Suzana Nunes, Ph.D.

Faculty

​Professor of Chemical and Environmental Science and Engineering

Social Profile:

Research Interests

​The group is dedicated to the development of polymeric membranes, with expertise on different aspects of polymer science, including synthesis and functionalization, thermodynamics and self-assembly, 3D imaging by electron microscopy, and synchrotron scattering methods. The main goals are to extend the stability (thermal, solvent, etc) and performance of membranes and to propose sustainable membrane manufacturing methods as flat-sheet and hollow fiber for application in the chemical industry and water sector.

Selected Publications

  • Artificial 3D hierarchical and isotropic porous polymeric materials
    S. Chisca, V.-E. Musteata, R. Sougrat, A. R. Behzad, S. P. Nunes
    Science Advances 4, eaat0713, (2018)
  • Interfacial polymerization of zwitterionic building blocks for high-flux nanofiltration membranes
    P. H. H.Duong, K. Daumann, P. Y. Hong, M. Ulbricht, S. P. Nunes
    Langmuir, DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b00960, (2018)
  • Porous polymeric membranes with thermal and solvent resistance
    B. Pulido, C. Waldron, M. G. Zolotukhin, S. P. Nunes
    J. Membr. Sci. 539, 187-196. , (2017)
  • Functionalized nanochannels from self-assembly and photomodified poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene)
    B. Sutisna, G. Polymeropoulos, V. Musteata, R. Sougrat, D.‐M. Smilgies, K.‐V. Peinemann, N...
    Small, 1701885, (2017)
  • Block copolymer membranes for aqueous solution applications
    S. P. Nunes
    Macromolecules 49, 2905-2916., (2016)
  • Membrane manufacture for peptide separations
    D. L. Kim, O. S. Moya, S. P. Nunes
    Green Chemistry 18, 5151-5159. , (2016)
  • Biomimetic block copolymer particles with gated nanopores and ultrahigh protein sorption capacity
    H. Yu, X. Qiu, S. P. Nunes, K.-V. Peinemann
    Nature Comm., 5, 4110., (2014)

Education

  • ​Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Campinas, Brazil, 1985
  • B.Sc., Chemistry, University of Campinas, Brazil, 1981

Professional Profile

  • ​1985-1986 Postdoc and Humboldt Fellow, University of Mainz, Germany
  • 1987-1997 Assistant and Associate Professor, University of Campinas, Brazil
  • 1997-2009 Head of the Fuel Cell Membranes Group, and of the department of Membranes for Sustainable Energy, Helmholtz Association, Germany

Scientific and Professional Membership

  • ​Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK
  • Member of chemical (AICHE, AMS), materials (MRS) and membrane societies (EMS, NAMS, AMS)

KAUST Affiliations

Research Interests Keywords

​Polymer science Polymeric Membranes synthesis Functionalization and Nanostructuration Surface Modification Liquid Separation