Centre for Sustainable Engineering

News

Material Matters exhibition shows new batteries and pressure sensors developed from tyre wear particles 20 September 2023 Upcycled materials created by our Material for Sustainability Research Group, in collaboration with The Tyre Collective, have gone on display at a high-profile exhibition in London's Oxo Tower. Dr Maria Crespo-Ribadeneyra led a collaboration with the start-up, where batteries and pressure sensors were created from waste tyre wear particles. … [more]

Ana Sobrido gives an Invited Talk at the Royce National Conference 2023 7 September 2023 Prof Sobrido gave a talk at the Henry Royce Institute National Conference held at the University of Manchester (6th-7th September) on her group's research work on sustainable materials for flow batteries. Flow batteries are a type of stationary energy storage technology where chemical energy is … [more]

Professor Liz Tanner made an Honorary Member of the European Society for Biomaterials 7 September 2023 Professor Liz Tanner has been elected an Honorary Member of the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB) at their conference in Davos Switzerland. According to the Statutes of the ESB "Honorary membership can be awarded to any person who has given the Society particularly meritorious services or who has … [more]

Dr Wei Tan wins a prestigious European Research Council Starting Grant for groundbreaking research 5 September 2023 SEMS is celebrating a major research win, with Dr Wei Tan awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant for groundbreaking, ambitious research. Dr Wei Tan, a Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at the School of Engineering and Materials Science, has been awarded a grant for his project “… [more]

Dr Xuekun Lu's study for faster charging electric vehicles published in Nature Communications 31 August 2023 A new study led by Dr Xuekun Lu in collaboration with a team of researchers from the UK and USA has found a way to prevent lithium plating in electric vehicle batteries, which could lead to faster charging times. The paper is published in Nature Communications. Lithium plating is a … [more]

Sir Colin Humphreys appears on BBC Radio 4's "The Life Scientific" 29 August 2023 On Tuesday 29th August Professor Sir Colin Humphreys was Professor Jim Al-Khalili's guest on the BBC Radio 4 programme "The Life Scientific". Colin discussed his work as a materials scientist and engineer, his use of electron microscopy and of course about his work on graphene, the world's … [more]

Researchers Create Multifunctional Shape-Morphing Composite Materials Inspired by Kirigami 21 August 2023 Exciting news from the collaborative efforts of researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and University of Nottingham (UoN) has brought about a novel development in shape-morphing structures. Led by Dr. Wei Tan (QMUL) and Dr. Mingchao Liu (NTU, currently at University of Birmingham), the … [more]

SEMS researchers win first Kidney Research UK MedTech Competition 9 August 2023 Kidney Research UK (KRUK) launched its first MedTech competition recently, specifically designed to support the use of technology to improve patients’ lives. This new approach to investing in innovative research is designed to help researchers learn the necessary steps to get their products from concept to patients. A shortlist … [more]

Three more PhD students join the role of honour for the Soft Matter Group in SEMS 25 July 2023 At the graduation ceremony on the 25th July 2023, three more PhD students graduated from James Busfield’s Soft Matter Group at QMUL. Dr Anureet Kaur completed her Phd on a self-healing elastomers funded by Weir Group, Dr Travis Hohenberger completed his PhD on leak prediction in high pressure seals … [more]

Collaboration with NPU Results in a Publication in Science 20 July 2023 A collaboration led by NPU's academic Prof Xuanhua Li in collaboration with Dr Ana Sobrido has resulted in a publication in Science, In situ photocatalytically enhanced thermogalvanic cells for electricity and hydrogen production. In thermogalvanic cells, temperature-driven concentration gradients of redox active species can lead to a potential difference … [more]

School of Engineering and Materials Science students visit Aston Martin F1 13 July 2023 A group of 15 SEMS students visited the new Aston Martin F1 team at Silverstone a few days before the British Grand Prix. The visit was a part of the Make a Mark Day at the AMR Technology Campus, which aimed to inspire the next generation and showcase STEM career opportunities … [more]

