About the project
As a researcher on this project you will synthesise porous MXenes and test them for gas applications. This will focus on separations relevant for carbon capture and hydrogen purification.
MXenes are a new class of two-dimensional materials that have recently been discovered. Porous MXenes have properties unlike any other porous material. They have high electrical and thermal conductivities, high mechanical strength, chemical stability, hydrophilicity and tuneable pore sizes and surface chemistry. These properties can prove extremely beneficial for applications in electrochemical energy storage, electromagnetic shielding, energy conversion, 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. We have successfully synthesised porous MXenes with high surface areas and tailored pore sizes, properties that are extremely important for gas separations.
During this project, you will look at Ti3C2, Mo2TiC2, W1.33C and Mo1.33C and other MXenes. These will then be intercalated with different pillars to obtain a range of different pore sizes. You will characterise the materials using a range of techniques, including:
- X-ray Diffraction
- Raman Spectroscopy
- NMR
- BET analysis
You will then test them for gas adsorption of CO2, N2, O2 and H2, with the view of identifying the most promising combinations for gas separations. The final stage will involve testing the materials for binary and multicomponent gas separations.
You will work in state-of-the-art facilities in the School of Chemistry which is currently undergoing a £12M refurbishment. This has been focused on laboratory facilities, including new and upgraded laboratory equipment fitted with modern, high-tech display systems and excellent analytical and characterisation facilities.
