Energy and materials
The team working in this area is multidisciplinary with a strong background in the synthesis, optimisation and application of advanced functional materials for energy conversion and storage.
Nanomaterials for all seasons – small solutions for big challenges.Professor Sai Gu
Our research
Our research deals with the development of novel nanomaterials for solid oxide fuel cells, electrolysers, batteries, super-capacitors, the new generation of solar cells and membranes technology, as well as custom-made catalysts for environmental and photocatalytic applications.
We tune the chemistry and the structure of multicomponent materials to make them top systems for energy applications. Our team combines expertise in chemical engineering, physical chemistry, chemistry of materials and multi-scale modelling, which allow us to develop research at a fundamental level and transform the basic knowledge into real-world applications.
Research interests
Clean energy production, carbon capture/utilisation and bioenergy are priority areas among our research interests.
In particular, we have a H2/CO2 lab for the production of bio-hydrogen syngas and fine chemicals using CO2 as a carbon pool. We design pioneering catalysts and nanoreactors based on metallic and metal-oxide nanoparticles, as well as yolk-shell structures with direct applicability in fuel processors and green chemistry.
As for bioenergy, fast pyrolysis and advanced technology for biofuel production constitute one of our research thrusts. Novel pyrolyser reactors for one-pot biofuel generation from biomass are currently under development in our facilities.
Such devices make possible the so-called “waste to fuel” approach in a compact manner using membranes to intensify the process. Additionally, we are active in the application of plasma technology including plasma catalysis, plasma pyrolysis and the use of plasma as a versatile tool for nanomaterials synthesis.
Our current research deals with the development of novel nanomaterials for solid oxide fuel cells, electrolysers, batteries, super-capacitors, the new generation of solar cells and membranes technology, as well as custom-made catalysts for environmental and photocatalytic applications. We tune the chemistry and the structure of multicomponent materials to make them top systems for energy applications. Our team combines expertise in chemical engineering, physical chemistry, chemistry of materials and multi-scale modelling, which allow us to develop research at a fundamental level and transform the basic knowledge into real-world applications.
Meet the team
Group leads
Dr Tomas Ramirez Reina
Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Process Engineering
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Catalysis for energy and sustainability
- Heterogeneous catalysis and reaction engineering
- Low carbon catalytic technologies:
- Hydrogen production for fuel cells
- Efficient routes for CO2 conversion
- Catalytic biomass valorisation.
Research capabilities
- Synthesis and characterisation of advances heterogeneous catalysts
- Flexible catalytic mini-plants for high-temp and high-pressure processes:
- Natural gas
- Biogas
- Syngas
- Hydrogen
- Biomass processing
- Flue gas and liquid products online and offline analysis:
- GC-MS, GC-TCD/FID
- IR-gas analysers
- Portable mass spec for gas analysis.
Dr Marco Sacchi
Royal Society University Research Fellow, Principal Research Fellow in Physical and Computational Chemistry, Theme Leader in Sustainable Energy and Materials Research
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Surface science
- Catalysis
- Graphene and 2D materials
- Nuclear materials
- Self-assembled monolayers.
Research capabilities
- First-principles computational methods (DFT)
- Ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD)
- Computational spectroscopy/microscopy (e.g. IR, RAMAN, STM, XPS)
- Multiscale methods (QM/MM).
Key contributors
Dr Bahman Amini Horri
Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Sustainable production of hydrogen
- Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and electrolysers
- Ceramic nanocomposites
- Nanomaterial synthesis
- Water splitting and thermochemical looping.
Research capabilities
- Low temperature SOFCs and electrolysers
- Ammonia synthesis with solid oxide electrolysers
- Microstructural improvement of SOFC electrodes
- Green synthesis of metal oxides, nanocomposite ceramics, and catalysts
- Alkaline electrolysers and flow cells.
Biography
Dr Bahman Amini Horri is a lecturer of chemical engineering and the leader of MSc programme Batteries, Fuel Cells and Energy Storage Systems at the University of Surrey. He is a consolidated researcher in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), hydrogen energy, and energy materials holding five US/European patents, 40+ papers in top tiered journals, four book chapters, and 20+ presentations in national and international conferences.