Let's Move to the Moon! 12 July 2023 The School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) is dedicated to promoting the field of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) among the next generation of scientists and engineers. As part of their ongoing outreach efforts, SEMS staff and students delivered a unique activity to inspire students about the future possibilities … [more]

Ana Sobrido Participates in a Leadership Retreat Workshop in Reading 10 July 2023 Ana spent three days in Reading at a workshop on leadership organised by the FLF Development Network, along with other 19 fellows. The workshop programme, facilitated by Steve Joy and Tracey Stead, included topics such as self-leadership, team dysfunction, important conversations and action planning. For those FLF who have not had … [more]

"Electronic skin" from bio-friendly materials can track human vital signs with ultrahigh precision 28 June 2023 Queen Mary University and University of Sussex researchers have used materials inspired by molecular gastronomy to create smart wearables that surpassed similar devices in terms of strain sensitivity They integrated graphene into seaweed to create nanocomposite microcapsules for highly tunable and sustainable epidermal electronics. When assembled into networks, the tiny … [more]

Celebrating the Inspiring Women Engineers at QMUL 23 June 2023 On International Women in Engineering Day on 23 June 2023, we celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of Women In Engineering worldwide, who tirelessly contribute to improving and saving lives. This year, we turn our attention to the exceptional female engineers at the School of Engineering and Materials Science. These women embody the qualities … [more]

Carlos Mingoes passes his PhD Viva 1 June 2023 Carlos defended his PhD project on the 1st June 2023 and passed with very minor corrections - well done Carlos, many congratulations! His PhD studied the electron spin selectivity through chirality and probed the effect of electrons spin selectivity on oxygen evolution reaction. Carlos was supervised by Dr Ana Jorge Sobrido. [more]

Success in Faculty of Science and Engineering's BAME Undergraduate Research Internships 24 May 2023 The School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) has been successful in securing a BAME undergraduate research studentship for a summer internship research project to be undertaken by first year BEng Mechanical Engineering student Mr Ismail Moalin, under the joint supervision of Dr Rehan Shah and Prof Henri Huijberts from … [more]

Soft Matter Group at RubberCon 2023 in Edinburgh 11 May 2023 The largest ever group of Soft Matter Group members and former members joined together to participate in RubberCon 2023. This global conference on Elastomer Materials was held in Edinburgh from the 9-11th May. With more than 300 international delegates the event was the largest rubber conference in the UK since the … [more]

No ovens? No problems! - Scientists develop extremely energy efficient manufacturing method for natural fibre composites 4 May 2023 No more worries about high energy bills for composites manufacturing! Materials scientists at Queen Mary University of London have developed an innovative and energy-efficient method to manufacture natural fibre composites without the need for conventional ovens. This out-of-oven method is based on a smart nanocomposite film that heats and cures … [more]

Queen Mary Researchers develop a new model to understand the moisture-induced degradation of composite materials, impacting the offshore energy community. 25 April 2023 Exciting news! Our latest research on environmental-assisted modelling of composite materials has just been published in a top-tier journal: Engineering with Computers (Q1, IF=8.083). Due to their high strength-to-weight ratios and corrosion resistance, lightweight composite materials have found widespread use in aerospace, wind, and marine structural applications. However, these materials … [more]

SEMS runs first Industrial Workshop on Systems Engineering: toward sustainable digital systems 24 April 2023 SEMS' Systems Engineering team - led by Dr Mohammad Hassannezhad - ran an industrial workshop with focus on digital transformation, sustainability and skill gaps, on 24 April at QM's Digital Environment Research Institute (DERI). The workshop brought together a group of 17 industry practitioners from 14 different companies in eight … [more]

Ana Sobrido presents research on electrospun carbon electrodes for redox flow batteries at CIC energiGUNE 19 April 2023 Ana Sobrido presented her work on electrospun carbon electrodes for redox flow batteries as part of her UKRI FLF at CIC energiGUNE, in Vitoria, Basque Country, Spain. In her talk, Ana shared her research group's latest findings on how to optimise the microstructure of self-supporting electrospun carbon fibre electrodes … [more]

