KiriTEG (Smart Grants)

The KiriTEG project will develop flexible, miniaturised TEGs allowing the design of non-rigid thermoelectric energy harvester devices. This will be achieved by development of innovative semiconductor materials, materials deposition techniques and production processes to allow the commercial scaling of the project deliverables. This project utilises the skills of 'kirigami' (variant of origami that includes cutting as well as folding) to produce a new generation of low cost, highly flexible devices. These energy harvesting devices will operate between -40C and +120 C, which covers the vast majority of low grade harvesting applications.

Novel Techniques for Joining Metallic Parts to Ceramic Structures

The project is looking to develop new soldering materials and methods to join silicon carbide and invar for satellite applications.

Facility for Materials Engineering

MagMat is a unique capability in the UK for the synthesis and processing of materials in strong magnetic fields (SMF) known at MagMat.

ATHLETE Energy Entrepreneurs Fund

ATHLETE will develop and demonstrate innovative thermoelectric technologies for waste heat recovery that achieves increased energy efficiency through power generation.

MASSIVE Materials

The MASSIVE project will develop scale-up manufacturing capability and know-how for the synthesis, processing and manufacture of un-commercialised thermoelectric, piezoelectric and related materials and devices, which contain volatile and air-sensitive elements and compounds, with engineered nano- and non-equilibrium phases and structures.

EPSRC - MASSIVE - flash-sps of functional ceramics

The MASSIVE project will develop scale-up manufacturing capability and know-how for the synthesis, processing and manufacture of un-commercialised thermoelectric, piezoelectric and related materials and devices, which contain volatile and air-sensitive elements and compounds, with engineered nano- and non-equilibrium phases and structures.

DEFCOM

Some of the most pressing global issues today are related to energy consumption, dissipation and waste. There is a great promise to address these issues by developing high-performance, cost-effective and eco-friendly materials for thermoelectric applications.

Deregellera Project - Industry Element

ECOCHAMPS

The competitiveness of European road vehicle manufacturers and component suppliers is based on technological leadership, particularly on system optimisation and affordability. The challenge taken up by the ECOCHAMPS consortium of 26 partners, is to gain a leading position in hybrid powertrain technology. Extending the use of this technology will significantly reduce CO2 emissions from road transport and have a positive effect on air quality. The overall objective of the ECOCHAMPS project is to achieve efficient, compact, low weight, robust and cost effective hybrid powertrains for both passenger cars and commercial vehicles (buses, medium duty and heavy duty trucks) with increased functionality, improved performance, comfort, functional safety and emission levels below Euro 6 or VI. http://www.ecochamps.eu/

Material Systems for Extreme Environments

This is a 5 year, £4.2M research programme funded by EPSRC. It started on the 1st February 2013 and is led by Prof Jon Binner at University of Birmingham with the other partners being Profs Bill Lee and Mike Finnis at Imperial College London and Prof Mike Reece at Queen Mary London.

Deregallera Project - MASSIVE Element (EPSRC)

MAG-DRIVE

Spark Plasma Sintering Nanostructured Thermoelectric Sulphides - NANOTESULPHIDE (Marie Curie IIF)

New Thermoelectric Oxides for Energy Harvesting - TEOX

Graphene Three-Dimensional Networks

Proof of Concept 2014/15

Industry Fellowship

Non-centrosymmeytric Compounds

Ultra - High Temperature and -Hard Materials

Carbides, nitrides and borides ceramics are of interest for many applications because of their high melting temperatures, good mechanical properties, including high hardness, and low density. For example the material with the highest known melting temperature is the carbide Ta4HfC5 at 4215 °C. While boron dicarbonitride (BC2N) is …

Super High Curie Point Piezoelectric Ceramics

High-temperature piezoelectric sensing technology is of major importance to the chemical and material processing, automotive, aerospace, and power generating industries. Ferroelectrics are desirable for piezoelectric application below their Curie points. Ferroelectric polycrystalline ceramics have the advantages over piezoelectric/ferroelectric single crystals of lower cost and the possibility to control, by …

Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS)

Ceramics are normally processed by the consolidation of powders by sintering at high temperatures. The time required for this process is usually measured in hours because of the slow rate of heating/cooling of the furnaces used. Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS), as it is commonly referred to, is a rapid …

Nanoceramics

There is currently a great interest in size effects in materials. There are many properties that change dramatically when the grain size or component dimensions are below 100 nm. A wide range of nanoscale ceramic powders have been synthesised with dimensions in the nanometre range. However, during conventional sintering the grain …

MagMat

Superconductive Magnet for Material Processing EPSRC (UK) EP/M022714/1

Lead-free piezoelectrics

Lead oxide based ferroelectrics, represented by lead zirconate titanate (PZT), are the most widely used materials for piezoelectric actuators, sensors and transducers due to their excellent piezoelectric properties when their compositions are close to morphotropic phase boundary (MPB). PZT contains more than 60 wt% lead, which is harmful and toxic. There …

Dynamics of Ferroelectric Switching

Ferroelectric materials are used in ceramic, thin film and single crystal form for actuator, sensor and memory applications. Their properties are intrinsically dependent on polarisation switching by the movement of ferroelectric domain walls. Despite the importance of ferroelectric switching, there is no complete theory to describe it, and the mechanisms …

Carbon Nanotube - Ceramic Composites

Using Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) is is possible to process new composites, with new windows of properties, that were previously not possible to fabricate using conventional processing routes, non-equilibrium composites. When two non-equilibrium phases are processed by conventional sintering they react to form the equilibrium phases. This is used to …