Dr. Kevin Noonan

Professor of Chemistry

Carnegie Mellon University

November 18, 2025

Akron Section Awards Evening Lecture and Dinner: Materials Design for Energy Technologies: Leveraging Insights Across the Periodic Table

5:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Missing Falls Brewery

5:30 PM     Networking
6:30 PM     Dinner
7:00 PM     Presentation of Awards and The Akron Section Award Lecture

Buy dinner tickets online at the ACESS link here. The dinner price is $25 for non-ACS members and the general public, $20 for ACS members and $5 for students, retirees, and those currently seeking employment. The dinner for each awardee plus one guest is free, but please RSVP at the ACESS event link. In addition to the Akron Section Award Lecturer, the awardees include outstanding students from area colleges and universities.

Abstract: Over the past 15 years, the Noonan Lab has pursued two complementary directions in materials design: (1) the development of novel cationic polymers for anion transport and (2) the synthesis of precise semiconducting polymers for charge transport. A central theme in both efforts has been the deliberate use of heteroatoms to tailor structure, properties, and performance. Our work on cationic polymers is motivated by low-carbon energy technologies such as fuel cells, electrolyzers, and redox-flow batteries. Polymer design is critical to achieving high performance and long-term stability for these applications. I will highlight how our approach to anion-exchange membrane (AEM) design has evolved, with particular emphasis on appending heavy main-group element-based phosphorus and sulfur as cationic head groups to polyolefins. In addition, I will discuss the advantages of polyolefin backbones, especially polynorbornenes, which have recently emerged as promising platforms for AEMs.

Bio: Kevin Noonan is a Professor and Associate Department Head, Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University. He completed his BSc at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia working with John Coxon. His PhD work on phosphorus-containing polymers was completed under the supervision of Derek Gates at the University of British Columbia with an NSERC doctoral fellowship. His postdoctoral work on ion-containing polymers was carried out under Geoff Coates’ supervision at Cornell University with an NSERC postdoctoral fellowship. His interests combine aspects of chemistry and material science with an emphasis on creation of new polymeric materials.

Professor Noonan will also share a technical lecture at the University of Akron earlier in the afternoon of November 18, 2025

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm, University of Akron, Mary Gladwin Hall 111