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Group Members

 

Principal Investigator

Professor Xiao Su 

Office Number: RAL-105  //  E-mail: x2su@illinois.edu

Xiao Su is an Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He obtained his Bachelor in Applied Sciences in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo in 2011. He completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT in 2017, working under the supervision of Professor T. Alan Hatton from Chemical Engineering and Professor Timothy F. Jamison from Chemistry. During his doctoral studies, Xiao received the MIT Water Innovation Prize and the MassCEC Catalyst Award for his work on electrochemically-mediated water purification. Since joining Illinois, Xiao has been the recipient of the NSF CAREER Award (2019) and the ACS Viktor K. Lamer Award (2020). His research focuses on molecular engineering for advanced separations and process intensification.

Group Members

Kwiyong Kim

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Office Number: RAL-105 // E-mail: kwiyongk@illinois.edu

Kwiyong Kim received his Bachelor in Bio and Brain Engineering, and Civil and Environmental Engineering from KAIST in 2012. He earned his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from KAIST in 2018 under the supervision of Prof. Jong-In Han. His thesis focused on the electrochemical synthesis of ammonia from water and dinitrogen as a next-generation energy carrier. He continued his career at Iowa State University, working with Prof. Wenzhen Li on electrocatalysis topics. Kwiyong’s interests at UIUC are on developing new electrochemical systems for energy-efficient water purification processes.

Johannes Elbert

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Office Number: RAL-105 // E-mail: jelbert@illinois.edu

Johannes Elbert obtained his bachelor and master’s degree in chemistry from the Technische Universität Darmstadt. During this time, he spent 10 months in the group of Prof. Ian Manners in the at the University of Bristol. He completed his PhD in 2015 (Dr. rer. nat.) at the Technische Universität Darmstadt, under the supervision of Dr. Markus Gallei and Prof. Matthias Rehahn, with a thesis on immobilized ferrocene containing polymers. He then worked at the group of Alan T. Hatton at MIT, on electrochemical water purification, and the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena on redox-flow batteries. His research is focused on developing new redox active materials.

Kihyun Cho

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Office Number: RAL-105 // E-mail: ck84@illinois.edu

Kihyun Cho received his BS, MS, and PhD degree in Materials Science & Engineering at Korea University in South Korea. During his graduate studies, his research interests lied in the synthesis of semiconductor and metal nanomaterials for advanced energy applications, under the guidance of Prof. Yun-Mo Sung. His PhD thesis topic was the development of one-dimensional nanostructured photoelectrodes for hydrogen generation. After spending some time at Korea University as a research professor, he joined Prof. Prashant K. Jain’s group in Chemistry at UIUC, working on nanostructured fast ion conductors. His current research interest in the Su group lies in developing inorganic materials for electrochemical separations, and new approaches for electrochemical materials processing.

Raylin Chen

PhD Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Office Number: RAL-7  //  E-mail: raylinc2@illinois.edu

Raylin graduated from the University of California Berkeley, in 2017, receiving a dual B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering. He has performed undergraduate research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on catalyst synthesis and characterization. His current research interests at UIUC lie in the fundamental investigation of materials synthesis and processing through electrochemical control.

Stephen Cotty

PhD Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Office Number: RAL-7  //  E-mail: cotty2@illinois.edu

Stephen graduated from Clemson University in 2017 in Chemical Engineering. During undergraduate at Clemson, he worked with Prof. Mark Roberts on redox-flow battery research, and also full-time at the Argonne National Laboratory on the design of a pilot-scale Flame Pyrolysis Plant. His focus at UIUC is on leveraging redox electrochemistry for process intensification in chemical and environmental applications.

Haley Vapnik

PhD Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Office Number: RAL-7  //  E-mail: hvapnik2@illinois.edu

Haley received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University, in 2018. Her undergraduate research at Purdue involved the study of functional polymers for projects in sensing and enhanced oil recovery, and internships at Logan Aluminum, Kraft Heinz Company, Walt Disney Imageneering and King Nutronics Corporation. Haley’s interests at UIUC focus on functional materials discovery and synthesis for selective electrochemical separations.

Paola Baldaguez Medina

PhD Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Office Number: RAL-7  //  E-mail: paolaab2@illinois.edu

Paola received her B.S in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez in 2019. During undergraduate, she conducted research in separation processes with Prof. Hernández-Maldonado, and spectroscopy with Prof. Hernández-Rivera. She also had internships at the University of Minnesota through the NSF REU program working on block-copolymers, and at the University of Florida with Prof. Rinaldi on rheology studies. Paola’s interests at UIUC focus on electrochemically-driven water purification, interfacial electrochemistry, and electroactive polymer development.

Jemin Jeon

PhD Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Office Number: RAL-7  // E-mail: jeminj2@illinois.edu

Jemin received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Hanyang University at Seoul in 2019. He conducted undergraduate research in solar cell with Prof. Min Jae Ko, microstructures with Prof.Bongjun Yeom, and nanocrystal synthesis with Prof. Brian Korgel at the University of Texas, Austin. He also had an internship as a process engineer at Hanwha Chemical in South Korea. Jemin’s interests at UIUC are on redox-polymer development, process intensification, and small molecule separations.

