Division of Chemical Engineering and Renewable Energy

Research Highlights

First single-crystal organometallic perovskite optical fibres Due to their very high efficiency in transporting electric charges from light, perovskites are known as the next generation material for solar panels and LED displays. We now have invented a brand-new application of perovskites as optical fibres. The results are published in Science Advances. Optical fibres are tiny wires … [more]

Funding for project "Novel plasma reforming technology for tars reduction in BECCS" awarded by UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Queen Mary researchers in collaboration with the Chemical Engineering at University College London have won funding for a proof of concept project with the Hydrogen BECCS Innovation Programme, part of the Government’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), which aims to provide funding to support innovation in hydrogen BECCS (… [more]

SEMS' Polymers & Composites Group success at 20th European Conference on Composite Materials in Lausanne, Switzerland In the last week of June, the Polymers & Composites Group had a highly successful week presenting at the 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM20) in the stunningly beautiful city of Lausanne.  Seven members made their way to Switzerland and were all eager to share the fantastic work … [more]

Ana Jorge Sobrido Participates in EPSRC-supported Workshop on the Future of Electrochemistry in the UK Organised by Prof Dryfe (University of Manchester), Prof Katherine Holt (University College London), Dr Mark Symes (University of Glasgow) and Dr Upul Wijayantha (Loughborough University), this stimulating event gathered around 40 academics from UK institutions working on topics with a significant electrochemistry component to debate current challenges of the area and … [more]

SEMS Academics Perform Exceptionally in REF 2021 The scores have been announced for REF2021. The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a 7 year cycle used to measure research and determine funding in UK universities. The result for SEMS is excellent as not only have we come seventh overall in Engineering amongst all 89 universities who were being assessed in … [more]

Professor Andrew Livingston elected a Fellow of the Royal Society The Royal Society has elected Professor Livingston, Queen Mary’s Vice-Principal (Research and Innovation) and Professor of Chemical Engineering, as a new Fellow. The election is in recognition of Professor Livingston’s achievements in chemical engineering. During his distinguished career, he has worked to create new technology to … [more]

New paper on vascular smooth muscle cell pressure and stiffness sensing is published in Science Advances journal Our paper on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) pressure and stiffness sensing is out in Science Advances. Congratulations to everyone involved and especially Pamela Swiatlowska and Brian Sit who are shared first authors. Our new findings show how the progression of atherosclerosis is affected by … [more]

Ana J Sobrido awarded a Royal Society International Exchanges Grant with MIT Ana has been awarded a Royal Society International Exchanges Grant with MIT. This grant (March 2022 - March 2024) will start a new collaboration with Prof Brushett from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chemical Engineering Department) and his team. During this collaborative project Prof Brushett and several members of … [more]

Qian Guo passes her PhD viva Congratulations to Qian Guo for passing her viva on 25th March 2022 with Prof Steve Dunn and Dr Ludmilla Steier as examiners. Well done Qian! Qian's PhD project focused on the synthesis and study of photoelectrochemical systems based on hematite for photo-assisted water oxidation, supervised by Dr Ana Jorge Sobrido … [more]

Dame Ann Dowling is awarded an honorary doctorate During the Graduation Ceremonies at Tobacco Dock Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FRS FREng was awarded a DSc(Hon Caus). Dame Ann is one of the most distinguished engineers in the UK. She was first female Professor in Engineering at the University of Cambridge in 1993 and is now … [more]

Scientists create stable materials for more efficient solar cells Crystalline silicon is the most widely used material for solar cells. However, over the last decade, perovskite solar cells, made from metal halide perovskite materials, have shown promise to make cheaper, and potentially more efficient solar cells than silicon. But whilst perovskite solar cells can now compete in terms of … [more]

Poster Prizes Awarded at Industrial Liaison Forum At the recent Industrial Liaision Forum PhD Research Showcase three best poster prizes were awarded. Emily Lin, who is supervisied by Stoyan Smoukov in the Division of Chemical Engineering and Renewable Energy, was awarded a prize for her project on Active Rechargeable Self-Assembled Microswimmers Driven By Surface Phase Transitions. … [more]

