Dr. Igor M. De Rosa is a Senior Research Scientist and Engineer. He received M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Engineer from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. After performing a postdoctoral research fellowship at UCLA - Materials Science and Engineering Department, he joined the UCLA Engineering – Institute for Technology Advancement, as a Senior Research Associate. He was the director of research and development at Craytex LLC, a UCLA licensed startup company aimed at commercialized advanced materials for space and aerospace applications. He currently is a Senior Research at UCLA engineering Institute for Carbon Management where is leading a small team responsible for the design, development, manufacture and characterization of innovative ion exchange membranes for separation and recovery of target ions (such as Li+, Ni2+, and Co2+) from complex brine and waste water using electrodialysis process. He successfully developed: • novel lithium selective mixed matrix membranes with high selectivity, and high lithium-ion flux; • synthesis of inorganic particles with tailored constant lattice for improved selectivity and lithium-ion flux; • a rapid and innovative membrane synthesis process that reduced the time required to form dense membrane from hours to seconds, dramatically enhancing the scalability of the synthesis process. De Rosa’s research focuses on development, synthesis and characterization of advanced polymeric composites and nanocomposite materials, 1-D, 2-D and 3D multifunctional carbon-based materials (carbon nanotube and graphene) with multiscale microstructural hierarchy, and well controlled gold and silver films and nanostructures (such as nanowires, nanoribbons, nanoplates, nanobelts, and nanoframes). Specific topics include applications of 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D architected multifunctional materials in chemical and biological devices, flexible SERS sensors, ultra-lightweight Emi shielding structures, advanced membranes for water treatments, membrane for high frequency deployable antenna reflectors, smart and multifunctional materials, and combination of natural fibres (mineral and vegetal) in hybrid composites for designing sustainable bio composites for semi-structural applications. He has more than 60 international peer-reviewed journal papers.

Title of Talk : Novel Scalable Synthesis of High-Performance Ion Exchange Membranes for water brine purification by Electrodialysis.