Before joining academia, he spent seven years in industry, working on cutting edge energy and materials projects, with developing and leading novel research in energy systems. He received his PhD from Monash University in Australia and joined Surrey in 2016. He runs a research group focusing on solid oxide fuel cells and hydrogen production at Surrey.
His research interest mainly lies in sustainable production of hydrogen and lowering the operational temperature of the solid oxide fuel cells through development of new ceramic nanocomposites for both anode and electrolyte layers. He has developed new approaches for green synthesis of low-cost ceramic nanocomposites for SOFCs. With a multidisciplinary engineering and research background, he is also a chartered-engineer and scientist (CEng and CSci) by IChemE.
Dr Qiong Cai
Reader in Chemical and Process Engineering
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Design and synthesis
- Materials modelling
- Cells
- Production.
Research capabilities
- Pore-scale lattice Boltzmann model for designing the microstructure of porous electrodes
- Dynamics simulations
- Functional theory calculations
- Testing electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction/evolution reaction, hydrogen oxidation/evolution reaction.
- Battery assembly and testing.
Dr Daniela Carta
Lecturer in Physical Chemistry
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Biomaterials
- Amorphous materials
- Sol-gel chemistry.
Research capabilities
- Synthesis of phosphate-based glasses using sol-gel and coacervation
- Production of nano-fibres and nanospheres
- 3D printing of bioinks
- Advanced structural characterization of amorphous materials
- Synchrotron-based characterisation techniques (x-ray diffraction and x-ray absorption spectroscopy).
Dr Carol Crean
Reader in Physical and Materials Chemistry
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Functionalising organic conductors such as carbon nanotubes and conducting polymers for energy storage applications
- Flexible supercapacitors
- LiS battery research.
Research capabilities
- Materials modification
- Electrochemical testing
- Advanced Raman spectroscopy, with in-situ electrochemistry.
Professor Angela Danil de Namor
Emeritus Professor Physical Chemistry
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Supramolecular based electrolytes for use in battery technology
- Experimental thermodynamics
- Materials design for capture.
Professor Adrian Dobbs
Professor of Organic Chemistry and Head of School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Biography
Adrian studied Chemistry at King's College London, obtaining his B.Sc. (1st Class Honours) in 1992 and PhD in 1996, the latter under the supervision of Professor Keith Jones and working on the development of heteroaryl radicals in synthesis (sponsored by SmithKline Beecham). He was awarded a Royal Society European Research Exchange Fellowship for post-doctoral work with Professor Istvan Markó at the Université catholique de Louvain, in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium between 1996-8 (working towards the total synthesis of okadaic acid).
On his return to the UK, Adrian joined the process development group of GSK (Tonbridge, Kent) before leaving to take up his first academic post at the Open University in 1999. A move to the University of Exeter soon followed, where independent research really commenced and he also filled a number of Department academic administrative roles. Subsequently in 2005, Adrian was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Organic Chemistry at Queen Mary University of London, where he was also Senior Admissions Tutor and responsible for industrial placements. He moved to the Chair of Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Greenwich in January 2013 and was Head of the newly formed School of Science between 2018-2022. He joined the University of Surrey as Had of the new School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering in March 2022.
Away from work, Adrian is a very keen Crystal Palace supporter and is an accomplished pianist and organist, regularly performing on both instruments and also leading, conducting and rehearsing several orchestras and choirs.
Dr Melis Duyar
Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Process Engineering
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Combined carbon dioxide capture and utilisation
- Thermochemical reduction of carbon dioxide
- Methanol synthesis
- Higher alcohol synthesis
- Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.
Research capabilities
- Catalytic activity testing for CO2 hydrogenation
- Catalyst characterisation.
Professor Sai Gu
Professor in Chemical Engineering
Biography
Professor Sai Gu joined the University of Surrey as Head of The Department of Chemical and Process Engineering in 2015 after holding various academic posts at Aston University, University of Southampton and Cranfield University. He obtained a PhD in Material Modelling from the University of Nottingham and also did his post-doc research at the University of Cambridge.
