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Dr Matthew Greig Cowan

Contact

Department: Chemical and Process Engineering

Email: matthew.cowan@canterbury.ac.nz

Direct Dial: +64 3 3692521

Office: Link Rm 409

Languages: English, French

Join me in understanding the world's problems and building the solutions to solve them
About
Research / Creative works
Networks

Fields of Research

  • Materials for use in energy-related applications
  • Separation of hydrocarbons
  • Membranes for separating gases
  • Adsorbents for separating gases

Researcher Summary

Kia Ora! Welcome, it's great to have you here.

I have a keen interest in leading advances that will significantly impact society through the creation of commercializable knowledge and technology, and the scientific community in particular through improving fundamental understanding and best practices. This means I actively communicate and engage with the perceived users of any technology I develop so that I can create something they think is useful (rather than what I think would be useful).

I am always looking for new research opportunities and people to work with, so if you think that I can help or would like to join my team then please reach out. I'll do my best to understand your problem and if I can't propose a solution, then I'll try my best to direct you to someone who can.

My background includes both chemistry and chemical engineering and has involved work on materials including polymers, ionic liquids, liquid crystals, metal-ion complexes, and ceramic membranes for applications in gas separations through membranes and adsorbents and molecular switching for electronics.

Presently (2017) my focus is on the separation the gases used for making plastics. Current industrial practice is to use a system of cryogenic distillation that accounts for 0.3% of global energy use (more than the energy used by New Zealand!). My research is attempting to develop a solution that meets the criteria of long-term reliability, and reduced capital and operating costs.

Subject Area: Disciplines

  • Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry; Polymer Chemistry
  • Engineering and Technology: Chemical & Process; Energy and Fuels; Materials; Nanotechnology & Solid State Devices; Separation Processes

Resources

  • Google scholar profile
  • LinkedIn
  • Altered Picture.jpg

Prizes and Awards

  • American Institute of Chemists Postdoctoral Award ( 2016 - present )
  • Finalist for the Don Stranks Award ( 2011 - present )
  • North American Membrane Society Travel Award ( 2013 - present )
  • North American Membrane Society Young Membrane Scientist of the Year ( 2016 - present )
  • Rutherford Postdoctoral Fellowship ( 2017 - 2019)
  • The Element of Silver ( 2018 - present )
  • Wiley Outstanding Poster Award at ISMSC-7 ( 2012 - present )