Engineering the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) - the largest optical telescope in space 17 April 2023 In a seminar at Queen Mary, NASA’s Dr Raymond Ohl explained what makes the JWST’s architecture so unique. Dr Ohl has worked on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project at the Goddard Space Flight Center in various roles for about 20 years. He was invited by … [more]

Hyperlink team wins Bright Network award 9 March 2023 The Hyperlink student team wins the Innovation Award by Bright Network for their innovative solutions of developing a hyperloop transport technology. The student team is based at the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London and has student members from other schools as the School … [more]

Queen Mary University of London and Mae Fah Luang University join forces to tackle waste reduction and promote sustainable development in Thailand 27 February 2023 Queen Mary University of London and Mae Fah Luang University in Thailand have announced the success of their collaboration to address waste reduction and promote sustainable development, which was initially funded by Queen Mary Global Challenge Research Fund and British Council Newton Institutional Link programme. In February 2023, Dr. Han Zhang … [more]

Burnt nut shells in water filters shown to cut E. coli by 96%: Dr Roberto Volpe's research features in Daily Telegraph 20 February 2023 Ground-breaking work lights a path for environmental applications as charcoal made from burnt nut shells could help eradicate superbugs from hospital wastewater, experts believe Dr Roberto Volpe and his team at Queen Mary University of London and University College London in collaboration with the UK’s national synchrotron, Diamond … [more]

The latest research on multifunctional composites at Queen Mary featured by Materials Today 9 February 2023 "Old approach promises new self-healing composites" The latest research on multifunctional composites at Queen Mary is featured by Materials Today, explaining how one can revamp an "old" approach in composite manufacturing into a "new" smart composite with integrated easy-repairing capability. By simply applying heat … [more]

A Q&A with Professor Sir Harry Bhadeshia: "I discovered that steel is complicated." 30 January 2023 Professor Sir Harry Bhadeshia will deliver his inaugural lecture at Queen Mary Presents on 8 February 2023. Queen Mary Presents is a new programme which ensures that everyone, everywhere, can be part of Queen Mary’s discussions. From question and answer sessions, to panel discussions and podcasts, we aim to provide … [more]

First 'National Battery Day' celebration @QMUL! 27 January 2023 We are celebrating the National Battery Day on Friday 17th February and we want to harness this opportunity to promote battery careers as widely as possible with our amazing QMUL undergraduate students! What? Short 10 min talks by some of QMUL's leading scientists in battery science. Q&A session … [more]

Single Atom Iridium on Hematite for Solar Water Splitting: Catalyst or Spectator? SEMS Leads an Innovative Study that Brings New Understanding on the Processes Controlling Solar Water Oxidation 12 January 2023 Single-atom catalysts (SACs) on hematite photoanodes are efficient co-catalysts to boost photoelectrochemical performance. However, the specific role of SACs on hematite photoanodes is not fully understood yet: Do SACs behave as a catalytic site or a spectator? By combining spectroscopic experiments and computer simulations, a research led by Ana Sobrido … [more]

SEMS' Winter Graduation 6 January 2023 The winter graduation ceremony returned to the Great Hall on the Mile End campus once again 2023. The venue was filled with a cast of hundreds of SEMS graduates and their families and friends. The largest cohort was made up our MSc students from last year, but there was a good … [more]

Salvatore Grasso and co-authors presented with the Pfeil award by the IOM3 4 January 2023 Salvatore Grasso and co-authors including Theo Saunders were presented with the Pfeil award by the IOM3. The Pfeil Award is presented annually for published work of particular merit in the field of ceramics. Eligible papers must be published 2 years before the award is presented in a relevant IOM3 Journal, … [more]

Diesel injector fouling - could it be due to electrokinetic streaming current? 3 January 2023 Our new paper in Fuel investigates the source of internal injector deposits in diesel injectors - a nasty problem that may be the source of a significant chunk of the soot emissions from diesel cars, and not only - NOx and CO2 emissions are also affected. The nature of the … [more]

