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Microwave pyrolysis of olive pomace for bio-oil and bio-char production (2019)
Journal Article
Williams, O. S., Kostas, E. T., Durán-Jiménez, G., Shepherd, B. J., Meredith, W., Stevens, L. A., …Lye, G. J. (2020). Microwave pyrolysis of olive pomace for bio-oil and bio-char production. Chemical Engineering Journal, 387, Article 123404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.123404

Olive pomace is a widely available agro-industrial waste residue in Europe that has the potential to contribute towards a circular, low carbon bio-economy. This study demonstrated, for the first time, the ability to successfully pyrolyse olive pomace... Read More about Microwave pyrolysis of olive pomace for bio-oil and bio-char production.

Pore structural evolution of shale following thermochemical treatment (2019)
Journal Article
Rigby, S. P., Jahan, H., Stevens, L., Uguna, C., Snape, C., Macnaughton, B., …Fletcher, R. S. (2020). Pore structural evolution of shale following thermochemical treatment. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 112, Article 104058. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2019.104058

Shales experience heat treatment concurrent with the presence of water or steam during reservoir engineering interventions, such as high pressure water fracking and in-situ combustion of hydrocarbons. This work utilises a novel technique, which is a... Read More about Pore structural evolution of shale following thermochemical treatment.

Mesocellular silica foam supported polyamine adsorbents for dry CO2 scrubbing: Performance of single versus blended polyamines for impregnation (2019)
Journal Article
Liu, X., Zhou, K., Farndon, M., Meier, E., Stevens, L., Liu, H., & Sun, C. (2019). Mesocellular silica foam supported polyamine adsorbents for dry CO2 scrubbing: Performance of single versus blended polyamines for impregnation. Applied Energy, 255, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.113643

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Siliceous foams with three-dimensional mesoporous structures were synthesised and used to prepare polyethyleneimine (PEI) and tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA)-functionalised sorbent materials for CO2 capture, with a particular focus... Read More about Mesocellular silica foam supported polyamine adsorbents for dry CO2 scrubbing: Performance of single versus blended polyamines for impregnation.

Shale gas reserve evaluation by laboratory pyrolysis and gas holding capacity consistent with field data (2019)
Journal Article
Whitelaw, P., Uguna, C. N., Stevens, L. A., Meredith, W., Snape, C. E., Vane, C. H., …Carr, A. D. (2019). Shale gas reserve evaluation by laboratory pyrolysis and gas holding capacity consistent with field data. Nature Communications, 10(1), Article 3659. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11653-4

Exploration for shale gas occurs in onshore basins, with two approaches used to predict the maximum gas in place (GIP) in the absence of production data. The first estimates adsorbed plus free gas held within pore space, and the second measures gas y... Read More about Shale gas reserve evaluation by laboratory pyrolysis and gas holding capacity consistent with field data.

Developing a sustainable route to environmentally relevant metal-organic frameworks: ultra-rapid synthesis of MFM-300(Al) using microwave heating (2019)
Journal Article
Thomas-Hillman, I., Stevens, L. A., Lange, M., Möllmer, J., Lewis, W., Dodds, C., …Laybourn, A. (2019). Developing a sustainable route to environmentally relevant metal-organic frameworks: ultra-rapid synthesis of MFM-300(Al) using microwave heating. Green Chemistry, 21(18), 5039-5045. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9gc02375e

NO2, SO2 and CO2 are major air pollutants causing significant environmental and health problems. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), in particular [Al2(OH)2(C16O8H6)](H2O)6 (trivial names: NOTT-300/MFM-300(Al)), have shown great promise for capturing th... Read More about Developing a sustainable route to environmentally relevant metal-organic frameworks: ultra-rapid synthesis of MFM-300(Al) using microwave heating.

Formation of Metallurgical Coke within Minutes through Coal Densification and Microwave Energy (2019)
Journal Article
Williams, O., Ure, A., Stevens, L., Binner, E., Dodds, C., Kingman, S., …Lester, E. (2019). Formation of Metallurgical Coke within Minutes through Coal Densification and Microwave Energy. Energy and Fuels, 33(7), 6817-6828. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.9b00511

This paper shows how feedstock densification gives rise to a step change in the time required to create a metallurgical grade coke using microwave energy. Five densified coking and non-coking coals were heated in a multi-mode microwave 2450 MHz cavit... Read More about Formation of Metallurgical Coke within Minutes through Coal Densification and Microwave Energy.

