Al Geib Professor of Environmental Engineering Research & Education
Ph.D., Yale University (2007)
Google Scholar Profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=DOVCzp8AAAAJ&hl=en
Current Research
- Membrane separations for sustainable water and energy production
- Additive manufacturing for membranes
- Thin film composite membrane design and fabrication
- Polymeric membrane characterization
- Wastewater resource recovery using anaerobic digestion
- Solar driven desalination processes
- Electrocaloric thin film materials
Selected Professional Activities
Director, Connecticut Center for Applied Separations Technology
Deputy Topic Area Lead, National Alliance for Water Innovation
Associate Editor, Journal of Membrane Science Letters
Research Statement
Our research is driven by the goal to identify opportunities to implement membrane and other advanced separation technology into various industrial processes in order to lower energy use, reduce carbon footprint, limit waste, and prevent adverse environmental and health impacts. We are achieving this through innovative manufacturing approaches that enable the implementation of new materials into various membrane platforms.
We currently run the following projects:
Additive Manufacturing for Customized Membranes: We are designing bespoke membranes for water treatment and desalination applications.
Resource Recovery from Wastewater Treatment Systems: We are developing AI driven control strategies to maximize the recovery of value from organic waste streams using anaerobic co-digestion.
Solar-driven Membrane Distillation: We are developing a ceramic-based membrane distillation system driven by solar-thermal energy.
Manufacturing Thin Film Electrocalorics: We are developing an approach to make thin film electrocaloric materials using liquid crystals.
Industry projects: We conduct a wide range of projects for industry on membrane process and component development.
Awards & Honors
| 2022 | Centennial Professor in the University of Connecticut School of Engineering |
| 2021 | Elected to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering |
| 2021 | American Made Solar Desalination Prize Semifinalist |
| 2020 | American Made Solar Desalination Prize Quarterfinalist |
| 2019 | Global Water Summit Water technology Idol Competition Winner |
| 2016 | Al Geib Professorship in Environmental Engineering Research and Education |
| 2014 | FRI/John G. Kunesh Award |
| 2011 | Solvay Advanced Polymers Young Faculty Award |
| 2011 | Environmental Protection Agency Early Career Award |
| 2011 | 3M Untenured Faculty Award |
Student Awards
Nicholas Benvenuto, C2E2 Summer Fellowship, 2022
Rebecca Lee, AIChE Undergraduate Poster Competition, 1st place Separations Division, 2021
Rebecca Lee, Summer Undergraduate Research Fund, 2021
Xin Qian, UConn Graduate Student Travel Fellowship, 2021
Tori Danis, GE Innovation Fellowship, 2020
Tulasi Ravindran, NAMS Student Poster Award, 2019
Lingling Xia, ICIM Graduate Student Poster Award, 2018
Maqsud Chowdhury, AIChE Separations Division Graduate Student Research Award, 2017
Maqsud Chowdhury, ICOM Graduate Student Poster Award, 2017
Jian Ren, 3-Minute Thesis – UConn, 2nd place, 2016
Lingling Xia, ECI Poster Award, 2016
Jian Ren, AIChE Separations Division Graduate Student Research Award, 2016
Jian Ren, North American Membrane Society Graduate Student Fellowship, 2016
Maqsud Chowdhury, General Electric Fellowship, 2016
Jian Ren, FEI Graduate Student Fellowship, 2015
Maqsud Chowdhury, NAMS Student Poster Award, 2nd place, Membrane Processes, 2015
Malgorzata Chwatko, NAMS Student Poster Award, 3rd place, Membrane Materials, 2015
Gabriella Frey, AIChE Undergraduate Student Poster Award, 1st place, Separations Division, 2014
Gianna Credaroli, AIChE Undergraduate Student Poster Award, 2nd place, Separations Division, 2014
Jian Ren, ICOM Student Poster Award, 2014
Liwei Huang, NAMS Travel Award, ICOM, 2014
Jason Arena, NAMS Graduate Student Poster Award, 1st place, 2014
Jian Ren, General Electric Fellowship, 2014
Maqsud Chowdhury, Elias Klein Travel Award, 2014
Jason Arena, AMTA Graduate Student Poster Award, 2014
Ngoc Bui, NAMS Graduate Student Poster Award, 2nd place, 2013
Liwei Huang, Elias Klein Travel Award, 2013
Ethan Butler, Marshall Scholarship, 2013
Ethan Butler, Udall Scholarship, 2013
Andrew Silva, University Scholar, 2013
Ethan Butler, University Scholar, 2012
Ngoc Bui, NAMS Travel Award, 2012
Jason Arena, NWRI-AMTA Fellowship, 2012
Jason Arena, GK-12 Fellowship, 2011
Selected Publications
For a full listing of publications, please visit my Google Scholar page.
Rahaman, S., McCutcheon, J.R., Mulligan, C.N, Touati, K., Zadeh, A.E., “Closed-loop pressure retarded osmosis draw solutions and their regeneration processes: A review”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 159, 2022, 112191.
