Division of Materials Engineering

Research Highlights

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 piezoelectric … [more]

Photoelectrochemical imaging with high spatiotemporal resolution: publication in Biosensors and Bioelectronics Electrochemical or photoelectrochemical imaging of living cells has great potential for label-free, functional monitoring of cell responses, but is either relatively slow or suffers from poor resolution. Detailed electrochemical imaging has been limited to single-cell investigations, making it time-consuming to produce biologically relevant data. Our publication “Photoelectrochemical imaging system with … [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]

QMUL-NPU collaboration develops a novel generation of nanostructured responsive biosensors A collaborative team led by Prof Julien Gautrot from QMUL and Prof. Xiaoyan Ma from NPU (Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China) has developed a novel strategy for the design of nanostructured biosensors. Bringing biocatalytic sites close to the surface of electrodes is essential in order to optimise electron transfer and … [more]

EPSRC New Horizons grant on 3D photoelectrochemical imaging Prof Steffi Krause, Dr Joe Biscoe, Dr Thomas Iskratsch and Dr Bo Zhou have been awarded an EPSRC New Horizon’s grant (EP/V047523/1) of £200k to develop new measurement technology for 3D photoelectrochemical imaging. Electrochemical imaging techniques are powerful tools for the investigation of topography, charge and … [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]

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]

James Busfield elected to Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering has announced the 50 new Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) and 3 International Fellows. James Busfield, Professor of Materials, Director of Industrial Engagement in the School of Engineering and Material Science and Yang Hao (School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science) have been elected. … [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]

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]

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]

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]

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 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 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]