Andriy Yaroshchuk

Andriy Yaroshchuk

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Experimental Sciences & Mathematics

Born on 7 March 1959 in Kiev, Ukraine. Candidate of Sciences (equivalent to PhD) in Colloid Chemistry, A.V. Dumanskiy Institute of Colloid and Water Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev, 1983. Doctor of Sciences in Physics and Mathematics, Institute of Physical Chemistry of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1992. ICREA Research Professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, since 2007. Invited researcher/professor at Karl-Franzens Universität, Graz, Austria; École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie et de Physique de Bordeaux (France); École Supérieure Chimie Physique Electronique de Lyon (France); Universität Duisburg - Essen (Germany); Paul-Scherrer-Institute (Switzerland), etc. Member of Editorial Board of Desalination and Water Treatment (Taylor & Francis UK). Published 144 papers on theoretical and experimental studies of membranes, colloids, porous media and micro-/nano-fluidic systems.

Research interests

The keyword is behaviour of fluids at nano-scale. I study the transfer of ions and water molecules through nano-metric (tens of nanometers) barrier layers of composite nanofiltration membranes. Another example is the transfer of ions and water through nano-porous track-etched membranes having identical cylindrical pores. I also study processes of current-induced concentration polarization of nano-/micro-interfaces where concentration polarization is strongly-coupled to electroosmosis and fine separation of solutes like peptides can occur. Recently, I discovered that a layered structure consisting of a micro-perforated ion-exchange membrane and a nanoporous layer can have very interesting properties useful for AC electroosmotic pumping . Another topic is experimental and theoretical studies of ion transfer across polyelectrolyte multilayers where we have recently discovered very high (>1000) selectivities in the electrically-driven transfer of ions of different charge magnitudes.The most recent research topic is energy harvesting from water evaporation. It has been suggested that the area of contact between nanoporous electrodes and electrolyte solutions can be effectively controlled via solvent (water) evaporation. This opens new opportunities for energy harvesting from waste heat in coupled wetting/drying and charging/discharging cycles with nanoporous electrodes. This emerging process is critically controlled by the ion dynamics in ultrathin water films staying behind receding menisci, which reveals itself as almost completely unexplored and as a focal point of a new branch of electrochemistry, namely that of partially wet electrodes.

Selected publications

- Ding D, Yaroshchuk A & Bruening ML 2022, 'Electrodialysis through nafion membranes coated with polyelectrolyte multilayers Yields >99% pure monovalent ions at high recoveries', Journal of Membrane Science, 647, 120294.

- Apel P, Koter S & Yaroshchuk A 2022, 'Time-resolved pressure-induced electric potential in nanoporous membranes: measurement and mechanistic interpretation', J Membrane Sci, 653, 120556

- Yaroshchuk A 2022, 'Transport properties of anti-symmetrically-charged nanochannels in symmetrical electrolyte solutions', Microfluidics & Nanofluidics, 26:51.

- Yaroshchuk A 2022, 'Evaporation-driven electrokinetic energy conversion: critical review, parametric analysis and perspectives', Adv Colloid Interface Sci, 305, 102708.

- Tang C, Bruening M, Yaroshchuk A 2022, 'Ion Separations Based on Spontaneously Arising Streaming Potentials in Rotating Isoporous Membranes', Membranes, 12, 631.

- Yaroshchuk A & Zholkovskiy E 2022, 'Streaming potential with ideally-polarizable electron-conducting substrates', Langmuir, 38(32), 9974-9980

Selected research activities

Research stay at the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering of University of Notre Dame (USA)