PhD in Chemical Engineering

Award Summary 100% fees covered, and a minimum tax-free annual living allowance of £20,780 (2025/26 UKRI rate). Additional project costs will also be provided. Overview Additive manufacturing (3D printing) is a digital technology and a key enabler for realising next-generation equipment designs that are less energy-intensive and more sustainable. This project will explore a new avenue: fabrication of porous ceramic supports using desktop scale 3D printing for molten salt membranes. The advantages of these membranes include very high temperature stability, high mechanical stability and longevity, excellent chemical resistance, and tuneable microstructure. Combined with the design freedom of 3D printing, we have the opportunity to design new membranes whose microstructure and macro-architecture work synergistically, similar to how systems work in nature. Experimental work will include the following indicative activities: Designing and developing CAD models of test coupons and other structures Fabrication of ‘green’ test structures and sintering these across a range of conditions Characterising the mechanical properties of the printed structures Fabrication of ceramic supports and impregnation with molten salts Characterisation of CO2 permeation performance for CO2 capture and direct air capture conditions This project is a collaboration between the Process Intensification Group (PIG) and Materials, Concepts, and Reactors group (MatCoRe), so the successful candidate will be well supported. Additive manufacturing/3D printing and Net Zero are burgeoning areas, so the successful candidate will develop important transferable skills that will be highly-desirable in the future process industries.