Materials Celebrates 50 Years of Graduations 50 years of Materials graduates from the Mile End Campus in London and the first cohort from Queen Mary Engineering School (QMES) at our campus at Northwestern Polytechnic University in Xi’an China were celebrated on Friday 5th November. 120 people gathered in the Octagon with another 45 people on-line to … [more]

New insights into the design of RNA delivery vectors What happens to gene delivery vectors when they enter the cell cytoplasm? This question had remained understudied, in particular in the case of polycationic vectors. Yet it may have a significant impact on the timing and localisation of the release of RNA or DNA molecules to be delivered. The team … [more]

A new failure model to predict the fatigue life of aeronautical aluminium-alloy thin-sheets upon impact damage A new paper from Dr Wei Tan's group is published! A new fatigue crack growth model considering the effects of load interaction and low velocity impact damage of aluminium-alloy thin-sheets was proposed. Our theoretical model and test results can provide guidelines for the impact damage tolerance design and fatigue … [more]

Dr Joe Briscoe contributes to COP26 special edition of Queen Mary's Energy and Climate Change Law Institute Review The Energy & Climate Change Law Institute at Queen Mary University of London are delighted to publish its law review focused on COP 26. With a foreword by Lord Carnwath CVO and introduction by guest editor Professor Stephen Tromans QC, the review takes a fresh look at what … [more]

Researchers uncover new evidence that fetal membranes can repair themselves after injury The integrity of the fetal membranes that surround the baby in the womb during pregnancy is vital for normal development. But fetal membranes can become damaged as a result of infection, bleeding, or after fetal surgery and even diagnostic tests during pregnancy, such as amniocentesis, which require doctors to make … [more]

Recent advance on the structural power composites Dr. Tan's group has recently published a paper on "Journal of Energy Storage" regarding the recent development of structural power composites. These composites can simultaneously carry mechanical load and store electrical energy. The developed electrodes possess up to 63% of their theoretical capacitance, and their tensile strengths are … [more]

Queen Mary researchers win EPSRC Transformative Healthcare Technology 2.0 Call Development Phase Grant Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Imperial College London, clinicians from Royal London Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital together with the industrial partners are awarded the Development Phase Grant of EPSRC Transformative Healthcare Technology 2.0 Call, a high risk and high return initiative.  The Team, … [more]

Congratulations to Haixue Yan FIMMM Today Haixue Yan from the Materials Division became a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMM). This honour is based on both his work in QMUL but also his time in industry in China before he became a PhD student. He joins six other members of … [more]

Surface treatments for next generation quiet aerofoils The team of engineers from Queen Mary has won significant funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) devoted to high-resolution modelling and simulation of aerofoil noise. In the new £405,916 research project, Prof. Karabasov and his team will work in collaboration with the Institute of Sound and … [more]

New high-performance and durable textile-based wearable energy harvesters reported New research published by Qinrong He from Dr Joe Briscoe's group, in collaboration with Dr Han Zhang, demonstrates piezoelectric energy harvesters produced on e-textiles that can harvest energy from body movement to power portable electronic devices and sensors. The research, published in the journal Nano Energy, makes use of … [more]

Queen Mary Researchers demonstrated continuous transmission of high-density spatial information through an evolving single multimode fibre using deep learning Continuous transmission of high-spatial-density information accurately through a standard multimode optical fibre was previously deemed impossible, due to the high variability presented in multimode fibre information channels over time. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London demonstrated a deep-learning enabled high-spatial-density information transmission scheme for standard multimode optical fibres, where … [more]

Dr Joe Briscoe Receives Prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant Dr Joe Briscoe, a Senior Lecturer in Functional Materials in SEMS, QMUL, has been awarded a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) as part of the 'excellent science' pillar of the EU's current Research and Innovation programme, Horizon 2020. Dr Briscoe is one of only 327 individuals across Europe to … [more]

PhD Supervisor Training for New Supervisors - 2021 New Supervisors Training sessions have been adapted for remote delivery for this academic year (2020/21). The remote course consists of 3 x 2 hour sessions. Participants must register for and attend all three sessions: - DC001-WEB-Part1 PhD Supervision Training for New Supervisors - Part 1 - DC001-WEB-Part2 PhD Supervision Training for New … [more]

