PhD Students

Phosphate based glasses are being explored for many different applications owing to their unique degradation properties and as such are an increasingly popular method for ion delivery throughout the biomedical sector. Whilst it is widely documented that manipulating the glass composition can be used to alter ion release profiles, it is not widely understood how varying sintering conditions and particle size may affect the physical structure of the glass and therefore ion release.

The aim of this research is to explore how sintering time, pressure and temperature can effect controlled ion release of copper doped phosphate glass formulations.

Mid-infrared (MIR) light is strongly absorbed by tissue at certain wavelengths, causing the molecular bonds to stretch and bend.  If enough energy is supplied, these bonds can be broken.  A Mid-infrared laser tuned to these wavelengths could be used during surgical procedures to ablate or coagulate tissue.  Commercially available MIR light sources such as quantum cascade lasers or optical parametric oscillator are bulky, expensive and cannot provide the power needed for surgical use.  Rare earth doped chalcogenide fibres can potentially provide a wavelength tuneable, high quality MIR beam which can be used for minimally invasive surgery.         

Studies in the literature show that synthetic materials have the potential to not only influence but could also induce, lineage-specific stem cell differentiation. These studies demonstrated that ions (such as calcium, magnesium and others) released from dissolving inorganic minerals can influence stem cell phenotype. One study also showed that controlled release of calcium and phosphate ions could influence osteogenic differentiation (Murphy et al: doi:10.1038/nmat3937).

This project aims to develop novel biomaterials manufactured from fully resorbable calcium phosphate glasses. The biomaterial will be produced as injectable microspheres with controlled dissolution rates, which have  the added benefit of potentially being applied directly to the target area and could also be combined with the patient’s cells (if required) to promote skeletal repair. Once injected, modification of the local microenvironment can occur through controlled release of dissolution ion products, ideally via a mixture/combination of various inorganic ions designed to activate pathways associated with and promoting bone repair.

Mid-infra red (mid-IR) light is of commercial interest because it is strongly absorbed by organic molecules. Real-time measurements of these absorptions would allow for the detection and monitoring of a range of chemicals from drugs and explosives to pollutants and food contaminants. To exploit this method for chemical identification, low-loss fibres are required to transmit mid-IR light. Research into mid-IR technologies tends to focus on a small set of glass compositions that are known to exhibit adequate behaviour.

However, non-optimal material properties result in unnecessary problems, from loss of light intensity to non-linear optical (NLO) effects. This project is a study using combined experimental and computer simulation techniques that reveal the fundamental structures of a range of tellurite (based on a TeO2 glass network) glasses to develop composition-structure-property relationships. Using these relationships, the project will provide a road map for optimising glass functional properties. The outcomes of the project with catalyse the development new high-performance optical devices and underpin the growth of the UK photonic industry into mid-IR technologies.

My main focus is novel solid state hydrogen storage materials. Hydrogen is one of the strongest candidate which has high energy potential to replace fossil fuels in coming future to make our future green. But main problem with hydrogen is hydrogen storage because of its very low volumetric energy density, it is being 2700 times less energy dense than gasoline. 1 litre storage will only store 0.03 g of hydrogen at normal pressure. Even storing at 150 bars only retains 10 g/L of hydrogen. Storage at this pressure is very unsafe and hazardous. As per US DOE 2020 targets volumetric capacity of 40 g/L at a pressure lower than 12 bar is required which is still not obtained by any conventional method. The problem can be solved by material based storage. Hydrogen can be more effectively stored in solid porous materials like ammonia borane, metal amidoboranes, metal hydrides etc.This project will synthesise new hydrogen rich materials and investigate their potential as hydrogen storage materials. 

Developing sustainable materials is currently one of the major drivers for industry today. The use of food waste materials could be a valuable source of renewable raw materials which not only decreases environmental pollution but also contributes towards a circular economy.

Production of functional nanomaterials generally involves expensive starting materials and complicated processing routes, and thus generation of successful low-cost nanomaterials is a significant challenge.

Using natural materials could lead to a sustainable and cost-effective route to developing nanomaterials for varying applications. The aim of this project is to fabricate nano-biomaterials from waste resources for biomedical applications. It will mainly focus on using eggshell and prawn shell waste material as the source of raw materials, to develop bioactive and bioresorbable materials to produce next generation biomaterials.

There are significant challenges for many industries that produce contaminated waste water effluent. In the UK, water released from abandoned metal mines are a major cause of water pollution which requires extensive processing, at great cost. A study partaken by the Environment Agency between 2009 – 2012 found that 226 waterbodies over England and Wales were impacted by mine abandonment. It was estimated that it would cost £374 million to remediate water-related environmental problems associated with affected areas.

This project aims to develop Layered Double Hydroxides (LDHs), a type of adsorbent, for the remediation of said toxic heavy metals from water through the use of a continuous counter-current hydrothermal reactor. More specifically this research will focus on:

• Synthesis and optimisation of LDHs with superior adsorption characteristics
• Application of LDHs into environmental mining effluent
• Synthesis scale up (g to kg)
• Wastewater as a feedstock – creating value from waste

The need for more efficient and environmental-friendly gas turbine engines has always been the driving force for the increase of operating gas temperatures. To accommodate such conditions, novel materials that can withstand high temperatures, mechanical stresses and corrosion attach are being explored. A promising group of such materials are Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) which possess the required toughness and creep resistance. To prevent the development of undesired corrosion-related species, environmental barrier coatings (EBC) are being applied. The aim of this project is to develop, characterise and test EBCs produced through the use of novel thermal spraying techniques such as suspension high velocity oxy-fuel (SHVOF) and suspension plasma spraying (SPS), gaining a deeper understanding of the foundations

During my PhD, I will use computational approaches to study the structures and properties of existing materials which are being considered for hydrogen storage and solid oxide fuel cell applications. I will work closely with our experimental colleagues in the Advanced Materials Research Group, in order to get a better understanding of these materials at atomic and molecular levels. Based on the new fundamental understanding obtained, I will then come up with new material design rules, in order to computationally identify new materials (either real or hypothetical) that can be synthesised and tested in realistic experimental conditions.

Mainly focused on design and preparation of multi-phase layered system with good mechanical durability and excellent thermal conductivity. Coatings in our research are mainly using metallic-based modified with polymers. The big differences in some aspects of materials are used to achieve the icephobicity. Several suitable preparation methods including spin-coating, chemical vapour deposition and so on are used to produce the multi-phase coating systems. Multiple characterisation techniques are utilized to study the surface morphologies, chemical composition as well as surface interaction. The linkage between these structural features and evaluation performance will be investigated. Icephobicity and durability tests will be carried out to examine the overall performance of designed multi-phase coating systems.