triptycene dimethyl-bridgehead dianhydride-based intrinsically microporous hydroxyl-functionalized polyimide for na...
  F. Alghunaimi, B. Ghanem, N. Alaslai, M. Mukaddam, I. Pinnau
  J. Membr. Sci., 520, pp. 240-246, (2016)
• Enhanced propylene/propane separation by thermal annealing of an intrinsically microporous hydroxyl-functionalized ...
  R.J. Swaidan, X. Ma, E. Litwiller, I. Pinnau
  J. Membr. Sci., 495, 235-241, (2015)
• Physical aging, plasticization and their effects on gas permeation in “rigid” polymers of intrinsic microporosity
  R. Swaidan, B. Ghanem, E. Litwiller, I. Pinnau
  Macromolecules, 48 (18), 6553-6561, (2015)
• Pure- and mixed-gas propylene/propane permeation properties of spiro- and triptycene-based microporous polyimides
  R.J. Swaidan, B. Ghanem, R. Swaidan, E. Litwiller, I. Pinnau
  J. Membr. Sci. 492, pp. 116-122, (2015)
• High-performance polyamide thin-film-nanocomposite reverse osmosis membranes containing hydrophobic zeolitic imidaz...
  J.T. Duan, Y.C. Pan, F. Pacheco, E. Litwiller, Z.P. Lai, I. Pinnau
  J. Membr. Sci., 476, 303-310, (2015)
• Quest for anionic MOF membranes: continuous sod-ZMOF membrane with CO2 adsorption-driven selectivity
  B.A. Al-Maythalony, O. Shekhah, R. Swaidan, Y. Belmabkhout, I. Pinnau, and M. Eddaoudi
  J. Am. Chem. Soc., 137 (5), pp. 1754-1757, (2015)
• Synthesis and effect of physical aging on gas transport properties of a microporous polyimide derived from a novel ...
  X. Ma, B. Ghanem, O. Salinas, E. Litwiller, I. Pinnau
  ACS Macro Lett., 4 (2), pp. 231-235, (2015)
• Effects of hydroxyl-functionaliztion and sub-Tg annealing on high pressure pure-and mixed-gas CO2/CH4 separation by...
  R. Swaidan, B. Ghanem, E. Litwiller, I. Pinnau
  J. Membr. Sci., 475, 571-581, (2015)
• Preparation and water desalination properties of POSS-polyamide nanocomposite reverse osmosis membranes
  J. Duan, E. Litwiller, I. Pinnau
  J. Membr. Sci., 473, 157-164, (2015)

• Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, United States, 1991
• B.S. Chemical Process Engineering, The University of Hamburg, Germany, 1985

• ​Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center (AMPMC)
• Division of Physical Science and Engineering (PSE)