Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin go to home page university of texas at austin college of engineering U T direct
Keith P. Johnston, PhD
M. C. (Bud) and Mary Beth Baird Endowed Chair and Professor of Chemical Engineering


photo of Keith Johnston
Office: CPE 5.414 Mailing Address:
Phone: (512) 471-4617 The University of Texas at Austin
Fax: (512) 471-7060 Department of Chemical Engineering
Email: kpj@che.utexas.edu 1 University Station C0400
    Austin, TX 78712-0231

 

Presentation Made to Prospective Graduate Students 2008

Educational Qualifications and Recognition:
Ph.D., University of Illinois (1981)
University of Texas Engineering Foundation Faculty Excellence Award (1990), (1995)
Discover Magazine Awards for Technological Innovation Finalist (2001)
Industrial Gas Award, Am. Inst. Chemical Engineers (2004)
Allan P. Colburn Award, Am. Inst. Chemical Engineers (1990)
Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher/Scholar (1987)

Focus:
Colloid and Interface Science, Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology: Drug Delivery and Imaging, Protein Drug Delivery, Nanocrystal- Mesoporous Composites for Catalysis and Energy Storage, Carbon Dioxide Enhanced Oil Recovery/Sequestration.

See also: NSF Science and Technology Center on Environmentally Responsible Solvents and Processes (http://www.nsfstc.unc.edu).

Research:

Colloid and interface science for environmentally benign and energy related processes: Compressed carbon dioxide is an environmentally benign “green” solvent for chemical, materials, microlectronics and pharmaceutical processing. The fundamental properties of CO 2-based microemulsions, emulsions, and inorganic nanocrystal suspensions. are being described as a function of molecular interactions and structure by light, neutron and X-ray scattering, optical coherence tomography, spectroscopy, ellipsometry, tensiometry and measurement of viscosity. Carbon dioxide in water emulsions are being designed for mobility control in enhanced oil recovery, by relating the emulsion texture, stability and rheology to interfacial properties, phase behavior and the molecular structure of the surfactant.

Magnetic and Optical Nanocrystals for Imaging and Therapy of Atherosclerosis and Cancer: Multifunctional nanoparticles are being designed for diagnostic imaging and therapy in atherosclerosis and cancer. Novel ultrasmall paramagnetic iron (USPIO) nanoparticles are selective taken up into macrophage cells associated with plaque. The plaque is being treated with photothermolysis and drug delivery. Molecularly targeted magnetic iron oxide particles are being designed to maximize the magnetic field excitation and/or the optical properties of the nanoparticles, which are conjugated with monoclonal antibodies and other targeting moieties. Strategies are being developed to combine drug delivery with imaging to apply chemotherapy more efficiently with lower dosages. These projects involve collaboration with Thomas Milner, Stanislav Emelianov and Konstantin Sokolov in Biomedical Engineering at UT and Marc Feldman, a cardiologist at UTHSC in San Antonio and a variety of imaging techniques including magnetomotive ultrasound, optical coherence tomography, MRI imaging, and photoacoustic imaging

Protein Nanotechnology for Drug Delivery: The objective is to design protein particles, including monoclonal antibodies, for drug delivery with bioerodible microspheres, highly concentrated formulations for subcutaneous injection and pulmonary administration. Protein nanocrystals with unusually high stability are being formed with novel spray freezing and thin film freezing processes, by minimizing the time of exposure of protein to air-water and ice-water interfaces. The ability to control the release without the need for daily injections is of paramount importance in the commercialization of the large number of newly discovered therapeutic peptides and proteins.

Nanotechnology for enhanced bioavailability for poorly water soluble drugs: Nanoscale particles of poorly water soluble drugs are being produced for injectable, oral and pulmonary formulations with enhanced dissolution rates and bioavailability. A variety of novel technologies are being developed to form both amorphous and crystalline nanostructured particles via phase separation, and to engineer the particles into desired dosage forms. Nucleation and growth from solution are being controlled to design particles with improved in vitro dissolution behavior to achieve high bioavailability in animal studies.

 

Design of Nanocrystal/ Mesoporous Composites for Catalysis and Energy Storage: We propose to improve catalytic activities, selectivities and stabilities with a fundamental “bottom up” concept in catalyst design. We are investigating the chemistry underlying the design of catalysts composed of pre-synthesized nanocrystals in mesoporous supports with well-defined pore geometry and crystallinity. These nanocomposite catalysts are being investigated in a variety of applications including fuel cells, hydrogen production, and energy storage devices including supercapacitors and batteries. The surfactant-templated mesoporous materials are being formed as particulates and in thin film geometries.

