Yian Chen works as a postdoctoral researcher at NREL. Her current research focuses on recovery of volatile fatty acids in biofuel downstream separation and purification process, scale up the integrated in-situ product recovery process with anaerobic arrested digester, and indirect ocean capture of carbon dioxide (CO₂) using seawater reverse osmosis desalination brine.

Chen graduated from University of California, Los Angeles with a doctorate degree in chemical engineering. Her doctoral research focused on ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis membrane synthesis and performance tuning and optimization in water treatment and desalination. She developed low-fouling reverse osmosis membranes with surface nano-structuring, and scaled-up the membrane surface modification approach and manufactured commercial-scale spiral wound membrane elements.
 
For additional information, see Yian Chen's LinkedIn profile. 
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed on LinkedIn are the author’s own, made in the author's individual capacity, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NREL. 

Research Interests

Fundamental transport mechanism, material synthesis, and applications of membrane-based separation

Indirect ocean capture of CO₂

Wastewater valorization and resources recovery

Education

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles 
 
B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles 

Professional Experience

Postdoctoral Researcher, NREL (2022–present)

Associations and Memberships

Member, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
 
Member, North American Membrane Association
 
Member, American Water Works Association

Featured Work

Calcium Sulfate and Calcium Carbonate Scaling of Thin-Film Composite Polyamide Reverse Osmosis Membranes with Surface Tethered Polyacrylic Acid Chains, Membranes (2022)

Scale Up of Polyamide Reverse Osmosis Membrane Surface Modification with Tethered Poly(acrylic acid) Chains for Fabrication of Fouling-Resistant Spiral-Wound Elements, Desalination (2022)

Fouling Resistant and Performance Tunable Ultrafiltration Membranes via Surface Graft Polymerization Induced by Atmospheric Pressure Air Plasma, Separation and Purification Technology (2022)

Tuning the Hydraulic Permeability and Molecular Weight Cutoff of Surface Nano-structured Ultrafiltration Membranes, Journal of Membrane Science (2021)

Hydraulic Resistance and Protein Fouling Resistance of a Zirconia Membrane with a Tethered PVP Layer, Water (2021)

Surface Modified Reverse Osmosis Membranes, The World Scientific Reference of Water Science (2022)

On the Feasibility of Small Communities Wellhead RO Treatment for Nitrate Removal and Salinity Reduction, Journal of Environmental Management (2019) 

Awards and Honors

1st Place PhD Academic Achievement Award, American Water Works Association (2022)