News
China SC PhD studentship on sticky ions!
14 October 2025

(For Chinese students only, rules of China Scholarship Council apply)
Protons behave as hydrophobic particles! The H3O+ tend to stick to hydrophobic interfaces, thus charging them. Based on our current knowledge of aqueous electrolytes, H3O+ should really prefer to stay in the water.
This ion-surface attraction plays a role in phenomena such as activity of stomach enzymes, processes like oil well stimulation – yet no convincing adsorption model for H3O+ exists to guide formulation problems; no theory predicts its adsorption constant; no ions of similar behaviour have been identified. Even the qualitative nature of this attraction is obscure.
We need a bright PhD student to investigate the secretive forces that drag sticky ions like H3O+ to surfaces. The aim is to produce understanding and a model of the interaction. Experiment-lovers, theory-lovers and especially you who hesitate between the two options – you are welcome to apply. The applications we are targeting: carbon capture and storage (the charge of the interface between acidic aqueous phase and liquid carbon dioxide); mechanisms of rain (the role of ions for nucleation of water droplets in the atmosphere); and how are salts changing the behaviour of surfactants.
For more information: click here.
Contact: | Radomir I Slavchov |
Email: | r.slavchov@qmul.ac.uk |
Website: | |
People: | Radomir SLAVCHOV |
Research Centre: | Sustainable Engineering |