Phillip J. Milner, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology, has received a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation to develop more efficient systems for separating olefins—a type of unsaturated hydrocarbon molecule—from other components during production of plastics.
"Chemical separations account for 15 percent of energy consumption in the United States," says a Cornell Research article about Milner's CAREER award. "The development of new, energy-efficient separations could greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve the sustainability of the chemical industry, and decrease the cost of everyday consumer products."