Fast regeneration of activated carbons saturated with textile dyes: Textural, thermal and dielectric characterization (2019)
Journal Article
Durán-Jiménez, G., Stevens, L. A., Hodgins, G. R., Uguna, J., Ryan, J., Binner, E. R., & Robinson, J. P. (2019). Fast regeneration of activated carbons saturated with textile dyes: Textural, thermal and dielectric characterization. Chemical Engineering Journal, 378, Article 121774. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.05.135

This study presents an investigation for comparing the regeneration process of two activated carbons saturated with Basic Blue 9 (BB9) and Acid Blue 93 (AB93) using conventional (250–500 °C) and microwave heating (100–300 W). The effect of the textil... Read More about Fast regeneration of activated carbons saturated with textile dyes: Textural, thermal and dielectric characterization.

Continuous testing of silica-PEI adsorbents in a lab.-scale twin bubbling fluidized-bed system (2019)
Journal Article
Kim, J., Woo, J., Jo, S., Lee, S., Moon, J., Kim, H., …Park, Y. C. (2019). Continuous testing of silica-PEI adsorbents in a lab.-scale twin bubbling fluidized-bed system. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 82, 184-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2019.01.007

In this study, a lab.-scale twin bubbling fluidized-bed system (TBS) has been used continuously to test the performance for CO2 adsorption of silica-PEI (S.PEI) adsorbents, containing 40 wt.% of PEI, which were supplied by the University of Nottingha... Read More about Continuous testing of silica-PEI adsorbents in a lab.-scale twin bubbling fluidized-bed system.

Synthesis and functionalisation of spherical meso-, hybrid meso/macro- and macro-porous cellular silica foam materials with regulated pore sizes for CO2 capture (2018)
Journal Article
Sun, Y., Liu, X., Sun, C., Meng, Y., Al-Sarraf, W., Foo, K. Z., …Liu, H. (2018). Synthesis and functionalisation of spherical meso-, hybrid meso/macro- and macro-porous cellular silica foam materials with regulated pore sizes for CO2 capture. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2018(46), 23587-23601. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8TA06224B

A variety of meso, meso/macro and macro-structured siliceous cellular foam (SCFs) materials have been tailor-designed and fabricated from using a modified microemulsion templating methodology with trimethyl benzene (TMB) as the pore expander and Plu... Read More about Synthesis and functionalisation of spherical meso-, hybrid meso/macro- and macro-porous cellular silica foam materials with regulated pore sizes for CO2 capture.

Microwave synthesis of carbon onions in fractal aggregates using heavy oil as a precursor (2018)
Journal Article
Adam, M., Hart, A., Stevens, L. A., Wood, J., Robinson, J. P., & Rigby, S. P. (2018). Microwave synthesis of carbon onions in fractal aggregates using heavy oil as a precursor. Carbon, 138, 427-435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2018.07.066

In this work we report a method for preparing carbon onions through microwave heating of heavy oil. It was shown that microwave heating of heavy oil mixed with a carbon catalyst at 300 W leads to the growth of a several-centimetre long fractal carbon... Read More about Microwave synthesis of carbon onions in fractal aggregates using heavy oil as a precursor.

Understanding the unusual fluidity characteristics of high ash Indian bituminous coals (2018)
Journal Article
Das, B., Suresh, A., Dash, P., Chandran, S., Castro-Díaz, M., Stevens, L. A., & Snape, C. E. (2018). Understanding the unusual fluidity characteristics of high ash Indian bituminous coals. Fuel Processing Technology, 176, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2018.04.003

High-temperature rheometry and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) are two complementary techniques that have been used to investigate fluidity development quantitatively in the < 53 µm and 53-212 µm size fractions of high ash Indian non-coking coals... Read More about Understanding the unusual fluidity characteristics of high ash Indian bituminous coals.

High density and super ultra-microporous-activated carbon macrospheres with high volumetric capacity for CO2 capture (2017)
Journal Article
Liu, J., Liu, X., Sun, Y., Sun, C., Liu, H., Stevens, L. A., …Snape, C. E. (in press). High density and super ultra-microporous-activated carbon macrospheres with high volumetric capacity for CO2 capture. Advanced Sustainable Systems, 2(2), https://doi.org/10.1002/adsu.201700115

Activated carbon (AC) spheres with a diameter of 1.0–2.0 mm are synthesized from coal tar pitch for postcombustion carbon capture. The as-prepared AC macrospheres after KOH activation are found to possess extraordinarily developed microporosity of wh... Read More about High density and super ultra-microporous-activated carbon macrospheres with high volumetric capacity for CO2 capture.