Han Zhang is presented the Silver Medal and Prize by the IOM3 2 January 2023 Han was presented with the Silver Medal and Prize at an Awards Ceremony at the IOM3 on the 8th December 2022. The Silver Medal is a Premier award for an early career researcher making an outstanding contribution within the materials field. The award was given in recognition of Han’s … [more]

Dimitrios Papageorgiou is presented the Rosenhain Medal and Prize by the IOM3 1 January 2023 Dimitrios was presented with the Rosenhain Medal at an Awards Ceremony at the IOM3 on the 8th December 2022. The Rosenhain Medal and Prize is a highly competitive award that recognises distinguished achievement in any branch of materials science. The award was given in recognition of Dimitrios’ research which has … [more]

Qinrong He passes her PhD viva! 15 December 2022 Congratulations to Qinrong He of Dr Joe Briscoe's group who passed her PhD viva on 15th December 2022! Thanks to internal examiner Dr Dimitrios Papageorgiou, and external examiner Dr Hamideh Khanbareh of the University of Bath. Qinrong's thesis was entitled "Design and development of fibre-based piezoelectric energy harvesters&… [more]

Ana becomes a mentor for Destination STEMM - Chemical Sciences with Windsor Fellowship 10 December 2022 Ana Jorge Sobrido has just started her role as Mentor for Destination STEMM - Chemical Sciences, an initiative led by Windsor Fellowship in partnership with the Royal Society of Chemistry. Destination STEMM is a national mentoring programme for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students in year 12. Mentoring is a key … [more]

Kirsty Rutherford wins the IRCO Prize at IRC2022 5 December 2022 The latest International Rubber Conference 2022 recently completed in India. Five of James Busfield's Soft Matter Group presented their work there. At the closing ceremony one of the group, Kirsty Rutherford, took home the IRCO Best Student Presentation Award for her paper on "The development of a robust method … [more]

Queen Mary academic secures University Research Fellowship from the Royal Society 30 November 2022 Dr Tom Macdonald, an 1851 Research Fellow in the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London, is one of 50 successful recipients of the Royal Society’s University Research Fellowship (URF) for 2022. The Royal Society research fellows will work on research projects spanning the physical, mathematical, … [more]

SEMS hosts visit from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals 28 November 2022 SEMS hosted a visit from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) on Monday 28th November. They were lead by the Assistant Cultural Attaché from the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and by Professor AlKharoubi, KFUPM. The group were a total of 24 students and staff from … [more]

To switch to renewables, we need better energy storage 15 November 2022 Ana Jorge Sobrido explains why she works on Sustainable Electrodes for Redox Flow Batteries The dual energy and climate crises have increased global focus on renewable energy generation through wind and solar: the need for low cost, efficient energy storage is greater now than ever. Even before the present gas … [more]

We are looking for a PhD student on an exciting carbon dioxide project! 11 November 2022 PhD Studentship: Prevention Of Phase-separation Of Corrosive Aqueous Acidic Solution Out Of Liquid CO2 Funding: Available to Home & Overseas Applicants. This studentship is fully funded and includes a 3 year stipend (set at £18,062 for 2022/23) and tuition fees. Background: physical chemistry, chemical thermodynamics, electrostatics (or broadly chemistry, physics, mathematics, chemical … [more]

Ana participates in the Crucible Programme Workshop in Wetherby 10 November 2022 Ana Jorge Sobrido participated in the two-day residential crucible programme organised by FLF Development Network, at the Wood Hall Hotel in Wetherby. The programme is designed to foster collaborations between researchers and introduce new ways of thinking and working, to form interdisciplinary, cross-sector networks between researchers who normally … [more]

Hematite nanorods – a promising material for photoelectrochemical sensing and imaging 10 November 2022 Hydrothermally grown hematite nanorods have been shown to be an excellent substrate for photoelectrochemical imaging and sensing. The material displayed enhanced photocurrent compared to hematite films, good stability, excellent spatial resolution and good sensitivity to pH. Coupling the hematite nanorods with a thin calcium ion selective PVC membrane, we obtained … [more]

