The junior research group “Multifunctional Membranes” led by Dr. Alexander Knebel is funded through the Carl-Zeiss Foundation “Breakthrough” program and focuses on innovative materials and processes to fight climate change. We are associated to the Chair of Glass Science at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena.

We aim for highly important use-cases of porous hybrid materials with extraordinary properties for chemical separations. Therefore, the material classes of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent-organic frameworks (COFs) have shown great potential for carbon capture processes, the energy efficient green production of basic chemicals, and wastewater treatment. Gas and liquid transport properties of MOF and COF materials are investigated from a fundamental and highly applied perspective: We are looking for novel and complex material properties and characterize them, but also for cost-efficient and scalable synthetic approaches with the goal to outperform state-of-the-art membranes.  Disruptive processes and material development will transform membrane separations into a key technology for the tasks of the future in an economically competitive way.

The group is based at the Laboratory of Glass Science