Chemical Engineering (PhD)

At present, around two million tonnes of pesticides are used per year on a global basis. Pesticides are considered a contributor to global food security because several pesticides cause long-term negative effects on human health and the environment. Several pesticides are known to be carcinogenic and/or mutagenic, affecting the respiratory system, bone, and nervous systems. Monitoring the presence of pesticide residues in food, water and soil is paramount to ensure the safety of consumers, especially in developing countries. Conventional analytical techniques (HPLC, GC, AAS) are expensive, bulky, time-consuming and require pre-treatment.

This project will involve the development of a highly sensitive, cost-effective, fast, reliable, and easy-to-use electrochemical sensor. The project will include fabricating, characterising, and optimising sensors capable of detecting pesticides without or with minimal pre-treatment.

Self-funding applicants are welcome. In addition to tuition fees, bench fees of approximately £7000 per annum are required for this project.

Our standard University deadlines apply. Please see our Deadlines for Applications page to find out more

• Dr Sandra Hernandez aldave

Traditionally industrial biotechnology has relied on the brewing yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae where traditional outputs such as alcoholic drinks, bread, and biofuels are increasingly being joined by production of desirable platform chemicals and other products. Engineered strains of S. cerevisiae have been studied for production of various chemicals of industrial interest, many of these strains are available in the various strain banks.

In Prof. Du’s research group, over 200 marine yeasts have been isolated and characterised for their potential in industrial application. Marine yeast show statistically high tolerance to salt, organic acids and phenolic compounds as well as high fermentation efficiencies. The research groups have been working on the biofuels, biochemical fermentation for over 10 years, and published a significant number of peer reviewed papers in the field. Now, the research focus in this subject turns to the production of biofuels using marine biomass based substrates, enzymes and pharmaceutical compounds synthesis using GM modified yeasts and biosynthesis under harsh industrial conditions.

Self-funding applicants are welcome. In addition to tuition fees, bench fees of between £3-£15,000 per annum are required depending on the nature of the project.

Our standard University deadlines apply. Please see our Deadlines for Applications page to find out more

• Professor Chenyu Du

Since the industrial revolution, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have increased by more than 50%. In March 2021 the atmospheric CO2 levels exceeded 417 parts per million. Pre-industrial levels were around 278 parts per million. This increase has led to global warming. The latest research suggests that is likely the world to warm from 2.6C to 4.1C as a consequence of doubling the CO2 concentrations. The effects of global warming are devastating causing more frequent and intense droughts, heat waves, melting glaciers and multiple dangerous climate changes. In order to mitigate these effects one approach is to convert the undesirable CO2 gas from industries and convert it into an added-value product.

This project will involve the fabrication of a CO2 electrolyser with the capacity of long-term operational hours, showing industrial viability. The project requires the design and optimization of the electrolyser and the fabrication of a gas diffusion electrode. The bench fee for this project is approximately £9000.

Self-funding applicants are welcome. In addition to tuition fees, bench fees of approximately £3,000 per annum are required for this project.

Our standard University deadlines apply. Please see our Deadlines for Applications page to find out more

• Dr Sandra Hernandez aldave

This project will review current status of renewable materials’ application in textile and fashion industry, then evaluate the potential environmental and economic benefits of utilising novel renewable, recycle and biodegradable material in textile and fashion sector, and finally focuses on the assessment of a viable greener fashion business case study.

Self-funding applicants are welcome. In addition to tuition fees, bench fees of £3000 are applicable

Our standard University deadlines apply. Please see our Deadlines for Applications page to find out more

• Professor Chenyu Du

The word ‘symbiosis’ comes from the Greek ‘συν’ and ‘βιος’ and means ‘coexistence’, describing two different organisms living in close association, to the mutual benefit of both. Industrial Symbiosis draws on this concept to describe two industries living harmoniously together. It is one of the main tools considered by national and European environmental policy makers towards resource efficiency without deteriorating economic development.

This project aims to develop a methodological framework towards the holistic (i.e. economic, environmental and social) impact assessment of industrial symbiosis business models. More specificually, the proposed research project will address the following objectives: (a) Formulate a coherent, validated and tested methodological framework for identifying, assessing and evaluating IS schemes under uncertainty; (b) Map and assess the IS potential of selected regions in the UK and in Europe; (c) Establish the basis for an improved understanding of the socio-technical dynamics that influence IS uptake.