Research/Scholarly/Creative Works

  • Egerton S., Sim C., Park HE., Staiger MP., Patil KM. and Cowan MG. (2022) Controlling coefficients of thermal expansion in thermoplastic materials: effects of zinc cyanide and ionic liquid. Materials Advances http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d2ma00338d. (Journal Articles)
  • Elashkar AH., Hedley GS., Qazvini OT., Telfer SG. and Cowan MG. (2021) An upper bound visualization of design trade-offs in adsorbent materials for gas separations: alkene/alkane adsorbents. Chemical Communications 57(57): 6950-6959. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d1cc02350k. (Journal Articles)
  • Elashkar AH., Parasar D., Muñoz-Castro A., Doherty CM., Cowan MG. and Dias HVR. (2021) Isolable 1-Butene Copper(I) Complexes and 1-Butene/Butane Separation Using Structurally Adaptable Copper Pyrazolates. ChemPlusChem 86(3): 364-372. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cplu.202000694. (Journal Articles)
  • Parasar D., Elashkar AH., Yakovenko AA., Jayaratna NB., Edwards BL., Telfer SG., Dias HVR. and Cowan MG. (2020) Overcoming Fundamental Limitations in Adsorbent Design: Alkene Adsorption by Non-porous Copper(I) Complexes. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition 59(47): 21001-21006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.202010405. (Journal Articles)
  • Feng X., Kawabata K., Cowan MG., Dwulet GE., Toth K., Sixdenier L., Haji-Akbari A., Noble RD., Elimelech M. and Gin DL. (2019) Single crystal texture by directed molecular self-assembly along dual axes. Nature Materials 18(11): 1235-1243. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41563-019-0389-1. (Journal Articles)
  • Jia X., Bennett TD. and Cowan MG. (2019) Gas Permeation of Sulfur Thin-Films and Potential as a Barrier Material. Membranes 9(6) 72: 9. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/membranes9060072. (Journal Articles)
  • Le TXH., Cowan MG., Drobek M., Bechelany M., Julbe A. and Cretin M. (2019) Fe-nanoporous carbon derived from MIL-53(Fe): A heterogeneous catalyst for mineralization of organic pollutants. Nanomaterials 9(4) http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano9040641. (Journal Articles)
  • Feltham HLC., Cowan MG., Kitchen JA., Jameson GNL. and Brooker S. (2018) Targeted structural modification of spin crossover complexes: pyridine vs pyrazine. Supramolecular Chemistry 30(4): 296-304. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10610278.2017.1358449. (Journal Articles)
  • Jayaratna NB., Cowan MG., Parasar D., Funke HH., Reibenspies J., Mykhailiuk PK., Artamonov O., Noble RD. and Dias HVR. (2018) Low Heat of Adsorption of Ethylene Achieved by Major Solid-State Structural Rearrangement of a Discrete Copper(I) Complex. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition 57(50): 16442-16446. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201810460. (Journal Articles)
  • Lopez AM., Cowan MG., Gin DL. and Noble RD. (2018) Phosphonium-Based Poly(ionic liquid)/Ionic Liquid Ion Gel Membranes: Influence of Structure and Ionic Liquid Loading on Ion Conductivity and Light Gas Separation Performance. Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data 63(5): 1154-1162. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jced.7b00541. (Journal Articles)
  • Pizzoccaro-Zilamy MA., Drobek M., Petit E., Totée C., Silly G., Guerrero G., Cowan MG., Ayral A. and Julbe A. (2018) Initial steps toward the development of grafted ionic liquid membranes for the selective transport of CO2. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 57(47): 16027-16040. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.8b02466. (Journal Articles)
  • Friess K., Lanč M., Pilnáček K., Fíla V., Vopička O., Sedláková Z., Cowan MG., McDanel WM., Noble RD. and Gin DL. (2017) CO 2/CH 4 separation performance of ionic-liquid-based epoxy-amine ion gel membranes under mixed feed conditions relevant to biogas processing. Journal of Membrane Science 528: 64-71. (Journal Articles)
  • Singh ZV., Tan L-L., Cowan MG., Yang Y-W., Zhang W., Gin DL. and Noble RD. (2017) Pillar [5]arene/Matrimid™ materials for high-performance methane purification membranes. Journal of Membrane Science 539: 224-228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2017.05.078. (Journal Articles)
