Research

Research vision

Inspired by nature, we are developing strategies for discovery, design and sustainable manufacturing of a range of "green" nanomaterials.

Current research in the group is focusing on applications with the view of increasing technology readiness level (TRL) for delivering technologies that are ready for commercialisation.

Research themes

The group aims to demonstrate potential of green methods for nanomaterials synthesis by realisation of their real-life applications. Current research projects themes include:

Research projects

Scalable and sustainable manufacturing of Si anodes for lithium ion batteries
We have discovered a scalable, ultra-low temperature and safer method for producing porous silicon for battery anodes: it costs only 50% of the current market price for Si and offers ease of manufacturing. For bringing this invention to the market, we are working with three interlinked areas:
(i) manufacturing and scale-up,
(ii) market understanding and commercialisation, and
(iii) testing performance and benchmarking against industry standards.

In collaboration with the Faraday Institution and WMG, we have multiple projects aiming to accelerate commercialisation of our invention.

SynBio-Inspired Nanomaterials Manufacturing
Developing transformative knowledge and toolsets for larger-scale manufacture of tunable and sustainable synbio nanomaterials. Funded by EPSRC.

Design and green manufacturing of functional nanomaterials

Developing the fundamental science of scale-up by measuring and designing the correlations between timescales of mixing and particle formation. Funded by EPSRC Fellowship and industry.

Table Top Manufacturing of Tailored Nanosilica for Personalised Medicine [SiPM]
This project will develop the science for distributed table top on-demand manufacturing of drug delivery systems at scale needed for personalised medicine (PM) by combining controlled green synthesis with novel intensified reactors/devices. Funded by EPSRC and SFI.

Bioinspired Green Manufacturing of Next Generation Energy Storage Materials
Discovering low temperatures routes, leading to reduced energy demands, and allowing for superior control of materials properties. Funded by EPSRC.

Silicon- and Silica-based Electrodes for Li-ion Batteries

Low-cost and sustainable mesoporous silicon and porous silica for battery electrodes. Funded by EPSRC.

Unlocking the market for high value mesoporous silica for medical applications

This project is about market and customer discovery for our green mesoporous silica technology. Funded by Innovation-to-Commercialisation of University Research (ICURe) as part of an Innovate UK scheme.

Decontamination of dyes polluted water using bioinspired silica

In this project, we apply a range of strategies, ranging from adsorption to enzymatic remediation, for the removal of dye-contaminated waste waters. Read more details here.