David Kitto is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Chemical Engineering at Argonne National Laboratory, following his Ph.D. (completed 2024) at the University of Michigan under Prof. Jovan Kamcev. His research advances ion-exchange membranes for water purification, energy applications, and selective ion transport, including high-charge-density designs and overcoming permeability-selectivity trade-offs. He earned dual B.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry from the University of Minnesota (2019). Key awards include the 2025 Eastman Chemical Student Award in Applied Polymer Science (PMSE), 2024 North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Student Fellow, World Association of Membrane Societies Oral Presentation Award (2023), and NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. His work has garnered over 400 citations. His h-index is approximately 11 (Google Scholar).

2026 CME NASA Symposium Abstract – Improving Ion-Exchange Membrane Designs by Achieving Ultrahigh Charge Densities

Electrochemical technologies are pivotal in industries such as water treatment, resource recovery, energy storage, and power generation. As part of each of these applications, ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) are polymers that facilitate essential ion transport. Because of their ubiquity in electrochemical devices, enhancing IEM designs can significantly boost the performance of technologies across these industrial sectors. To achieve this, we developed a thermodynamic and transport framework to guide the development of IEMs with desirable performance. Using curated reference data for IEM structural and transport properties, we employed our model to assess designs for membranes that should enabling superior ion transport properties. Following our identified design principles, we synthesized imidazolium-derived IEMs displaying unprecedentedly high charge densities. These materials exhibit exceptional ion transport rates and selectivities, which we explored by measuring and modeling the intrinsic conductivity and charge selectivity of the membranes and by performing benchtop electrodialytic brine treatment experiments. Compared to current state-of-the-art membranes, the design philosophy demonstrated here promises reduced energy consumption across the broad range of electrochemical technologies.