Kate Wildish-Jones

Email: k.wildish-jones1@ncl.ac.uk

Supervisors

• School of Engineering
• Dr Fernando Russo Abegao
• Prof Adam Harvey
• School of Natural and Environmental Sciences
• Dr Toni Carruthers

Project description

The demand for alternative energies is increasing. Technology is developing rapidly and CO₂ levels continue to rise.

Bio-renewable resources (biomass) are a promising candidate to replace fossil fuels. Biomass will reduce carbon dioxide emissions. We need to quantify and qualify waste-to-energy biomass energy conversion.

Multiphase systems consist of liquid-liquid phase emulsions, such as oil in water. They play a key role in chemical industries for biomass conversion to bio-renewable fuels and chemicals.

A solid catalyst is required to speed up reactions and make the process economically viable. This increases the complexity of multiphase systems. If the reactants are immiscible, the chemical reaction is often limited by the available contact area between both phases. These reactions include:

• biodiesel production from vegetable oil and methanol
• bioplastic production from sugars

Microscopic droplets are an exciting reaction platform to alleviate this issue. Chemistry is initiated in well-defined sub-picolitre volumes.

This research will design and synthesise catalytic materials. We will functionalise affordable silica materials. These will improve biomass to energy conversion and reduce CO₂.

We will use optical trapping systems to study multiphase interactions. This knowledge will improve materials design. Such materials will be able to enhance the multiphase interactions in biomass conversion systems.

We will investigate droplet dynamics and mass transfer at the liquid-liquid-solid interfaces. We will use optical tweezers and Raman spectroscopy for detailed measurements on the molecular scale. This will provide chemical composition and physical information fo a variety of characteristics. These include size, concentration, mixing state (core-shell structures) and phase (solid, liquid, glass). It will also provide ex situ HPLC and GC/GCMS analysis.

We will use grafting and anchoring methods to modify the silica surface properties. These will be in line with the design requirements found from optical trapping measurements.

Qualifications

MChem