  • Cowan MG., Gin DL. and Noble RD. (2016) Poly(ionic liquid)/Ionic Liquid Ion-Gels with High "free" Ionic Liquid Content: Platform Membrane Materials for CO2/Light Gas Separations. Accounts of Chemical Research 49(4): 724-732. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.accounts.5b00547. (Journal Articles)
  • Cowan MG., Lopez AM., Masuda M., Kohno Y., McDanel WM., Noble RD. and Gin DL. (2016) Imidazolium-Based Poly (ionic liquid)/Ionic Liquid Ion-Gels with High Ionic Conductivity Prepared from a Curable Poly (ionic liquid). Macromolecular rapid communications 37 14: 1150-1154. (Journal Articles)
  • Cowan MG., Masuda M., McDanel WM., Kohno Y., Gin DL. and Noble RD. (2016) Phosphonium-based poly (Ionic liquid) membranes: The effect of cation alkyl chain length on light gas separation properties and Ionic conductivity. Journal of Membrane Science 498: 408-413. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.10.019. (Journal Articles)
  • Cowan MG., McDanel WM., Singh ZV., Carlisle TK., Gin DL. and Noble RD. (2016) Poly(ionic liquid)/ionic liquid ion-gel membranes for CO2/light-gas separations. In 26th Annual Meeting of the North American Membrane Society, NAMS 2016: 103. (Conference Contributions - Published)
  • Lanč M., Vopička O., Pilnáček K., Fíla V., Izák P., Sedláková Z., Noble RD., Cowan MG., Gin DL. and Friess K. (2016) High ionic liquid content membranes for effective biogas (CO2/CH4) separation. In 26th Annual Meeting of the North American Membrane Society, NAMS 2016: 58-59. (Conference Contributions - Published)
  • Singh ZV., Cowan MG., McDanel WM., Luo Y., Zhou R., Gin DL. and Noble RD. (2016) Determination and optimization of factors affecting CO2/CH4 separation performance in poly(ionic liquid)-ionic liquid-zeolite mixed-matrix membranes. Journal of Membrane Science 509: 149-155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2016.02.034. (Journal Articles)
  • Wijayasekara DB., Cowan MG., Lewis JT., Gin DL., Noble RD. and Bailey TS. (2016) Elastic free-standing RTIL composite membranes for CO 2/N 2 separation based on sphere-forming triblock/diblock copolymer blends. Journal of Membrane Science 511: 170-179. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2016.03.045. (Journal Articles)
  • Cowan MG. (2015) The application of membrane technology to post-combustion separation of carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plant flue gas. Chemistry in New Zealand 79 2: 79-83. (Journal Articles)
  • Cowan MG. (2015) Metal-ion-based materials chemistry for hydrocarbon separations, energy, and electronics applications. In Education Division 2015 - Core Programming Area at the 2015 AIChE Annual Meeting: 372-374. (Conference Contributions - Published)
  • Cowan MG., McDanel WM., Funke HH., Kohno Y., Gin DL. and Noble RD. (2015) High ethene/ethane selectivity in 2,2'-bipyridine-based silver(I) complexes by removal of coordinated solvent. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition 54(19): 5740-5743. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201500251. (Journal Articles)
  • Cowan MG., Miller RG. and Brooker S. (2015) Pyrazine-imide complexes: reversible redox and MOF building blocks. Dalton Transactions 44: 2880-2892. (Journal Articles)
  • Cowan MG., Miller RG. and Brooker S. (2015) Smaller is smarter in a new cobalt (II) imide: intermolecular interactions involving pyrazine versus the larger aromatic quinoxaline. Supramolecular Chemistry 27 11-12: 780-786. (Journal Articles)
  • Feng X., Nejati S., Cowan MG., Tousley ME., Wiesenauer BR., Noble RD., Elimelech M., Gin DL. and Osuji CO. (2015) Thin polymer films with continuous vertically aligned 1 nm pores fabricated by soft confinement. ACS nano 10 1: 150-158. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5b06130. (Journal Articles)
  • Kohno Y., Cowan MG., Okafuji A., Ohno H., Gin DL. and Noble RD. (2015) Reversible and Selective O2 Binding Using a New Thermoresponsive Cobalt (II)-Based Ionic Liquid. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 54 48: 12214-12216. (Journal Articles)