Self-funding applicants are welcome. In addition to tuition fees, bench fees of between £3000 per annum are required

Our standard University deadlines apply. Please see our Deadlines for Applications page to find out more

• Dr Athanasios Angelis-dimakis

Deposition of particles on pipe walls in oil transportation can plug the pipes thus causes losses in oil gaining or shutting down of the wells. With the management of particle deposition shifted from inhibiting to allowing formation but controlling aggregation and deposition, the way of dealing with them has also to be shifted to the latter with aggregation being the key. This project tackles the issues arising with this shift by a mathematical modelling approach based on the methods of population balance and computation.

Self-funding applicants are welcome. In addition to tuition fees, bench fees of between £3-£15,000 per annum are required depending on the nature of the project.

Home/EU – for September- June 30th, for January-October 31st and Overseas for September- May 31st, for January- September 30th

• Dr Lande Liu
• Dr Viacheslav Stetsyuk
• Professor John Chai

Arabinoxylans are potential co-products of biorefineries that could form a new class of functional food ingredients. The aims of this project are to extract AX from a variety of feedstocks under different processing conditions, and to characterise the extracts, in order to establish a feasible basis for commercial production of functional food ingredients in a biorefinery context.

Self-funding applicants are welcome. In addition to tuition fees, bench fees of £10,000 per annum are required.

Home/EU -June 30th/October 31st and Overseas May 31st/September 30th

• Professor Grant Campbell

Across the world, a large amount of waste and by-products from the agri-food sector is being generated across the entire supply chain and disposed withour any further treatment. However, these waste streams may contain valuable bioactive compounds and/or could be further valorised before their disposal. Agri-food waste minimization is a key priority for modern economies, which can both reduce the environmental impact and create high value-added products, leading to a positive impact to the economy and the society.

This project aims to assess alternative options for the valorisation of agri-food waste. It will focus on greener methods used (e.g. green, solvent-free, extraction techniques) and novel substrates (e.g. waste from super-foods). A holistic sustainability assessment framework (including economic, environmental, and social impact) will be developed and applied to the proposed process.

Self-funding applicants are welcome. In addition to tuition fees, bench fees of between £3000 per annum are required

Our standard University deadlines apply. Please see our Deadlines for Applications page to find out more

• Dr Athanasios Angelis-dimakis

Macroalgae (seaweed) are a promising feedstock for industrial biotechnology, as they are available in abundance, do not occupy arable land or require fertilisers to grow. Seaweeds can be the basis for integrated industrial biotechnology as they contain various carbohydrates, proteins and minerals, which could be used as building block for the production of fine chemicals, platform chemicals, biofuels, pharmaceuticals or human nutritional additives. One of the promising product is alginate. It is traditionally used as a stabiliser, viscosity agent, water binding agent and gelling agent in the food industry. Recently, it has been explored for the synthesis of novel fibres for usage as a wound dressing in medical industry and raw materials in textile industry. It is estimated that the annual production of alginates exceeds 30,000 tonnes. However, current alginate extraction process is energy intensive, has high water usage, consumes large amount of organic solvent and has long retention time. This project aims to develop a greener process for extracting alginate to address the limitation listed above to improve the alginate extraction efficiency of the process. Then, the properties of the obtained alginate fibre will be characterised, and their application in pharmaceutical industry and textile industry will be explored.

Self-funding applicants are welcome. In addition to tuition fees, bench fees of between £3-£15,000 per annum are required depending on the nature of the project.

Our standard University deadlines apply. Please see our Deadlines for Applications page to find out more

• Professor Chenyu Du

The increasing concern of plastic pollution in waterway attracts worldwide attention. It is estimated that the time required for plastics to degrade is approximately 500-1000 years. The most detrimental effects of plastic pollution can be found in the marine environment, as around 4.8 - 12.7 million tonnes of plastic enters the Earth’s oceans each year. This project aims to review state of art technologies in recycle and reuse of plastic waste materials, including making new plastic bottles, in construction industry and in textile industry. It will then focus on the novel approaches for the conversion of plastic waste, especially textile polyester waste into recycled materials for the production of value added products. Both biological plastic degradation process and thermo-chemical conversion process will be investigated.

Self-funding applicants are welcome. In addition to tuition fees, bench fees of between £3-£15,000 per annum are required depending on the nature of the project.

Our standard University deadlines apply. Please see our Deadlines for Applications page to find out more

• Professor Chenyu Du