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  Green methods to revalorise wastes: transformation into sustainable materials and chemicals


   School of Engineering

  ,  Applications accepted all year round  Self-Funded PhD Students Only

About the Project

These projects are open to students worldwide, but have no funding attached. Therefore, the successful applicant will be expected to fund tuition fees at the relevant level (home or international) and any applicable additional research costs. Please consider this before applying. 

This project will focus on facing the global challenge of reducing landfilling by revalorising wastes of different nature (e.g. plastic waste, agroforestry and food/drinks industry waste streams) to produce added-value materials/chemicals to facilitate energy transition and tackle greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions (i.e. CO2).

The research candidate will investigate the sustainable conversion of wastes into porous sorbents (of different nature and composition), and gases (e.g. H2). Formed products in the solid and gaseous fraction will then be fully characterised. Solid materials will be tested for gas separation application (i.e. elimination of undesired gaseous species and/or impurities from industrial gaseous mixtures, such as CO2 from flue gas). Gas fraction will be analysed for its potential to be used as energy vector.

The above will involve experimental activities such as the application of green, conventional and unconventional thermochemical conversion treatments to the selected wastes, surface modification, materials characterisation, evaluation of gas adsorption (uptakes) at equilibrium and dynamic conditions, adsorption selectivity determination, adsorption-desorption kinetics evaluation, among others. Knowledge on materials and energy balances, and thermochemical conversion treatments is essential.

Knowledge on gas spectrometry, microwave heating, and materials science is desired.

Applicants who would like to explore a specific innovative idea within the scope of this project are welcomed and encouraged. For the later, a brief and concise description of the idea (maximum 2 pages) should be submitted as part of the application.

Essential Background:

Decisions will be based on academic merit. The successful applicant should have, or expect to obtain, a UK Honours Degree at 2.1 (or equivalent) in Chemical Engineering or any related discipline, such as BSc in Chemistry, Materials Science.

Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemical Sciences, Physical Sciences, Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Environmental Engineering, Renewable Energy Engineering, Microwave Heating, Gas Separation Processes, Adsorption, Mass and Energy Balances knowledge an advantage.

Further information:

This project requires knowledge of some of the following: thermochemical conversion treatments of materials, materials surface modification, materials characterisation: namely N2 sorption to determine textural properties (BET, micropore volume, total pore volume, average pore diameter…), gas chromatography (product analysis and quantification), FTIR, XRD, TGA, porosimeter. Organic chemistry, physical chemistry, reactor design and kinetics/reactor dynamics, thermodynamics and heat transfer, gas separation processes, adsorption principles, kinetics of adsorption and desorption, etc.

Microsoft Office package (specially Excel, Word, Power Point).

The knowledge of any other software such as Matlab, Aspen Hysys (Adsorption) will be valuable.

Application Procedure:

Formal applications can be completed online: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/pgap/login.php

You should apply for Engineering (PhD) to ensure your application is passed to the correct team for processing.

Please clearly note the name of the lead supervisor and project title on the application form. If you do not include these details, it may not be considered for the studentship.

Your application must include: A personal statement, an up-to-date copy of your academic CV, and clear copies of your educational certificates and transcripts.

Please note: you DO NOT need to provide a research proposal with this application.

If you require any additional assistance in submitting your application or have any queries about the application process, please don't hesitate to contact us at

Chemistry (6) Materials Science (24)

Funding Notes

This is a self-funding project open to students worldwide. Our typical start dates for this programme are February or October.

Fees for this programme can be found here Finance and Funding | Study Here | The University of Aberdeen (abdn.ac.uk)

Additional research costs / bench fees of £3,000 per annum will also be required.


References

[1] Jie, X., Gonzalez-Cortes, S., Xiao, T.,Wang, J., Yao, B., Slocombe,D.R., Al-Megren, H.A., Dilworth, J.R., Thomas, J.M., Edwards, P.P. (2017). ‘Rapid Production of High-Purity Hydrogen Fuel through Microwave-Promoted Deep Catalytic Dehydrogenation of Liquid Alkanes with Abundant Metals’. Angewandte.Chemie, vol 129,no 34, pp. 10304–10307.
[2] Martin, C.F., Plaza, M.G., Garcia, S., Pis, J.J., Rubiera, F. & Pevida, C. (2011). 'Microporous phenol-formaldehyde resin-based adsorbents for pre-combustion CO2 capture'. Fuel, vol 90, no. 5, pp. 2064-2072.
[3] Martin, C.F., Garcia, S., Pis, JJ, Rubiera, F & Pevida, C. (2011). 'Doped phenol-formaldehyde resins as precursors for precombustion CO2 capture adsorbents'. Energy Procedia, vol 4, pp. 1222-1227.
[4] Martin, C.F., Plaza, M.G., Pis, J.J., Rubiera, F., Pevida, C. & Centeno, T.A. (2010). 'On the limits of CO2 capture capacity of carbons'. Separation and Purification Technology, vol 74, no. 2, pp. 225-229.
[5] Yassin, M. M., Biti, S., Afzal, W., Martín, C.F.(2021). ‘A systematic analysis of the dynamics of microwave- and conventionally-assisted swing adsorption on zeolite 13X and an activated carbon under post-combustion carbon capture conditions’. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, vol 9, no 6, 106835.

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