UK Materials Science Community delivers its strategic response to net-zero emissions challenge In May 2019 the UK Government became the first global economy to set a net zero emissions target for 2050, upgrading the previous target of delivering an 80% cut in emissions. The move followed the publication of the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) ‘Net Zero’ report. In response, the Henry Royce Institute … [more]

Queen Mary researchers develop non-distructive single-crystal perovskite surface nanopatterning technologies Single-crystalline perovskites are widely regarded as the future semiconductor materials and will be the next big wave in optoelectronics. To manufacture high-quality single-crystal perovskite optoelectronics, non-destructive surface nanopatterning technologies are required. Conventional photolithography-based nanopatterning methods cannot be used due to perovskite’s sensitivity to high temperature and solvents. Researchers at … [more]

Gleb Sukhorukov's H-index reaches 100 One measure of the impact of an academic's research is to count the number of citations. Citations refect who thinks our work is of interest and worth referencing. One common measure of this is to use the h-index which is defined as the maximum value of h such that the … [more]

New state-of-the-art microscope to support research in the School of Engineering and Materials Science Queen Mary underlined its strong commitment to the ongoing research in SEMS by investing into a £375K state-of-the-art super-resolution spinning disc microscope. Microscopy imaging approaches have long been a major research strength within the school, facilitating new collaborative links and supporting significant research funding and outputs in leading journals. The … [more]

Scientists at Queen Mary developed extremely energy-efficient manufacturing for future composites, reported by the Materials World magazine in its latest issue Research led by Dr Han Zhang at the School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, has devised a sustainable manufacturing method for future composites towards the clean growth of the composite sector. An extremely energy-efficient and intrinsically safe curing process has been developed based on nanostructured … [more]

Land Speed Record Attempt in Bolivia The findings of our former Aerospace MEng students (Salah Macan Markar, Karan Sumaria, Tanjir Zaman and Banjoab Kantangul) will be incorporated in the future Land Speed Record Streamliner by CMR Motorsport Challenges. The work has been carried out as part of their MEng project entitled "Land Speed Record Aerodynamics Design … [more]

Queen Mary opens Organs-on-Chips Centre for advancements in medical research and drug development A new research centre which aims to revolutionise medical research and drug development using microengineered Organs-on-Chips has opened at Queen Mary University of London. Organs-on-Chips contain tiny hollow channels lined by living human cells that recreate the microenvironment experienced by cells within the human body.  As miniaturised living systems with … [more]

Decrease Jet-Installation Noise The new H2020 project "Decrease Jet-Installation Noise" devoted to modelling and reduction of jet-wing-interaction noise typical of large commercial turbo-fan engines will be funded by the European Commission. The project is led by Rolls-Royce and Airbus and includes leading organisations in Europe and the UK and is for 3 years. Our … [more]

Frontiers of aeroacoustics research: theory, computation and experiment The Philosophical Transactions A issue on “Frontiers of aeroacoustics research: theory, computation and experiment” will be available online on 14 October 2019. Aeroacoustics studies noise generated by aerodynamic flows. Founded on fluid mechanics and applied mathematics, and relying increasingly upon computational modelling, aeroacoustics has grown into a discipline with its own key … [more]

Queen Mary and Paragraf awarded £500,000 to explore using Graphene to replace rare metal Indium Queen Mary University of London and the graphene-device company Paragraf have been awarded £500,000 by Innovate UK to explore using graphene to replace the rare metal Indium. The Queen Mary research will be led by Sir Colin Humphreys from the School of Engineering and Materials Science, with co-investigators Dr Oliver Fenwick … [more]

Making a splash is all in the angle Making a splash depends on the angle of a liquid as it hits and moves along a surface, according to a new study from Queen Mary University of London. If a droplet hits a dry solid surface fast enough it will splash and being able to predict a splash is … [more]

