Personal profile
Academic Background
I am currently a PhD student in the School of Engineering. My research topic is developing novel solid sorbent materials for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture from ambient air; also known as direct air capture (DAC). DAC is a nascent member of a family of carbon capture technologies that can achieve negative emissions (also known as NETs[1]). To abide by the 2015 Paris Agreement and stabilise the mean global surface temperature rise at 1.5 °C by the end of the century, widespread deployment of NETs like DAC will be necessary[2].
There are three parts to my project. The first is material synthesis; producing solid sorbents in industrially scalable forms (e.g. fibres, pellets, monoliths). The second is CO2 capture testing; conceiving protocols for quantifying CO2 uptake on sorbents and studying the thermodynamic and kinetic facets of the capture process. My primary supervisor, Dr Matthew Alexander in the School of Engineering, is advising me on these two aspects of my research.
The third part of my project is material characterisation; using analytical techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to probe the chemical structures of novel sorbents and understand how said materials interact with carbon dioxide on a molecular level. I am carrying out this work in the Schools of Chemistry and Pharmacy under the supervision of Professor Yaroslav Khimyak. Collaboration with other Schools is testament to the interdisciplinary nature of engineering!
As well as my research project, I do occasional work as an associate tutor. In the past, I have assisted the running of 1st year undergraduate practicals on fluid mechanics, tensile testing and electrochemical corrosion.
References
[1] National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018. Negative emissions technologies and reliable sequestration: a research agenda.
[2] Millar, R.J., Fuglestvedt, J.S., Friedlingstein, P., Rogelj, J., Grubb, M.J., Matthews, H.D., Skeie, R.B., Forster, P.M., Frame, D.J. and Allen, M.R., 2017. Emission budgets and pathways consistent with limiting warming to 1.5 C. Nature Geoscience, 10(10), pp.741-747.