Jaehong Kim

About

Jaehong Kim is an environmental engineer whose research focuses on innovative water treatment and solar energy technologies. His work includes the development of a self-healing water filtration membrane that autonomously restores its water flux and particle rejection properties. He critically analyzes solar-based disinfection technologies, comparing the efficiency of various methods that utilize solar energy for point-of-use water disinfection, such as photocatalysts, photosensitizing chromophores, UVC-light emitting diodes, and visible-to-UVC upconversion phosphors. Kim's research also extends to the synthesis of multifunctional silica-based nanocapsules designed to target breast and colon cancer cells selectively, demonstrating his interdisciplinary approach to environmental engineering and biomedical applications. Kim's group has advanced the field of solar energy by developing a red-to-blue upconversion system based on triplet-triplet annihilation in a solid-state film configuration, significantly enhancing the photocurrent of model solar cell devices. His studies include the in-situ photocatalytic synthesis of hydrogen peroxide through sensitized triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion of low-energy, sub-bandgap photons, highlighting the chemical's importance for energy and environmental applications. Additionally, Kim has investigated the photocatalytic properties of titanium dioxide nanoparticles, revealing that their photoelectrochemical performance depends on the…

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Photochemistry
• Chemical engineering
• Organic chemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Materials science
• Combinatorial chemistry
• Inorganic chemistry
• Process engineering
• Environmental science

Selected publications

• Persulfate-Based Advanced Oxidation: Critical Assessment of Opportunities and Roadblocks

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2020 · 3313 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Reports that promote persulfate-based advanced oxidation process (AOP) as a viable alternative to hydrogen peroxide-based processes have been rapidly accumulating in recent water treatment literature. Various strategies to activate peroxide bonds in persulfate precursors have been proposed and the capacity to degrade a wide range of organic pollutants has been demonstrated. Compared to traditional AOPs in which hydroxyl radical serves as the main oxidant, persulfate-based AOPs have been claimed…

  DOI

• Spatially separating redox centers on 2D carbon nitride with cobalt single atom for photocatalytic H ₂ O ₂ production

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2020 · 394 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  production. This center/edge strategy for spatial separation of cocatalysts may be applied on other 2D photocatalysts that are increasingly studied in photosynthetic reactions.

  DOI

• Mechanism of Heterogeneous Fenton Reaction Kinetics Enhancement under Nanoscale Spatial Confinement

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2020 · 391 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  -functionalized nanoreactors with precise pore dimensions, based on an anodized aluminum oxide template, to enable quantitative analysis of nanoconfinement effects. Combined with computational simulation of spatial distribution of radicals, we found that hydroxyl radical concentration was strongly dependent on the distance from the surface of Fenton catalysts. This distance dependency significantly influences the gross reaction kinetics and accounts for the observed nanoconfinement effects. We f…

  PublisherDOI

• Intrapore energy barriers govern ion transport and selectivity of desalination membranes

  Science Advances · 2020 · 338 citations

  State-of-the-art desalination membranes exhibit high water-salt selectivity, but their ability to discriminate between ions is limited. Elucidating the fundamental mechanisms underlying ion transport and selectivity in subnanometer pores is therefore imperative for the development of ion-selective membranes. Here, we compare the overall energy barrier for salt transport and energy barriers for individual ion transport, showing that cations and anions traverse the membrane pore in an independent…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Electrified Membranes for Water Treatment Applications

  ACS ES&T Engineering · 2021 · 300 citations

  Electrified membranes (EMs) have the potential to address inherent limitations of conventional membrane technologies. Recent studies have demonstrated that EMs exhibit enhanced functions beyond separation. Electrification could enhance the performance and sustainability of membrane technologies and stimulate new applications in water and wastewater treatment. Herein, we first describe EM materials, synthesis methods, electrofiltration modules, and operating modes. Next, we highlight applications…

  DOI

Recent grants

• Quantitative Insights on Environmental Implications of Functionalizing Fullerenes

  NSF · $310k · 2012–2014

• Environmental Materials Beyond and Below Nanoscale: Palladium Single Atom

  NSF · $390k · 2020–2024

• Collaborative Research: Developing Novel Surface Immobilized Photocatalysts Using Functionalized C60

  NSF · $160k · 2009–2013

Frequent coauthors

• Kwang‐Soon Ahn

  53 shared

• Stephanie K. Loeb

  McGill University

  52 shared

• Pedro J. J. Alvarez

  Systems Engineering Research Center

  47 shared

• Hyuk‐Joon Kwon

  Seoul National University

  44 shared

• Jaesang Lee

  Andong National University

  42 shared

• Min Cho

  41 shared

• Chiheng Chu

  Zhejiang University

  37 shared

• Dahong Huang

  CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion

  34 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering

  University of Illinois System

  2002

• M.S., Chemical and Biological Engineering

  Seoul National University

  1997

• B.S., Chemical and Biological Engineering

  Seoul National University

  1995

Awards & honors

• First Runner-Up, Environmental Science & Technology 2017
• Ackerman Award for Teaching and Mentoring, Yale University (…
• Elected Member, Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineeri…
• Distinguished Service Award, Association of Environmental En…
• Barton L. Weller Endowed Professorship, Yale University (201…

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