Professor Gu has an international reputation for clean energy and material research, currently leading a number of EPSRC-funded projects - worth around £2.5 million - focused on the development of advanced bio-energy and and carbon capture technologies. He has a long track-record of coordinating large collaborative projects with international partners and has successfully won over £10 million in grants from EPSRC, EU, Innovate UK and industry.
Professor Brendan Howlin
Professor of Computational Chemistry
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Supercapacitors
- Water purification
- Polymer recycling
- Molecular modelling of polymers
- QSPR of materials.
Research capabilities
- Molecular modelling
- Molecular orbital calculations
- Software generation.
Professor David Read
Professor of Radiochemistry
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Nuclear decommissioning
- Radioactive and hazardous waste management
- Materials for waste encapsulation and isolation.
Research capabilities
- Three academics (chemistry) with support from the Department of Physics and NPL
- One PDRA and five PhD students.
Dr Ian Riddlestone
Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Organometallic chemistry
- Main group synthesis and catalysis
- Bond activation processes.
Research capabilities
- Manipulation of extremely air/moisture sensitive compounds
- Synthetic chemistry
- Complex characterisation - multinuclear NMR and single crystal X-ray diffraction.
Dr Peter Roth
Lecturer in Applied Organic/Polymer Chemistry
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Waste plastic upcycling
- Functional biodegradable plastics
- Organic-inorganic hybrid materials
- Antifouling surfaces.
Research capabilities
- Polymer synthesis
- Smart materials: Stimulus-responsive polymers with tunable properties
- Development of novel (bio)degradable polymers
- Polymer nanoparticles.
Dr Patrick Sears
Senior Lecturer in Chemistry and Forensic Analysis
Biography
Dr Patrick Sears is a Senior Lecturer of Chemistry and Forensic analysis at the University of Surrey in the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. His research expertise and background include developing analytical chemistry solutions for complex problems and understanding how analytical systems can be broken down to improve precision and accuracy. Dr Sears received his B.Sc. (1995) and M.Sc. (1996) from the University of Durham before completing a Ph.D. at the University of Hull completing research on the catalytic oxidation of isobutene by uranium oxide. After being awarded his PhD, Dr Sears worked in process safety analysis (at Rhodia CSD and Thermal Hazard Technology) and in reaction optimisation and flow chemistry (at Syrris) before joining the defence science and technology laboratory (Dstl) in 2008. At Dstl, Dr Sears was a team leader in the Forensic Explosives Laboratory and latterly a Principal Scientist in Explosives Detection where his main research interests were in the analysis of trace explosive contamination and residues.
Professor Bob Slade
Emeritus Professor in Chemical Technology
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Synthesis, processing and characterisation of inorganic materials and nanomaterials
- Energy, materials and nanochemistry
- Assembly and in-depth testing of electrochemical energy generation and storage devices
- Batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells and flow batteries
- Separator and ion-exchange membranes
- Electrolytes and inorganic electrode materials
- Materials chemistry for environmental, transportation and space applications.
Professor John Varcoe
Professor in Materials Chemistry
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Anion exchange membranes
- Radiation grafting of functional polymers
- Polymer electrolyte fuel cells and electrolysers
- Reverse electrodialysis (salinity gradient power)
- CO2 electroreduction.
Research capabilities
- Basic fuel cell testing
- Analytical titrations
- Measuring ion-transport properties and conductivity
- Ion permselectivity testing
- Spectroscopic analysis of polymers (including chemometrics).
Dr David Watson
Senior Lecturer in Physical and Materials Chemistry
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Heterogeneous catalysis
- Surface modification and analysis
- Electrochemistry
- Photocatalysis.
Research capabilities
- Gas/solid and liquid/solid heterogeneous catalysis over wide range of P and T
- Metal nanoparticle catalyst synthesis and characterisation
- Various customisable equipment for liquid phase and gas phase photocatalysis
- Ability to manufacture platinum single crystals (of any orientation).
Dr Daniel Whelligan
Senior Lecturer in Organic/Medicinal Chemistry
Areas of specialism
Research interests
- Anion exchange membranes
- Design and synthesis of novel monomers
- Radiation-grafted copolymers
- Fuel cells and electrolysers.
Research capabilities
- Organic synthesis of small molecules
- Design and synthesis of novel anion exchange monomers
- Analysis of polymer small molecule degradation products.