EPSRC Sponsorship Award: An Engineering Network to Address Challenges in Microreactor Processing for Scale up of Nano-Material Synthesis

This project combines expertise in different areas of engineering towards one of the main current scientific challenges: the large-scale production of nanoparticles to enable their implementation in areas of drug delivery, sensors, healthcare and bio-imaging, catalysis, energy storage, water treatment, etc. The discovery of the unique chemical and physical properties of particles with nanometre sizes and their potential applications is slowly transforming our world. However, their large-scale manufacturing is still in its infancy with an urgent need for a manufacturing technology capable of the continuous production of nanoparticles, overcoming the current limitations associated with size control and agglomeration. In this project we plan to combine experience in reaction engineering and catalysis (Torrente, Bath), fluid flow control (Sharma, Southampton) and advanced materials characterization (Haigh, Manchester). Uniting different expertise and research interests will enable us to identify alternative approaches to overcoming current challenges in the micro-reactor field.