Professor David Faux
About
Biography
David obtained a First Class Honours degree in Physics from Nottingham University, UK, a MSc in Physics and Technology of Nuclear Reactors from Birmingham University, UK and a PhD from Birmingham University, UK, in 1986. He then spent 2 years at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA supported by a NATO Fellowship. He was appointed as a Lecturer at the University of Surrey in 1988.
David is a member of the Soft Matter group of the Physics Department where he works as a theorist and computational modeller studying nano-porous materials of environmental interest. Simulation techniques include molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo. His theoretical work has been instrumental for the interpretation of fast-field-cycling NMR data on porous material such as cement-based material, clays and plaster, hydrogels and biomaterials.
University roles and responsibilities
- Deputy Chair, University Ethics Committee
ResearchResearch interests
David is a theoretical/computational condensed matter physicist with current research interests focusing on molecular dynamics, Monte Carlo and Lattice-Boltzmann techniques. Current work focuses on the behaviour of fluids (especially water) in porous media. This includes the nanoscale exploration of hydrated cement-based materials with the aim of improving the longevity and lowering the carbon footprint of cement-based materials.
David has made some important advances in the interpretation of frequency-dependent field-cycling NMR experimentation on a range of porous material, particle suspensions and pastes. He has produced a new model, the 3-tau model, capable of maximising the nanoscale fluid dynamical information that can be extracted from fits to FFC-NMR dispersion curves.
David's previous research interests focused chiefly on the modelling of stress/strain and piezoelectric fields in semiconductor quantum wires and dots. Numerical procedures, Green's functions, Fourier methods and atomistic simulations were used to determine the stress/strain fields which are of paramount importance in the determination of novel semiconductor device properties.
Research collaborations
Recent research collaborations have involved the consortium of universities and commercial organisations in the UK and Europe interested in the behaviour of cement materials. David is Surrey CI in a new EU Marie Curie grant award with collaborators at Alma Mater Studiorum - Universita di Bologna, Technische Universitaet Wien, Heidelbergcement AG and EPFL in Switzerland. Collaboration with the National Forestry commission for wood studies continues. David also collaborates with the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on a graphene project.
Research interests
David is a theoretical/computational condensed matter physicist with current research interests focusing on molecular dynamics, Monte Carlo and Lattice-Boltzmann techniques. Current work focuses on the behaviour of fluids (especially water) in porous media. This includes the nanoscale exploration of hydrated cement-based materials with the aim of improving the longevity and lowering the carbon footprint of cement-based materials.
David has made some important advances in the interpretation of frequency-dependent field-cycling NMR experimentation on a range of porous material, particle suspensions and pastes. He has produced a new model, the 3-tau model, capable of maximising the nanoscale fluid dynamical information that can be extracted from fits to FFC-NMR dispersion curves.
David's previous research interests focused chiefly on the modelling of stress/strain and piezoelectric fields in semiconductor quantum wires and dots. Numerical procedures, Green's functions, Fourier methods and atomistic simulations were used to determine the stress/strain fields which are of paramount importance in the determination of novel semiconductor device properties.
Research collaborations
Recent research collaborations have involved the consortium of universities and commercial organisations in the UK and Europe interested in the behaviour of cement materials. David is Surrey CI in a new EU Marie Curie grant award with collaborators at Alma Mater Studiorum - Universita di Bologna, Technische Universitaet Wien, Heidelbergcement AG and EPFL in Switzerland. Collaboration with the National Forestry commission for wood studies continues. David also collaborates with the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on a graphene project.
Teaching
I teach on the following modules:
PHY1035 Scientific Investigation Skills (Year 1)
PHY2069 Quantum Physics (Year 2)
PHY2073 Analytical Mechanics and Modelling
as well as contributing to Final Year Projects, MPhys Research Year, MSc Research Skills and MSc Dissertation modules.
Publications
Faux DA, Pearson GS Green's tensors for anisotropic elasticity: Application to quantum dots PHYS REV B 62 (8): R4798-R4801 AUG 15 2000
Pearson GS, Faux DA Analytical solutions for strain in pyramidal quantum dots J APPL PHYS 88 (2): 730-736 JUL 15 2000
Faux DA Molecular dynamics studies of hydrated zeolite 4A J PHYS CHEM B 103 (37): 7803-7808 SEP 16 1999
Andreev AD, Downes JR, Faux DA, et al. Strain distributions in quantum dots of arbitrary shape J APPL PHYS 86 (1): 297-305 JUL 1 1999
Faux D A, Cachia S-H P P, McDonald P J, Howlett N C, Bhatt J S and Churakov S V Model for the Diffusion of Water in Porous Silicate Materials Phys. Rev. E., 91, 032311 (2015)
Etzold M A, McDonald P J, Routh A F and Faux D A Kinetic Monte Carlo Model for 2D growth in 3D: competitive space filling by growing sheets Phys. Rev. E., 92, 042106 (2015) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.92.042106
Faux D A, Howlett N C and McDonald P J Nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation due to the translational diffusion of fluid confined to quasi-two-dimensional pores Phys. Rev. E., 95, 033116 (2017) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.95.033116
Faux D A and McDonald P J Explicit calculation of nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation rates in small pores to elucidate molecular scale fluid dynamics Phys. Rev. E., 95, 033117 (2017) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.95.033117
Faux D A and McDonald P J A model for the interpretation of nuclear magnetic resonance spin-lattice dispersion measurements on mortar, plaster paste, synthetic clay and oil-bearing shale Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 269, 39-42 (2018) DOI: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2017.09.002
Faux D A and McDonald P J Nuclear-magnetic-resonance relaxation rates for fluid confined to closed, channel or planar pores Phys. Rev. E, 96, 063110 (2018) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.98.063110
Faux D A and Godolphin J Manual timing in physics experiments: error and uncertainty Am. J. Phys., 87, 110 (2019) DOI: 10.1119/1.5085437
Faux D A, Kogon R, Bortolotti V and McDonald P J Advances in the interpretation of frequency-dependent nuclear-magnetic resonance measurements from porous material Molecules, 24 (20) 3688 (2019) DOI: 10.3390/molecules24203688
Faux D A, Shah M and Knapp C Games of Life Am. J. Phys., 88 (5), 1-17 (2020) DOI: doi.org/10.1119/10.0000666
McDonald P J, Istok O, Janota M, Gajewicz-Jaromin A M and Faux D A Sorption, anomalous water transport and dynamic porosity in cement paste: a spatially localised 1H NMR relaxation study and a proposed mechanism Cement and Concrete Research, 133, 106045 (2020).
McDonald P J, Borg M and Faux D A Mesoscale modelling of dynamic porosity in cement hydrate gel during water sorption cycle: a lattice Boltzmann study Cement and Concrete Research, 146, 106475 (2021) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2021.106475
Faux D A and Godolphin J The floating-point: tales of the unexpected Am. J. Phys., 89, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1119/10.0003915
Faux D A and Godolphin J The floating-point: rounding error in timing devices Am. J. Phys., 89, 8, (2021) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1119/10.0003919