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  Since almost 50% of the energy used in homes is for heating and cooling, by moving your thermostat down 2 degrees in winter and up 2 degrees in summer, you could save almost 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide.

Joan F. Brennecke

• Keating-Crawford Professor
• Director, Notre Dame Energy Center
• Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• (574) 631-5847
• FAX (574) 631-8366
• Email: jfb@nd.edu
• Website

• B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 12/84
• M.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 10/87
• Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 8/89

Joan F. Brennecke's research is primarily focused on experimental aspects of thermodynamics and separations, with particular interest in supercritical fluids and ionic liquids. Her research group's energy research involves improvements in energy efficiency and CO₂ capture. They are developing ionic liquids, which are nonvolatile low-melting (e.g., liquid at room temperature) salts, for more energy efficient selective gas separations. This would involve gas absorption into a liquid instead of cryogenic distillation for olefin/paraffin separation, for example. In collaboration with other researchers in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, as well as in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, they are also developing ionic liquid systems for more energy efficient absorption refrigeration. Finally, working with Professor Ed Maginn, her group has developed, synthesized and tested ionic liquids for removal of CO₂ from flue gas. She teaches a course entitled "Energy and Climate Change."

Current Energy Related Research Grants

• Department of Energy, "Ionic Liquids: Breakthrough Absorption Technology for Post-Combustion CO2 Capture," with E. Maginn and B. Schneider, 3/1/07-6/30/10, $3,005,165.