My research falls mainly into two areas – mesoporous materials and microwave chemistry, both very much focussed on biomass valorisation.
In the former, I have extensive experience in developing mesoporous silicas using both templated and non-templated routes. Earlier work focussed on organically modified catalytic materials from synthetic precursors, but more recently the focus has been on bioderived systems – for example using silica from combustion ashes (a waste stream form biomass burners) to generate MCM-41 and related systems. this has been extended to produce Carbon silica composites (CSCs) where these materials can be coated with a carbonaceous layer, effectively producing a mesoporous carbon with a strong, structured silica backbone.
More recently in this area, I have been leading a major effort (within the Porous4APP EU project) to scale up Starbon®, a template-free mesoporous carbon derived from waste biomass. This has led to a deeper understanding of this material and the ability to produce it at pilot scale. Applications in catalysis and energy storage have also been explored (eg), and a spin out company now exists to market the material.