MOON RESEARCH GROUP
Soft materials for clean water, energy, and sustainable separations
Our experimental research group focuses on designing and understanding advanced polymer materials for membrane and adsorbent-based separations to overcome Grand Challenges in clean water and energy production. We combine modular polymer synthesis with experimental tools that probe both macroscopic transport phenomena and molecular-scale polymer properties to uncover the fundamental mass transfer principles that govern separation efficiency. These principles enable rational design of the next generation of membrane and adsorbent materials for robust gas, vapor, and water separations. Applications of interest to our group include carbon capture and sequestration, clean hydrogen production, energy-efficient hydrocarbon purification, water treatment, and environmental remediation of PFAS.
Recent News
June 2026: First Moon group paper on PFAS separations
We are thrilled to share our group's first publication on polymeric PFAS adsorbents led by Lakshay Dhamania (PhD candidate)!
January 2026: PI Moon receives ACS Petroleum Research Foundation (PRF) Doctoral New Investigator award
PI Moon received the ACS PRF early career faculty award which begins January 2026. We aim to develop new ways of mitigating problematic aging and conditioning in PIM gas separation membranes by strategically incorporating dynamic, reversible crosslinks into PIM architectures.
January 2026: PhD candidate Ryan Johnson featured in local news segment
Ryan Johnson and his research on carbon capture using gas separation membranes was featured in WCJB’s Tech Tuesday segment.
January 2026: New co-advised PhD student joined group
We are excited to welcome Danny Sepulveda De Los Reyes as a new PhD student in the group! Danny is co-advised by Dr. Janani Sampath and Dr. Joshua Moon. His research focuses on using molecular simulations to understand free volume distributions and transport in post-functionalized PIM membranes.
September 2025: PFAS research featured in local news
Our lab’s research on elimination of PFAS “forever chemicals” from water was featured by WCJB’s Tech Tuesday segment:
https://www.wcjb.com/2025/09/02/university-florida-lab-working-eliminate-forever-chemicals-water/
July 2025: PI Moon receives competitive NSF CAREER award
We are very excited to announce that PI Moon was awarded a five year NSF CAREER award by the CBET division!! This early career grant will enable us to study how versatile control of polymer structure and dynamics in Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity (PIMs) enable high performance gas separation membranes. The award will also support undergraduate research, development of a new lab safety certificate program for engineering students in collaboration with ExxonMobil, and new outreach activities at the annual Chemical Engineering Teacher Workshop for Florida middle and high school teachers hosted by PI Moon at UF.
October 2024: New funded NSF grant
We are excited to announce that we have been awarded a second NSF grant (CBET-2427603)! This award funded by the CBET Interfacial Engineering program will focus on Rational Design of Polymer Ionic Liquid Membranes through Uncovering Fundamental Gas Transport Mechanisms. This award is a collaboration with Co-PI Prof. Sergey Vasenkov in UF’s Department of Chemical Engineering.
August 2024: New funded NSF grant
We are excited to announce that we have been awarded our first NSF grant (CBET-2343767)! This award funded by the CBET Interfacial Engineering program will focus on Engineering molecularly precise, sub-nanometer gas transport pathways in robust macrocycle membranes. This award is a collaboration with Co-PI Prof. Austin Evans in UF’s Department of Chemistry.
Slightly Older News
May 2025: Student Conference Presentations at NAMS
Congrats to Ryan Johnson (PhD candidate) for a great talk at the 2025 meeting of the North American Membrane Society on humidity effects on gas transport in PEG membranes!
February 2025: Group’s first paper published!
Congratulations to Ryan Johnson (PhD candidate), Zoe Reddecliff (undergrad alumni), and Karim El Hajj Sleiman (undergrad alumni) for their first publication in Journal of Membrane Science! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376738825001383
December 2024: Two new PhD students joined group
We are very excited to welcome Akhilesh Upasani and Woochul Kwak as new PhD students in the Moon group! Akhilesh will work on advanced NMR studies of CO2 transport in facilitated transport membranes. Woochul will work on ultrathin macrocycle membranes for highly selective gas separations.
May 2024: Undergraduate student award
Congratulations to Faith Dobias (Moon group undergrad student) for being selected as a 2024 Michelin Science Scholar! This new program supported by Michelin recognizes promising undergraduate researchers working in chemistry, materials science, and engineering.
May 2024: Graduating Master’s student
Congratulations to Siqi Wang (Moon group MS student) for accepting an offer to pursue her PhD in Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin! We wish her all the best!
January 2024: New PhD student
Welcome to Danielle Loftis as a new PhD student in the Moon group! Danielle is working on synthesizing novel PIM gas separation membranes and investigating correlations between polymer structure, dynamics, and gas transport properties.
August 2023: New PhD student
Welcome to Lakshay Dhamania as a new PhD student in the Moon group! Lakshay is studying transport mechanisms of PFAS capture from aqueous solutions using chemically-tailored polymer absorbents.
January 2023: First PhD student!
Welcome to Ryan Johnson as the first PhD student in the Moon group! Ryan is studying mechanisms of CO2 facilitated transport in crosslinked poly(ethylene glycol) membranes post-functionalized with Lewis bases under both dry and hydrated conditions.
We’re recruiting!
We are actively recruiting motivated PhD students! Applications from candidates with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in chemical engineering, materials science, or a related discipline are highly encouraged to apply. Research experience in experimental membrane or separations science, transport phenomena, polymer chemistry, and/or polymer physics is valuable but not required.
If you are interested in a PhD position in the Moon lab, apply to the UF Chemical Engineering program for admission using the link on this page. Interested candidates are also welcome to contact Dr. Moon with a CV highlighting their relevant research background and skills.
Research areas of interest
Understanding transport mechanisms in gas & vapor separation membranes
Click-functionalized adsorbents for removing persistent pollutants from water
Tailoring polymer structure and dynamics for efficient membrane separations