 

 

Selected Publications

  • 1. Johnston, K. P.; Harrison, K. L.; Clarke, M. J.; Howdle, S. M.; Heitz, M. P.; Bright, F. V.; Carlier, C.; Randolph, T. W., Water-in-Carbon Dioxide Microemulsions: A New Environment for Hydrophiles Including Proteins. Science 1996, 271, 624.
  • 2. Holmes, J. D.; Johnston, K. P.; Doty, R. C.; Korgel, B. A., Control of Thickness and Orientation of Solution-Grown Silicon Nanowires. Science 2000, 287, (5457), 1471-1473.
  • 3. Rogers, T. L.; Nelsen, A. C.; Sarkari, M.; Young, T. J.; Johnston, K. P.; Williams, R. O., Enhanced Aqueous Dissolution of a Poorly Water Soluble Drug by Novel Particle Engineering Technology: Spray-Freezing into Liquid with Atmospheric Freeze-Drying. Pharmaceutical Research 2003, 20, (3), 485-493.
  • 4. Ryoo, W.; Webber, S. E.; Johnston, K. P., Water-in-Carbon Dioxide Microemulsions with Methylated Branched Hydrocarbon Surfactants. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2003, 42, (25), 6348-6358.
  • 5. Dickson, J. L.; Binks, B. P.; Johnston, K. P., Stabilization of carbon dioxide-in-water emulsions with silica nanoparticles. Langmuir 2004, 20, (19), 7976-7983.
  • 6. Johnston, K. P.; Shah, P. S., Making Nanoscale Materials with Supercritical Fluids. Science 2004, 303, ((5657)), 482-483.
  • 7. Shah, P. S.; Hanrath, T.; Johnston, K. P.; Korgel, B. A., Nanocrystal and Nanowire Synthesis and Dispersibility in Supercritical Fluids. Journal of Physical Chemistry B 2004, 108, (28), 9574-9587.
  • 8. Gupta, G.; Shah, P. S.; Zhang, X.; Saunders, A. E.; Korgel, B. A.; Johnston, K. P., Enhanced Infusion of Gold Nanocrystals into Mesoporous Silica with Supercritical Carbon Dioxide. Chemistry of Materials 2005, 17, (26), 6728-6738.
  • 9. Leach, W. T.; Simpson, D. T.; Val, T. N.; Anuta, E. C.; Yu, Z.; III, R. O. W.; Johnston, K. P., Uniform Encapsulation of Stable Protein Nanoparticles Produced by Spray Freezing for the Reduction of Burst Release. J. Pharm. Sci. 2005, 94, (1), 56-69.
  • 10. Lu, X.; Korgel, B. A.; Johnston, K. P., High Yield of Germanium Nanocrystals Synthesized from Germanium Diiodide in Solution. Chemistry of Materials 2005, 17, (25), 6479-6485.
  • 11. Dhanuka, V. V.; Dickson, J. L.; Ryoo, W.; Johnston, K. P., High internal phase CO2-in-water emulsions stabilized with a branched nonionic hydrocarbon surfactant. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 2006, 298, (1), 406-418.
  • 12. Dickson, J. L.; Gupta, G.; Horozov, T. S.; Binks, B. P.; Johnston, K. P., Wetting Phenomena at the CO2/Water/Glass Interface. Langmuir 2006, 22, (5), 2161-2170.
  • 13. Gupta, G.; Stowell, C. A.; Patel, M. N.; Gao, X.; Yacaman, M. J.; Korgel, B. A.; Johnston, K. P., Infusion of Presynthesized Iridium Nanocrystals into Mesoporous Silica for High Catalyst Activity. Chem. Materials 2006, 18, (26), 6239-6249.
  • 14. Ryoo, W.; Webber, S. E.; Bonnecaze, R. T.; Johnston, K. P., Long-Ranged Electrostatic Repulsion and Crystallization of Emulsion Droplets in an Ultralow Dielectric Medium Supercritical Carbon Dioxide. Langmuir 2006, 22, (3), 1006-1015.
  • 15. Adkins, S. S.; Gohil, D.; Dickson, J. L.; Webber, S. E.; Johnston, K. P., Water-in-carbon dioxide emulsions stabilized with hydrophobic silica particles. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2007, 9, (48), 6333-6343.
  • 16. Engstrom, J. D.; Simpson, D. T.; Cloonan, C.; Lai, E. S.; Williams, R. O.; Kitto, G. B.; Johnston, K. P., Stable high surface area lactate dehydrogenase particles produced by spray freezing into liquid nitrogen. Eur. J. Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 2007, 65, (2), 163-174.
  • 17. Matteucci, M. E.; Brettmann, B. K.; Rogers, T. L.; Elder, E. J.; Williams, R. O.; Johnston, K. P., Design of Potent Amorphous Drug Nanoparticles for Rapid Generation of Highly Supersaturated Media. Molecular Pharmaceutics 2007, 4, (5), 782-793.
  • 18. Smith, P. G. J. r.; Patel, M. N.; Kim, J.; Milner, T. E.; Johnston, K. P., Effect of Surface Hydrophilicity on Charging Mechanism of Colloids in Low-Permittivity Solvents. J. Phys. Chem. C 2007, 111, (2), 840-848.

 

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