  • McDanel WM., Cowan MG., Barton J., Noble RD. and Gin DL. (2015) Effect of Monomer Structure on Curing Behavior, CO2 Solubility, and Gas Permeability of Ionic Liquid-based Epoxy-Amine Resins and Ion-gels. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 54 16: 4396-4406. (Journal Articles)
  • McDanel WM., Cowan MG., Chisholm NO., Gin DL. and Noble RD. (2015) Fixed-site-carrier facilitated transport of carbon dioxide through ionic-liquid-based epoxy-amine ion gel membranes. Journal of Membrane Science 492: 303-311. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.05.034. (Journal Articles)
  • Carlisle TK., McDanel WM., Cowan MG., Noble RD. and Gin DL. (2014) Vinyl-Functionalized Poly (imidazolium) s: A Curable Polymer Platform for Cross-Linked Ionic Liquid Gel Synthesis. Chemistry of Materials 26 3: 1294-1296. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/cm403885r. (Journal Articles)
  • Cowan MG., Miller RG., Southon PD., Price JR., Yazaydin O., Lane JR., Kepert CJ. and Brooker S. (2014) Selective Gas Adsorption in a Pair of Robust Isostructural MOFs Differing in Framework Charge and Anion Loading. Inorganic Chemistry 53 22: 12076-12083. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ic501876m. (Journal Articles)
  • Feng X., Tousley ME., Cowan MG., Wiesenauer BR., Nejati S., Choo Y., Noble RD., Elimelech M., Gin DL. and Osuji CO. (2014) Scalable fabrication of polymer membranes with vertically aligned 1 nm pores by magnetic field directed self-assembly. Acs Nano 8 12: 11977-11986. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nn505037b. (Journal Articles)
  • Kohno Y., Cowan MG., Masuda M., Bhowmick I., Shores MP., Gin DL. and Noble RD. (2014) A cobalt(II) bis(salicylate)-based ionic liquid that shows thermoresponsive and selective water coordination. Chemical Communications 50(50): 6633-6636. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c4cc01023j. (Journal Articles)
  • McDanel WM., Cowan MG., Carlisle TK., Swanson AK., Noble RD. and Gin DL. (2014) Cross-linked ionic resins and gels from epoxide-functionalized imidazolium ionic liquid monomers. Polymer 55 16: 3305-3313. (Journal Articles)
  • McDanel WM., Cowan MG., Carlisle TK., Swanson AK., Noble RD. and Gin DL. (2014) Erratum: Cross-linked ionic resins and gels from epoxide-functionalized imidazolium ionic liquid monomers (Polymer (2014) 55 (3305-3313)). Polymer 55(23): 6195. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2014.09.027. (Journal Articles)
  • Yu C., Cowan MG., Noble RD. and Zhang W. (2014) A silver (I) coordinated phenanthroline-based polymer with high ethylene/ethane adsorption selectivity. Chemical Communications 50 43: 5745-5747. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c4cc02143f. (Journal Articles)
  • Zhou J., Mok MM., Cowan MG., McDanel WM., Carlisle TK., Gin DL. and Noble RD. (2014) High-permeance room-temperature ionic-liquid-based membranes for CO2/N2 separation. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 53(51): 20064-20067. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie5040682. (Journal Articles)
  • Gin D., Carlisle T., Noble R., Nicodemus G., McDaniel W. and Cowan M. (2013) Composites comprising novel rtil-based polymers, and methods of making and using same. . (Other)
  • Cowan MG. and Brooker S. (2012) Nine non-symmetric pyrazine-pyridine imide-based complexes: reversible redox and isolation of [M II/III (pypzca) 2] 0/+ when M= Co, Fe. Dalton Transactions 41 5: 1465-1474. (Journal Articles)
  • Cowan MG. and Brooker S. (2012) Syntheses, structures and properties of structurally characterised complexes of imide-based ligands. Coordination Chemistry Reviews 256 23: 2944-2971. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ccr.2012.06.004. (Journal Articles)
  • Cowan MG., Olguín J., Narayanaswamy S., Tallon JL. and Brooker S. (2011) Reversible switching of a cobalt complex by thermal, pressure, and electrochemical stimuli: abrupt, complete, hysteretic spin crossover. Journal of the American Chemical Society 134 6: 2892-2894. (Journal Articles)
  • Willms H., Cowan MG. and Brooker S. (2011) Heteroleptic N 6 coordinated ruthenium (ii) complexes as building blocks for the formation of discrete Ru 2 Ag 2 complexes. Chemical Communications 47 3: 1063-1065. (Journal Articles)

Review and Refereeing

  • Journal of Membrane Science ( 2017 - 2022)
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