Fan, Y., Qian, X., Wang, X., Funk, T., Herman, B., McCutcheon, J.R., Li, B., “Enhancing long-term accuracy and durability of wastewater monitoring using electrosprayed ultra-thin solid-state ion selective membrane sensors”, Journal of Membrane Science 643, 2022, 119997.
Fu, P., Li, H., Gong, J., Fan, Z., Smith, A.T., Shen, K., Khalfalla, T.O., Huang, H., Qian, X., McCutcheon, J.R., Sun, L. “4D Printing of Polymeric Materials: Techniques, Materials, and Prospects”, Progress in Polymer Science 126, 2022, 101506
Qian, X., Ostwal, M., Asatekin, A., Geise, G.M., Smith, Z.P., Philip, W.A., Lively, R.P., McCutcheon, J.R. “A critical review and commentary on recent progress of additive manufacturing and its impact on membrane technology,” Journal of Membrane Science 645, 2022, 120041.
Fan, Y., Qian, X., Wang, X., Funk, T., Herman, B., McCutcheon, J.R., Li, B., “Enhancing long-term accuracy and durability of wastewater monitoring using electrosprayed ultra-thin solid-state ion selective membrane sensors,” Journal of Membrane Science 643, 2022, 119997.
Qian, X. Ravindran, T, Lounder, S.J., Asatekin, A., McCutcheon, J.R., Printing zwitterionic self-assembled thin film composite membranes: Tuning thickness leads to remarkable permeability for nanofiltration”, Journal of Membrane Science 635, 2021, 119428.
Bell, E.M., De Guise, S., McCutcheon, J.R. , Lei, Y., Levin, M., Li., B., Rusling, J.R., Lawrence, D.A., Cavallari, J.M., O’Connell, C., Javidi, B., Wang, X., Ryu, H., “Exposure, health effects, sensing, and remediation of the emerging PFAS contaminants–Scientific challenges and potential research directions”, Science of The Total Environment, 2021, 146399.
Elsaidi, S.K., Ostwal, M., Zhu, L., Sekizkardes, A., Mohamed, M.H., Gipple, M., McCutcheon, J.R., Hopkinson, D. “3D printed MOF-based mixed matrix thin-film composite membranes”, RSC Advances 11, 2021, 25658.
McCutcheon, J.R. “Unravelling the mysteries of the thin film composite reverse osmosis membrane”, Joule 5, 2021, 528-530.
Arena, J.T., Reimund, K.K., McCutcheon, J.R. “On the importance of selectivity an support layer compaction in pressure retarded osmosis”, Desalination 498, 2021 114804.
Schnittger, J., McCutcheon, J.R., Hoyer, T., Weyd, M., Fischer, G., Puhufurb, P., Voigt, I., Lerch, A., “Hydrophobic ceramic membranes in MD processes–Impact of material selection and layer characteristics”, Journal of Membrane Science 618, 2021, 118678.
Ryu, H., Li, B., De Guise, S., McCutcheon, J.R., Le. Y. “Recent Progress in the Detection of Emerging Contaminants PFASs”, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2020, 124437.
Beauregard, N., Al-Furaiji, M., Dias, G., Worthington, M., Suresh, A., Srivastava, R., Burkey, D. D., McCutcheon, J.R. “Enhancing iCVD Modification of Electrospun Membranes for Membrane Distillation Using a 3D Printed Scaffold”, Polymers 12, 2020, 2074.
Ambrosi, A, Motke, M.B., Souza-Silva, E.A., Zini, C.A., McCutcheon, J.R., Sergio, N., Cardozo, M., Tessaro, I.C., “Beer dealcoholization by forward osmosis diafiltration”, Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, 2020, 10237.
Ren, J., Chowdhury, M.R., Xia, L., Bollas, G.M., McCutcheon, J.R., “A computational fluid dynamics model to predict performance of hollow fiber membrane modules in forward osmosis”, 2020, Journal of Membrane Science 603, 117973.
Xia, L., McCutcheon, J.R., Understanding the influence of solvents on the intrinsic properties and performance of polyamide think film composite membranes, Separation and Purification Technology 238, 2020, 116398.
Waisi, B.I., Arena, J.T., Benes, N.E., Nijmeijer, A., McCutcheon, J.R., “Activated carbon nanofiber nonwoven for removal of emulsified oil from water”, Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 296, 2020, 109966.
Firouzjaei, M.D., McCutcheon, J.R., et. al. “Recent advances in functionalized polymer membranes for biofouling control and mitigation in forward osmosis”, Journal of Membrane Science, 2020, 117604.
Waisi, B.I., Al-Jubouri, S., McCutcheon, J.R., “Fabrication and Characterization of Silica Nanoparticle Carbon Nanofiber Composite”, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 58, 2020, 4462-4467.
| jeffrey.mccutcheon@uconn.edu | |
| Phone | (860) 486-4601 |
| Mailing Address | 191 Auditorium Road, Unit 3222, Storrs, CT 06269-3222 |
| Office Location | UTEB 280 |
| Link | https://ccast.uconn.edu/ |