Biography

Professor Bruce Hinds researches nanostructures and nanoscale fabrication, such as electronics fabrication at the molecular level and novel technologies for nano-lithography. He has received an NSF Early Career Award, Presidential Early Career Award, and a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellowship from the National Academy of Science.

Professor Hinds has a formal and research-based background in chemistry and electronic device processing. His bachelor studies were in Chemistry at Harvey Mudd College in California (1991). His Ph.D. work (1996) was on the MOCVD growth of high temperature superconductors at Northwestern University (Tobin Marks, NAE, NAS). He went on to post-doctoral research at NC State Physics to study the interface states in the Si/SiO2 system (Gerry Lucovsky). He then received an NSF-JSPS  “Dramatic nano-fluidic properties of carbon nanotube membranes as a platform for protein channel mimetic pumps.”

In 2001 he joined the faculty of the University of Kentucky to start a research program for functional materials at the nm-scale. In particular, his research group is trying to produce nano-scale materials that can mimic natural process for applications ranging from health care, energy storage/generation and water purification. In July 2014 he moved to University of Washington MSE department.

Education

• Ph.D., Inorganic Chemistry, Northwestern University, 1996
• M.S., Chemistry, Northwestern University, 1992
• B.S., Chemistry, Harvey Mudd College, 1991

Previous appointments

• Visiting Professor, University of Montpellier 2011

Research Statement

Our over-arching research theme is to make active nanometer-scale material architectures with engineering membranes as the primary focus. Applications of these systems range from water purification, environmental remediation, energy storage, high-value chemical extractions, biotechnology and medical devices. Natural protein channels, found in all living cell walls, are of particular inspiration since at the channel-scale, they outperform any man-made systems in terms of speed and selectivity; by orders of magnitude using precisely placed molecular pumps.

Our group had pioneered efforts to make membranes based on flow through the cores of carbon nanotubes, showing dramatic nanofluidic flow rates 10,000 fold faster than conventional materials. This acts as an ideal and robust engineering platform to place active ‘gatekeepers’ at pore entrances that actively bind to targets and pump across the macroscopically stable membrane.

Efforts initiating at UW are to invent new electro-active membrane platforms that can mimic Nature’s molecular pumps in robust material platforms for biotech, energy and environmental applications.

Current projects

Programmable transdermal delivery device for addiction treatment

Active biochemical separation system

Peptide library based active affinity membrane systems

Biofuel processing and flow battery membrane system

Electrochemical water remediation

Carbon Nanotube based Membranes

‘Dramatic Transport Properties of Carbon Nanotube Membranes for a robust protein channel mimetic platform’ B.J. Hinds* Curr. Opin. in Solid. State & Mater. Sci. 2012 16(1) 1-9. (pdf file)

A major research effort for functional nano-materials in my group is based on the invention of an aligned multiwalled carbon nanotube membranes using simple polymer processing [32]. Essentially, an already aligned array of CNTs is impregnated with polymer (without disrupting the alignment), removed from substrate, and the surfaces are plasma oxidized to open the previously closed CNT cores. 

Select publications

1. Bioinspired Electrochemical Mesoporous Membrane Platform Enabling Continuous Protein Separation DE Shea, BJ Hinds Meeting Abstracts, 2060-2060. 2018
2. Monolayer Growth Front of Precious Metals through Insulating Mesoporous Membranes N Linck, A Peek, BJ Hinds ACS applied materials & interfaces 9 (36), 30964-30968. 2017
3. Programmable carbon nanotube membrane-based transdermal nicotine delivery with microdialysis validation assay GK Gulati, T Chen, BJ Hinds Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine 13 (1), 1-9. 2017
4. Flow‐Through Electroporation of HL‐60 White Blood Cell Suspensions using Nanoporous Membrane Electrodes Z Chen, MA Akenhead, X Sun, H Sapper, HY Shin, B Hinds Advanced healthcare materials 5 (16), 2105-2112. 2016
5. Kinetic master equation modeling of an artificial protein pump Y Zhang, CT Lai, BJ Hinds, GC Schatz The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 120 (27), 14495-14501. 2016
6. Voltage activated membrane platforms BJ Hinds. 2016
7. Nanoscale Bubble Valves on MWCNT Membranes for Chemical Energy Storage X Su, J Wu, BJ Hinds Advanced Materials Interfaces 2 (16). 2015
8. "A functionalized Anodic Aluminum Oxide Membrane-electrode System for Enzyme Immobilization"; Z. Chen, J. Zhang, S. Singh, P. Peltier-Pain, J.S. Thorson, B.J. Hinds ACS Nano 2014 DOI: 10.1021/nn502181k
9. "Dynamic Electrochemical Membranes for Continuous affinity protein separation" Z. Chen, X. Sun, T. Chen, B.J. Hinds Adv. Funct. Mater. 2014 DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201303707
10. "Electrophoretically Induced Aqueous Flow through sub-Nanometer Single Walled Carbon Nanotube Membranes" Ji Wu, Karen Gerstandt, Hongbo Zhang, Jie Liu, and Bruce. J. Hinds Nature Nano 2012 7(2) 133-39.
11. "Ionic Rectification by Electrostatically Actuated Tethers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotube Membranes" J. Wu, X. Zhan, B.J. Hinds Chem Comm. 2012 48(64) 7979-81
12. "Programmable transdermal drug delivery of nicotine using carbon nanotube membranes" Wu, K.S. Paudel, C.L. Strasinger, D. Hamell, Audra L. Stinchcomb, B. J. Hinds Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 2010 107(26) 11698-11702.
13. "Nanoscale hydrodynamics: Enhanced flow in carbon nanotubes" Majumder, M.; Chopra, N.; Andrews, R; Hinds, B.J Nature 2005, 438, 44.
14. "Aligned Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Membranes" Hinds, B.J.; Chopra, N.; Andrews, R.; Gavalas, V.; Bachas L. Science 2004 303 62-65.
15. "Voltage Gated Carbon Nanotube Membranes" Majumder, M.; Zhan, X; Andrews, R; Hinds, B.J Langmuir 2007 23, 8624-8631.

Honors & awards

• Presidential Early Career Award (PECASE, NIH) 2009
• NSF Early Career Award, 2004
• Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award, 1998
• Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow, National Academy of Science 2010

News