Sustainable energy

Prof Guo’s research interest focuses on multiscale simulations and syntheses of materials and nanostructures for applications in clean energy and healthcare technologies, particularly in hydrogen storage, carbon capture, energy catalysis, biofuel cells and biointerfaces. Fundamental theories are coupled with ab initio, molecular dynamics, cellular automata and finite element simulations for materials discovery, while selected materials are synthesised and harnessed by mechanochemical, self-assembly, deposition and precipitation methods.

Research interests in the Davies group include the preparation and applications of Metal-Organo Framework (MOF) materials. These are ‘nano-engineered’ microporous 3D-coordination polymers consisting of metal based nodes and organic linking units. They are of high interest due to their applications in gas storage technologies (including hydrogen gas and methane for automobile fuel tanks), gas separations (including carbon dioxide capture from the exhaust flues of coal power plants), and heterogeneous catalysis.

Professor Wilton-Ely's research involves bridging the gap between molecular compounds and the nanoscale. His group uses their synthetic expertise to functionalise nanostructures with molecular species and apply these materials to fields as diverse as medical imaging (MRI and PET), sensing (CO and heavy metals) and catalysis (C-H activation, C-C bond formation). Of particular interest is the development of new attachment methods for gold nanoparticles, which allow multiple surface units to be incorporated in a stepwise, modular fashion.

Materials lie at the heart of almost every modern technology and our research is dedicated to the application and development of theory and computational simulation tools for solving problems in materials. We develop and use methods at a wide range of length and time-scales, combining analytical theory, quantum mechanical first-principles simulations of interacting electrons and nuclei, atomistic simulations that use simpler models of interatomic bonding, coarse-grained molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo techniques.

Professor Skinner's research interests centre on the properties and structures of ion conducting oxides, with emphasis on the idenification and characterisation of new materials using in- situ high temperature techniques such as x-ray and neutron powder diffraction techniques, secondary ion mass spectrometry and low energy ion scattering. This work has potential applications in the development of solid oxide fuel cell, electrolysis and permeation membranes and more has been identified as having application in the field of novel solid state gas sensors.