About the project
MXenes are a new class of two-dimensional materials that have been recently discovered and have already shown great promise for a range of applications, including electrochemical energy storage, electromagnetic shielding, and energy conversion. MXenes can be made modified to possess porosity, which is a feature that can prove extremely beneficial for applications in various areas, including electrochemical energy storage, catalysis and gas adsorption. MXenes have already shown promise for gas separations, as they showed outstanding performance for CO2 capture in mixtures relevant for post-combustion carbon capture.
Industrial separations are responsible for 15% of the world’s primary energy demand, and their importance is likely to continue to increase. Separations are also critical for future industries, such as hydrogen fuel cells, which require purification of hydrogen gas, or waste-to-energy processes such as gasification, which need careful separation of the resulting gaseous streams. Adsorption-based separations have long been used in industry, but there is an urgent need for development of new materials that can provide for more energy-efficient separations.
This PhD project will synthesise porous MXenes, and will test these materials for gas applications, focussing on separations relevant for carbon capture and hydrogen purification. This will involve synthesis of MXenes, looking at Ti3C2, Mo2TiC2, Cr2C, V2C, W1.33C and Mo1.33C, and other MXenes, which will then be intercalated with different pillars to obtain a range of different pore sizes. The materials will be characterised using a range of techniques, including X-ray and Electron Diffraction, Raman Spectroscopy, NMR, BET analysis, and tested for gas adsorption of CO2 and H2, with the view of identifying the most promising candidates for hydrogen and carbon capture applications.
This is a 3.5 years fully funded PhD studentship ideal for someone with a Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science or Physics background, and an interest in materials and gases. The project will have access to state-of-the-art facilities, as it is based on the School of Chemistry at the University of Southampton. The School has recently benefitted from major investments in facilities, and has new and upgraded laboratory equipment fitted with modern, high-tech display systems, and excellent analytical and characterisation facilities.
