Nanocarbon Aerogel Catalysts for Chemical Flow Processes

这个博士研究生的目标是开发新的化学方法来设计气凝胶催化剂的微观结构和表面化学，并将这些新的催化剂系统整合到现代化学流程中。该项目将探索纳米碳气凝胶的合成及其与纳米颗粒和分子实体的化学功能化。然后，该项目将把材料集成到化学流动反应器中，以研究电化学反应中作为多孔、多相催化剂的功能化气凝胶的结构-功能关系，重点是精细化学反应和二氧化碳还原反应。该项目的好处包括开发创新的新催化剂系统，该系统可以与先进的化学加工和制造技术相集成，旨在提高商业和环境重要反应的效率，如二氧化碳的利用和与药物相关的精细化学合成。该奖学金还将为博士生提供高级材料科学和过程工程技术方面的高度专业化培训。学生还将受益于利兹-实习生设施的访问，例如通过布拉格材料研究中心和工艺研究与开发研究所。博士项目与EPSRC目前的研究拨款“捕获和释放：使用芳香族标签和电活性纳米碳泡沫回收均质金属催化剂”(EP/T012153/1)具有协同作用，由博士导师领导。在这种情况下，可能会在学生资格的后期阶段与英国化学制造合作伙伴合作，探索博士研究的规模扩大、知识转移和商业利用。拟议的研究具有强烈的跨学科主题，属于EPSRC的各种研究主题和领域，包括先进材料、催化、功能陶瓷和无机物、制造未来、石墨烯和碳纳米技术。

The objective of this PhD studentship is the development of new chemical methodologies to engineer the microstructure and surface chemistry of aerogel catalysts and the integration of these novel catalyst systems into modern chemical flow processes. The project will explore the synthesis of nanocarbon aerogels and their chemical functionalisation with nanoparticles and molecular entities. The project will then integrate the materials into chemical flow reactor to investigate structure-function relationships of the functionalised aerogels as porous, heterogeneous catalysts within electrochemical reactions, with focus on fine-chemical and CO2 reduction reactions.The benefits of the project include the development of innovative new catalysts systems that can be integrated with advanced chemical processing and manufacturing technologies with the aim to enhance efficiency in commercially- and environmentally-important reactions, such as CO2 utilisation and pharma-relevant fine-chemical synthesis. The studentship will also provide highly specialised training for the PhD student in advanced materials science and process engineering techniques. The student will also benefit from Leeds-intern facility access, e.g. through the Bragg Centre for Materials Research and the Institute for Process Research and Development. The PhD project has synergies with the current EPSRC research grant "Catch and Release: Recycling of Homogenous Metal Catalysts Using Aromatic Tags and Electroactive Nanocarbon Foams" (EP/T012153/1), led by the PhD supervisor. In this context, opportunities might arise at the later stages of the studentship for collaboration with UK chemical manufacturing partners to explore scale-up, knowledge transfer and commercial exploitation of the PhD research.The proposed research has a strong interdisciplinary theme and falls within various EPSRC research themes and areas, including advanced materials, catalysis, functional ceramics and inorganics, manufacturing the future, and graphene and carbon nanotechnology.