November Prize-giving for SEMS' Taught Students 9 November 2022 At the Industrial Liaison Forum on 9th November 2022, we celebrated the achievements of some of our best taught students. Over 20 prizes were awarded by the School. These were awarded across subject and year groups and included "Academic Achievement Prizes as well as "Best Project Prizes". One "… [more]

SEMS November Industrial Liaison Forum including PhD Research Showcase and and Student Awards 9 November 2022 We were pleased to once again hold the bi-annual Industrial Liaison Forum live in-person at Queen Mary University of London on 9th November 2022 in the Octagon. The event was well attended by staff and students as well as industrialists. The day was broken up into five parts, starting in the … [more]

New EPSRC project launched to develop energy efficient composite tooling 13 October 2022 As one of the three new Synergy Promotion projects funded by the EPSRC Future Composites Manufacturing Hub, the project entitled “Energy Efficient Composite Tooling with Integrated Self-Regulating Heating and Curing Capabilities based on Recycled Composite Waste (ECOTOOL)” led by Queen Mary University of London has been launched with … [more]

Anureet Kaur successfully completes her PhD in the Soft Matter Group 27 September 2022 Anureet Kaur has become the latest member of James Busfield's Soft Matter Group to pass their PhD exam. Anureet completed her PhD viva on the 27th September defending a thesis entitled, " Development of Self-healing and Recyclable Elastomers." Anureet was also supervised by Julien Gautrot and Gabriel Cavalli. … [more]

First single-crystal organometallic perovskite optical fibres 24 September 2022 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]

Professor Sir Harry Bhadeshia is awarded the Henry Clifton Sorby Award 13 September 2022 The International Metallographic Society awarded Professor Sir Harry Bhadeshia the Henry Clifton Sorby Award. It is awarded annually to an "internationally recognised figure for lifetime achievement in the fields of metallography and materials science". It is the highest honour presented by the International Metallographic Society and was presented … [more]

UK Redox Flow Battery Network Annual Meeting Hosted at Queen Mary University of London 11 July 2022 The 6th Annual Meeting of the UK Redox Flow Battery Network  (UKRFBN) took place on the 11th July 2022. This year the event was held at Queen Mary University of London and hosted by Ana Jorge Sobrido, who is an active member of the UKRFBN Committee. Around 80 people registered … [more]

Ana Jorge Sobrido Participates in EPSRC-supported Workshop on the Future of Electrochemistry in the UK 7 July 2022 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]

The Electrochemical Sensors group attends the International Workshop on Engineering Functional Interfaces (EnFI) 2022 in Maastricht 6 July 2022 Three members of our group attended the EnFI in Maastricht. The conference focuses on the field of surface engineering in its broadest sense. This rapidly growing, interdisciplinary field instigates collaborations between scientists from multiple disciplines as it contains elements from physics, engineering, biology, medicine, informatics and chemistry. Both, Rachel Jacques … [more]

Queen Mary partners with the Faraday Institution to power up redox flow batteries   1 June 2022 Queen Mary’s Dr Ana Jorge Sobrido will lead a project to overcome engineering issues that are currently preventing the wide-spread adoption of redox flow batteries (RFBs).    RFBs are emerging as a crucial technology for the transition to renewable energy, since their large capacity can help to … [more]

Queen Mary University of London scientist appointed to the EPSRC Early Career Forum in Manufacturing Research 1 February 2022 Dr Han Zhang, Senior Lecturer at the School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, has been appointed as the member of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Early Career Forum (ECF) in Manufacturing Research in late 2021. The EPSRC ECF in Manufacturing Research aims to … [more]

Scientists create stable materials for more efficient solar cells 15 December 2021 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]

Dr Joe Briscoe contributes to COP26 special edition of Queen Mary's Energy and Climate Change Law Institute Review 1 November 2021 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]