Determination of pore network accessibility in hierarchical porous solids (2017)
Journal Article
Rigby, S. P., Hasan, M., Stevens, L., Williams, H. E., & Fletcher, R. S. (2017). Determination of pore network accessibility in hierarchical porous solids. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 56(50), 14822-14831. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.7b04659

This paper validates the hypothesis that the supposedly non-specific adsorbates nitrogen and argon wet heavy metals differently, and shows how this unexpected effect can be actively utilised to deliver information on pore inter-connectivity. To explo... Read More about Determination of pore network accessibility in hierarchical porous solids.

Fly ash-derived MCM-41 as a low-cost silica support for polyethyleneimine in post-combustion CO2 capture (2017)
Journal Article
Panek, R., Wdowin, M., Franus, W., Czarna, D., Stevens, L., Deng, H., …Snape, C. E. (2017). Fly ash-derived MCM-41 as a low-cost silica support for polyethyleneimine in post-combustion CO2 capture. Journal of Co2 Utilization, 22, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcou.2017.09.015

The mesoporous silicate molecular sieve, MCM-41, has been synthesized from pulverized coal fly ash (PFA), where the silicate filtrate used is a by-product from hydrothermal zeolite production. Rice husk ash was also used for comparison but fusion wit... Read More about Fly ash-derived MCM-41 as a low-cost silica support for polyethyleneimine in post-combustion CO2 capture.

Evaluation of hydrochars from lignin hydrous pyrolysis to produce biocokes after carbonization (2016)
Journal Article
Castro-Díaz, M., Uguna, C. N., Florentino, L., Díaz-Faes, E., Stevens, L., Barriocanal, C., & Snape, C. (2017). Evaluation of hydrochars from lignin hydrous pyrolysis to produce biocokes after carbonization. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 124, 742-751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2016.11.010

Hydrochars were obtained after hydrous pyrolysis of a pine Kraft lignin using different reaction conditions (temperature, water content and residence time) and the residues were characterized through a wide range of analytical techniques including hi... Read More about Evaluation of hydrochars from lignin hydrous pyrolysis to produce biocokes after carbonization.

Ni Mg Mixed Metal Oxides for p-Type Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (2015)
Journal Article
Zannotti, M., Wood, C. J., Summers, G. H., Stevens, L. A., Hall, M. R., Snape, C. E., …Gibson, E. A. (2015). Ni Mg Mixed Metal Oxides for p-Type Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 7(44), 24556-24565. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b06170

Mg Ni mixed metal oxide photocathodes have been prepared by a mixed NiCl2/MgCl2 sol-gel process. The MgO/NiO electrodes have been extensively characterized using physical and electrochemical methods. Dye-sensitized solar cells have been prepared from... Read More about Ni Mg Mixed Metal Oxides for p-Type Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Insights into the influence of the cooling profile on the reconstitution times of amorphous lyophilized protein formulations (2015)
Journal Article
Beech, K. E., Biddlecombe, J. G., van der Walle, C. F., Stevens, L. A., Rigby, S. P., Burley, J. C., …Allena, S. (2015). Insights into the influence of the cooling profile on the reconstitution times of amorphous lyophilized protein formulations. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 96, 247-254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpb.2015.07.029

Lyophilized protein formulations must be reconstituted back into solution prior to patient administration and in this regard long reconstitution times are not ideal. The factors that govern reconstitution time remain poorly understood. The aim of thi... Read More about Insights into the influence of the cooling profile on the reconstitution times of amorphous lyophilized protein formulations.

Hygrothermal simulation-informed design of mesoporous desiccants for optimised energy efficiency of mixed mode air conditioning systems (2015)
Journal Article
Sarce Thomann, F., Hall, M. R., Mokaya, R., & Stevens, L. A. (2015). Hygrothermal simulation-informed design of mesoporous desiccants for optimised energy efficiency of mixed mode air conditioning systems. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 3(33), 17290-17303. https://doi.org/10.1039/c5ta05162b

© The Royal Society of Chemistry. This paper describes an optimization technique using hygrothermal numerical modelling to determine an ideal and unknown isotherm in order to inform the design of optimised mesoporous desiccants. Their suitability for... Read More about Hygrothermal simulation-informed design of mesoporous desiccants for optimised energy efficiency of mixed mode air conditioning systems.