Research interests

Simon is interested in development and implementation of materials and technologies for carbon dioxide removal and other selective separations, the interface between separations and catalysis, and systems analysis for carbon removal and energy technologies. He leads DOE-funded projects spanning topics from fundamental investigations of direct air capture materials degradation mechanisms to development of hybrid reactive capture processes that integrate carbon capture and conversion. He leads the Carbon Capture pillar of the LLNL Carbon Initiative.

Current position(s)

• Associate Group Leader, Materials for Energy and Climate Security
• Carbon Capture Lead, LLNL’s Engineering the Carbon Economy Initiative

Subject matter expertise

• Direct air capture of carbon dioxide
• Carbon capture and catalytic conversion
• Functional porous materials and polymers
• Materials for selective separations
• Adsorption, surface chemistry and catalysis

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, 2014

B.S., Chemical Engineering, Cornell University, 2009

Selected publications

Dai, T.; Ellebracht, N. C.; Hunter-Sellars, E.; Aui, A.; Goldstein, H. M.; Li, W.; Hellwinckel, C. M.; Price, L.; Wong, A. A.; Nico, P.; Basso, B.; Robertson, G. P.; Pett-Ridge, J.; Langholtz, M.; Baker, S. E.; Pang, S. H.; Scown, C. D. Land-Based Resources for Engineered Carbon Dioxide Removal in the United States Exceed the Expected Needs. One Earth 2025, 8, 101349.

Aui, A.; Goldstein, H. M.; Ellebracht, N. C.; Li, W.; Pang, S. H.* Comparative Techno-economic Analysis of Synthetic Renewable Natural Gas Production via Reactive CO₂ Capture. Cell Reports Sustainability 2025, 2, 6, 100408.

Varni, A. J.; Thigpen, L.; Calegari Andrade, M. F.; Marple, M. A. T.; Hunter-Sellars, E.; Maiti, A.; Li, S.*; Pang, S. H.* Understanding the Role of Hydroxyl Functionalization in Linear Poly(ethylenimine) for Oxidation-Resistant Direct Air Capture of CO₂. Adv. Sustainable Syst. 2025, 9, 8, 2400960.

Li, S.; Guta, Y.; Calegari Andrade, M. F.; Hunter-Sellars, E.; Maiti, A.; Varni, A. J.; Tang, P.; Sievers, C.*; Pang, S. H.*; Jones, C. W.* Competing Kinetic Consequences of CO₂ on the Oxidative Degradation of Branched Poly(ethylenimine). J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 28201–28213.

Calegari Andrade, M. F.*; Li, S.*; Pham, T. A.; Akhade, S. A.; Pang, S. H.* Machine Learning Demonstrates the Impact of Proton Transfer and Solvent Dynamics on CO₂ Capture in Liquid Ammonia. Chem. Sci. 2024, 15, 13173–13180.

Freyman, M. C.; Huang, Z.; Ravikumar, D.; Duoss, E. B.; Li, Y.*; Baker, S. E.*; Pang, S. H.*; Schaidle, J. A.* Reactive CO₂ Capture: A Path Forward for Process Integration in Carbon Management. Joule 2023, 7, 631–651.

Pang, S. H.; Lively, R. P.; Jones, C. W. Oxidatively-stable Linear Poly(propylenimine)-Containing Adsorbents for CO₂ Capture from Ultra-Dilute Streams. ChemSusChem 2018, 11, 2628–2637.

Pang, S. H.; Lee, L.-C.; Sakwa-Novak, M. A.; Lively, R. P.; Jones, C. W. Design of Aminopolymer Structure to Enhance Performance and Stability of CO₂ Sorbents: Poly(propylenimine) vs. Poly(ethylenimine). J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 3627–3630.

Pang, S. H.; Schoenbaum, C. A.; Schwartz, D. K.; Medlin, J. W. Directing Reaction Pathways by Catalyst Active-Site Selection using Self-Assembled Monolayers. Nature Commun. 2013, 4:2448.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. A Research Agenda Toward Atmospheric Methane Removal. 2024.

Pett-Ridge, J.; Ammar, H. Z.; Aui, A.; Ashton, M.; Baker, S. E.; Basso, B.; Bradford, M.; Bump, A. P.; Busch, I.; Calzado, E. R.; Chirigotis, J. W.; Clauser, N.; Crotty, S.; Dahl, N.; Dai, T.; Ducey, M.; Dumortier, J.; Ellebracht, N. C.; Egui, R. E.; Fowler, A.; Georgiou, K.; Giannopoulos, D.; Goldstein, H.; Harris, T.; Hayes, D.; Hellwinckel, C.; Ho, A.; Hong, M.; Hovorka, S.; Hunter-Sellars, E.; Kirkendall, W.; Kuebbing, S.; Langholtz, M.; Layer, M.; Lee, I.; Lewis, R.; Li, W.; Liu, W.; Lozano, J. T.; Lunstrum, A.; Mayer, A. C.; Mayfield, K. K.; McNeil, W.; Nico, P.; O’Rourke, A.; Pang, S. H.; Paustian, K.; Peridas, G.; Pilorge, H.; Pisciotta, M.; Price, L.; Psarras, P.; Robertson, G. P.; Sagues, W. J.; Sanchez, D. L.; Scown, C. D.; Schmidt, B. M.; Slessarev, E. W.; Sokol, N.; Stanley, A. J.; Swan, A.; Toureene, C.; Wong, A. A.; Wright, M. M.; Yao, Y.; Zhang, B.; Zhang, Y.; Aines, R. D. Roads to Removal: Options for Carbon Dioxide Removal in the United States. 2023. LLNL-TR-852901

Baker, S. B.; Stolaroff, J. K.; Peridas, G.; Pang, S. H.; Goldstein, H. M.; Lucci, F. R.; Li, W.; Slessarev, E. W.; Pett-Ridge, J.; Ryerson, F. J.; Wagoner, J. L.; Kirkendall, W.; Aines, R. D.; Sanchez, D. L.; Cabiyo, B.; Baker, J.; McCoy, S. T.; Uden, S.; Runnebaum, R.; Wilcox, J.; Psarras, P. C.; Pilorgé, H.; McQueen, N.; Maynard, D.; McCormick, C. Getting to Neutral: Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California. 2020. LLNL-TR-796100

For a full publication list, see: Google Scholar | Scopus | ORCID

Patents

Pang, S. H.; Jue. M. L. “Support-Free Adsorbents for CO₂ Capture from Air;” US Patent no. 11,813,582 issued November 14, 2023.

Pang, S. H.; Jones, C. W.; Lee, L.-C.; Sakwa-Novak, M. A.; Sarazen, M. S. “Structures Including Supported Polyamines and Methods of Making the Supported Polyamines;” US Patent no. 11,794,164 issued October 24, 2023; US Patent no. 11,446,634 issued September 20, 2022.

• Global Security E Program Gold Award, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 2024.
• Ninth Annual Early and Mid-Career Recognition Award, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 2023.
• Secretary of Energy Achievement Award, U.S. Department of Energy, 2021.
• Director’s Science and Technology Award, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 2020.
• College of Engineering Outstanding Dissertation Award, University of Colorado, 2015.