Development of Graphene-enhanced Concrete for Real Life Construction Applications

Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world with an annual consumption of over 10 billion cubic meters. Cement, which is the most carbon intensive constituent in concrete that contributes to about 80% of the total embodied carbon of concrete. The global annual production of cement is over 4.4 billion metric tons where the manufacturing of cement alone contributes to about 6-8% of total global CO2 emissions. Although a range of low carbon concrete materials have been developed by research groups around the world, a number of limitations limit real-life applications of the technologies. One of the most promising emerging technologies in the field of low carbon concrete is Graphene-enhanced cement/concrete. However, despite the early promise the available results of Graphene-Concrete are inconsistent and there are limitations in the scientific understanding of the technology.

The aim of the present PhD project is to develop an experimentally-validated, Graphene-Concrete technology for real-life civil engineering structures. The first half of the present PhD project develops the fundamental scientific understanding of the potential applications of various forms Graphene, such as Graphene Oxide, Reduced Graphene Oxide and Graphene Nanoplatelets for nanoengineering cement and concrete. The developing understanding will then be extended for the identification and characterisation of the detailed chemical, physical and mechanical properties of the proposed Graphene-Concrete. The knowledge of the characetrisation of the materials and the processes will then be used to establish the proposed novel Graphene-Concrete mix design details whilst focusing on fresh, hardened and durability properties of the concrete. The developed mix designs will then be investigated for real-life applications involving unreinforced and reinforced concrete members. Finally, life cycle carbon savings of the proposed new Graphene-Concrete compared to the current wisdom of regular concrete technologies will be justified using life cycle analysis.

Eligibility

Applicants must have obtained a First class UK honours degree, or a combination of a 2.1 bachelor's honours degree and a master's degree awarded with Merit (or the equivalent qualifications gained outside the UK), in Materials Science / Materials Engineering / Civil Engineering or a relevant discipline.

Funding

At Manchester we offer a range of scholarships, studentships and awards at university, faculty and department level, to support both UK and overseas postgraduate researchers applying for competition and self-funded projects.

For more information, visit our funding page or search our funding database for specific scholarships, studentships and awards you may be eligible for.

Before you apply

We strongly recommend that you contact the supervisor (Mithila.Achintha@manchester.ac.uk) for this project before you apply 

How to apply

Apply online through our website: https://uom.link/pgr-apply-fap

When applying, you’ll need to specify the full name of this project, the name of your supervisor, if you already having funding or if you wish to be considered for available funding through the university, details of your previous study, and names and contact details of two referees.

Your application will not be processed without all of the required documents submitted at the time of application, and we cannot accept responsibility for late or missed deadlines. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

After you have applied you will be asked to upload the following supporting documents:

• Final Transcript and certificates of all awarded university level qualifications
• Interim Transcript of any university level qualifications in progress
• CV
• Contact details for two referees (please make sure that the contact email you provide is an official university/work email address as we may need to verify the reference)
• English Language certificate (if applicable)

If you have any questions about making an application, please contact our admissions team by emailing FSE.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk.

Equality, diversity and inclusion is fundamental to the success of The University of Manchester, and is at the heart of all of our activities. We know that diversity strengthens our research community, leading to enhanced research creativity, productivity and quality, and societal and economic impact.

We actively encourage applicants from diverse career paths and backgrounds and from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation and transgender status.

We also support applications from those returning from a career break or other roles. We consider offering flexible study arrangements (including part-time: 50%, 60% or 80%, depending on the project/funder).