Riccardo Candeago

PhD Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Office Number: RAL-7  // E-mail: candeago@illinois.edu

Riccardo received his Bachelor’s degree in Environmental and Land Engineering at the University of Trento, Italy, in 2016. He did his Master’s program in Materials and Mechanical Engineering with the University of Trento and the Technical University of Munich, under the supervision of Prof. Sonja Berensmeier. He wrote his Master’s thesis at UIUC under the supervision of Prof. Su. Riccardo current focus in on fundamental materials interaction at redox-interfaces and molecular selectivity.
 
 
 

Nayeong Kim


PhD Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
 
Office Number: RAL-7  // E-mail: nkim65@illinois.edu

 

Nayeong Kim received her B.S. in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2017. She earned her M.S. at Seoul National University in 2019 in Chemical Engineering under the supervision of Prof. Jeyong Yoon, introducing a multi-channel redox system for the enhanced electrochemical desalination. Her research interests are environmental electrochemistry and sustainability, with a focus on integrated electrochemical separations along with the redox-polymer synthesis.
 

Darien Raymond

PhD Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Office Number: RAL-7  // E-mail: darienr2@illinois.edu

Darien graduated from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 2020 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Computational Statistics. During his undergraduate, Darien worked with Prof. Timothy Brenza on biodegradable block copolymers and metal organic frameworks for biosensing. He participated in the NSF REU program at the University of Iowa, working with Prof. Allan Guymon on nanostructured polymerized ionic liquids, and at the Penn State with Prof. Xeuyi Zhang on MOFs for gas separation. Darien’s interests at UIUC include electrochemical separations and the development of crystal-based Faradaic systems.
 
 

Anaira Roman Santiago

PhD Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Office Number: RAL-7  // E-mail: anairar2@illinois.edu

Anaira graduated from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez in 2020, obtaining her B.S in Chemical Engineering. She conducted research in the transport and destination of contaminants in groundwater with Dr. Ingrid Padilla, and synthesis of metal organic frameworks wastewater treatment with Dr. Hernández-Rivera. She participated in the NSF REU program at the University of South Carolina in graphene oxide membranes for water treatment, and  at the University of Florida in wind speed up with Dr. Forrest Masters. Her current research interests focus on developing effective electrochemical systems for water decontamination and environmental applications.

 

Jaeyoung Hong

PhD Student, Material Science and Engineering

Office Number: RAL-7  // E-mail: jh76@illinois.edu

Jaeyoung received his B.S. in Material Science and Engineering at Seoul National University in 2014. He obtained his M.S. in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the same university in 2016, working on the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles under the supervision of Prof. Taeghwan Hyeon. He also worked as a researcher in KIST, conducting in-situ TEM research regarding the formation of metal nanoparticles in liquid. His research interests at UIUC focus on the development of polymer-inorganic nanoparticle composite for electrochemical systems.
 
 

Undergraduate Researchers

 

Angelique Klimek

Academic Year: Junior

Graduation Date: December, 2020

Major: Chemical Engineering

 

Jing Lian Ng

Academic Year: Junior

Graduation date: May, 2020

Major: Chemical Engineering

 

Ngoc Lam

Academic Year: Senior

Graduation Date: May 2022

Major: Chemical Engineering

 

Emily Bolger

Academic Year: Senior

Graduation Date: December 2021

Major: Chemical Engineering

 

 

Alumni

 

Emmanuel Kayiwa

MSc/PhD Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Office Number: RAL-7  // E-mail: ekayiwa2@illinois.edu

Emmanuel received his B.S in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Environmental Engineering from Marquette University in 2019. He conducted electrochemical desalination research at Cornell’s Center for Nanomaterials Engineering and Technology (CNET), and worked with electrocatalysis at MIT in Prof. Yang Shao-Horn’s group. His current research interests at UIUC include novel material development and integrated flow-systems comprising of redox-electrodes. Emmanuel is co-advised with Prof. Roland Cusick from Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Yonghwan Kim

Visiting PhD Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering KAIST

E-mail: kyhwan53@illinois.edu

Yonghwan received his Bachelor’s degree in 2015 and Master’s degree in 2017 in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from KAIST. He is currently PhD student in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from KAIST under the supervision of Prof. Jae W. Lee. At KAIST, he conducted research in selective separation of radionuclides using composite adsorbents. Yonghwan’s interests at UIUC are on developing novel electrode materials for electrochemical separation of toxic heavy metal ions.

Krista Roth

Academic Year: Junior

Graduation Date: May, 2021

Major: Chemical Engineering

 

Shio Kinoshita 

Undergraduate Researcher, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Research period in our group: Summer/Fall 2019

Graduation Date: December 2019

Major: Chemistry

Mateus Almeida de Araujo 

Visiting exchange student, University of São Paulo, Brazil, Major: Food Engineering

Research period in our group: Summer/Fall 2019

Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2022

Matthew Brucks

Academic Year: Senior

Expected Graduation: May, 2020

Major: Chemical Engineering

 

Waliyat Oyewole

Academic Year: Senior

Graduation Date: May, 2020

Major: Chemical Engineering

Leticia de Souza Stefanini

Visiting BASc Student, University of São Paulo
 
Leticia  is an exchange student from Brazil graduating in 2021 in Foods Engineering at USP – University of Sao Paulo. She has research experience at the Bio Process Engineering Lab at USP.
Leticia’s interests at UIUC focus on electrochemically driven water purification, interfacial electrochemistry, and the capture of contaminants of emerging concern.
 

Thomas Sheehan

Academic Year: Junior

Graduation Date: May, 2020

Major: Chemical Engineering