Funding Awarded To Develop a Simulation Tool For Airside Operations Incorporating Intelligent/Autonomous Taxiing Two Queen Mary researchers have been awarded further funding to develop a simulation tool to quantify the savings of fuel burn and time of taxiing aircraft by integrating more advanced and automated decision support systems. Dr Jun Chen and Dr Michal Weiszer, from the School of Engineering and Materials Science, … [more]

Technology to capture energy from sea waves awarded funding A team from Queen Mary has been awarded funding to develop technology to capture energy from waves at sea. Wave Energy Scotland (WES) will grant £461,345 to the team from the School of Engineering and Materials Science to develop an adaptive hierarchical model predictive control framework for wave energy converters (WECs). … [more]

Materials science research project wins national Engineering Excellence Award A Queen Mary research project has won a national Engineering Excellence Award at Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Best of the Best awards. The award was presented at The Royal Society of Chemistry in London to LMK Thermosafe, which entered into a KTP with Queen Mary and KTP … [more]

Synthetic bone graft research gets stamp of approval The pioneering work of a Queen Mary researcher has been celebrated with a stamp as part of a new series launched by Royal Mail. The six stamp set, launched today, marks innovations in British engineering from the last 50 years including the development of a synthetic bone graft by Dr Karin … [more]

EUR225K Grant Funding Success The EU has agreed provide EUR225,000 to fund the KAFKA project: "Efficient Computational Methods for Active Flow Control Using Adjoint Sensitivities" Active flow control aims to change the character of the flow by suction, blowing or pulsating jets. Such jets may e.g. be able to replace bulky car spoilers … [more]

New video report on soft robotics for keyhole surgery Breaking news on the EU robotics project STIFF-FLOP Research on soft robotics for keyhole surgery by Professor Althoefer, head of Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ) is highlighted in the new TechRepublic video on '5 things to know about soft robotics': 1. It doesn't mean pillows. 2. Search and rescue. 3. Medicine. (STIFF-FLOP features … [more]

Queen Mary project to reduce aircraft noise awarded funding A new project led by engineers at Queen Mary University of London that aims to reduce aircraft noise has won significant funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The £422,275 EPSRC grant will fund the Jet Installation Noise Abatement (JINA) project, which will bring together expertise in experimental … [more]

Queen Mary awarded funding to build instrument which will revolutionise monitoring of cellular processes Queen Mary University of London has been awarded funding to lead a joint project to build an instrument which will revolutionise the monitoring of cellular processes in tissues that line organs. The grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has a total value of £823,329 over three years, … [more]

Dr Andy Bushby wins Innovation of the Year Award Dr Andy Bushby, from the School of Engineering and Materials Science, was presented with the 2018 Innovation of the Year Award for his project 'Weight-saving metal components achieved by length-scale engineering' at the QMUL Engagement and Enterprise Awards. He has developed a simple manufacturing process for complex 3D shaped metal engineering … [more]

Queen Mary Awarded Funding to Establish Organ-on-a-Chip UK Network Queen Mary University of London has been awarded funding to lead a UK network in the development of ‘Organ-on-a-chip’ devices. The network will be part of a major new Research Councils UK (RCUK) funding venture, Technology Touching Life [1], which aims to foster interdisciplinary research into innovative technology in the health … [more]

Queen Mary researcher helps develop rollercoaster which charges your phone A researcher from Queen Mary University of London has used his expertise in energy harvesting applications to help develop a rollercoaster which charges your phone. Dr Joe Briscoe, from the School of Engineering and Materials Science, was approached by Thorpe Park Resort to work on their latest ride ‘The Walking … [more]

QMUL awarded £1m grant to establish robotics centre for tackling nuclear waste The Centre for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary (ARQ) has been awarded a £1m grant to help set-up a world-leading centre of excellence for nuclear robotics in the UK. ARQ is a cross-faculty multidisciplinary research centre, bringing Queen Mary robotics activities under one roof. ARQ's activities span across the School of … [more]

Mexican solar steam project wins funding A revolutionary solar thermal technology is to be tested in Mexico, thanks to funding secured by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and industry partner Larkfleet Ltd. The funding, provided by Innovate UK, the Newton Fund and the National Science and Technology Council in Mexico (CONACYT) will allow an already … [more]