Outputs (76)

Self-assembled titanium-based macrostructures with hierarchical (macro-, micro-, and nano) porosities: A fundamental study (2024)
Journal Article
Wadge, M. D., Agyakwa, P. A., Felfel, R. M., Homer, R., Cooper, T. P., Kudrynskyi, Z. R., …Grant, D. M. (2024). Self-assembled titanium-based macrostructures with hierarchical (macro-, micro-, and nano) porosities: A fundamental study. Materials and Design, 240, Article 112835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2024.112835

This study details the novel self-assembly of sodium titanate converted Ti-based microspheres into hierarchical porous 3D constructs, with macro-, micro-, and nanoporosity, for the first time. Ti6Al4V microspheres were suspended into 5 M NaOH (60 °C/... Read More about Self-assembled titanium-based macrostructures with hierarchical (macro-, micro-, and nano) porosities: A fundamental study.

Exploring the Utilisation of Natural Biosorbents for Effective Methylene Blue Removal (2023)
Journal Article
Güleç, F., Williams, O., Samson, A., Kostas, E., Stevens, L. A., & Lester, E. (2023). Exploring the Utilisation of Natural Biosorbents for Effective Methylene Blue Removal. Applied Sciences, 14(1), Article 81. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14010081

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the adsorbent capacity of five distinctly different biosorbents derived from untreated biomasses. The optimal adsorption capacity of seaweed (Laminaria digitata), horse chestnut husk, hazelnut husk, rap... Read More about Exploring the Utilisation of Natural Biosorbents for Effective Methylene Blue Removal.

Impacts of multi-pollutants on sulfonamide antibiotic removal from water matrices using layered double hydroxide sorbents (2023)
Journal Article
Johnston, A., Lester, E., Williams, O., & Gomes, R. L. (2024). Impacts of multi-pollutants on sulfonamide antibiotic removal from water matrices using layered double hydroxide sorbents. Environmental Technology and Innovation, 33, Article 103490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2023.103490

Remediation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) present in the aqueous environment requires the development of new advanced wastewater treatment technologies, crucial to reduce the toxicity of such pollutants to the environment, supporting urban water reuse. C... Read More about Impacts of multi-pollutants on sulfonamide antibiotic removal from water matrices using layered double hydroxide sorbents.

Thermochemical behavior of agricultural and industrial sugarcane residues for bioenergy applications (2023)
Journal Article
Guerrero-Perez, J., Martinez-Mendoza, K., Barraza-Burgos, J., Forero, C. R., Williams, O., Lester, E., & Gil, N. (2023). Thermochemical behavior of agricultural and industrial sugarcane residues for bioenergy applications. Bioengineered, 14(1), Article 2283264. https://doi.org/10.1080/21655979.2023.2283264

The Colombian sugarcane industry yields significant residues, categorized as agricultural and industrial. While bagasse, a widely studied industrial residue, is employed for energy recovery through combustion, agricultural residues are often left in... Read More about Thermochemical behavior of agricultural and industrial sugarcane residues for bioenergy applications.

Progress in lignocellulosic biomass valorization for biofuels and value‐added chemical production in the EU: A focus on thermochemical conversion processes (2023)
Journal Article
Güleç, F., Parthiban, A., Umenweke, G. C., Musa, U., Williams, O., Mortezaei, Y., …Okolie, J. A. (2023). Progress in lignocellulosic biomass valorization for biofuels and value‐added chemical production in the EU: A focus on thermochemical conversion processes. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, https://doi.org/10.1002/bbb.2544

The demand for sustainable energy sources has increased owing to environmental concerns, such as climate change, rising energy demand and rapid industrialization. Biomass utilization for bioenergy and value‐added chemical production has become essent... Read More about Progress in lignocellulosic biomass valorization for biofuels and value‐added chemical production in the EU: A focus on thermochemical conversion processes.

Rapid microwave synthesis of sustainable magnetic framework composites of UTSA-16(Zn) with Fe3O4 nanoparticles for efficient CO2 capture (2023)
Journal Article
Woodliffe, J. L., Johnston, A., Fay, M., Ferrari, R., Gomes, R. L., Lester, E., …Laybourn, A. (2023). Rapid microwave synthesis of sustainable magnetic framework composites of UTSA-16(Zn) with Fe3O4 nanoparticles for efficient CO2 capture. Materials Advances, 4(11), 5838-5849. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3MA00351E

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown excellent potential for carbon dioxide capture applications due to their high sorption capacities and selectivities. However, MOFs are typically thermally insulating, and so thermal CO2 regeneration is chall... Read More about Rapid microwave synthesis of sustainable magnetic framework composites of UTSA-16(Zn) with Fe3O4 nanoparticles for efficient CO2 capture.

A surrogate model for the economic evaluation of renewable hydrogen production from biomass feedstocks via supercritical water gasification (2023)
Journal Article
Rodgers, S., Bowler, A., Wells, L., Siah Lee, C., Hayes, M., Poulston, S., …Conradie, A. (2024). A surrogate model for the economic evaluation of renewable hydrogen production from biomass feedstocks via supercritical water gasification. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 49(A), 277-294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.08.016

Supercritical water gasification is a promising technology for renewable hydrogen production from high moisture content biomass. This work produces a machine learning surrogate model to predict the Levelised Cost of Hydrogen over a range of biomass c... Read More about A surrogate model for the economic evaluation of renewable hydrogen production from biomass feedstocks via supercritical water gasification.

A comprehensive analysis on the synthesis of value-added chemicals via slow pyrolysis: Valorisation of rapeseed residue, whitewood, and seaweed (Laminaria digitata) (2023)
Journal Article
Güleç, F., Sudibyo, H., Kostas, E. T., Williams, O., Samson, A., Meredith, W., & Lester, E. (2023). A comprehensive analysis on the synthesis of value-added chemicals via slow pyrolysis: Valorisation of rapeseed residue, whitewood, and seaweed (Laminaria digitata). Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 173, Article 106093. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2023.106093

Pyrolysis has emerged as a crucial thermochemical conversion technology in the field of biomass processing. Maximising the valorisation of biomass is an essential area of investigation, as it plays a pivotal role in understanding the economic viabili... Read More about A comprehensive analysis on the synthesis of value-added chemicals via slow pyrolysis: Valorisation of rapeseed residue, whitewood, and seaweed (Laminaria digitata).

Solutions to hazardous wastes issues in the leather industry: adsorption of Chromium iii and vi from leather industry wastewaters using activated carbons produced from leather industry solid wastes (2023)
Journal Article
Jimenez-Paz, J., Lozada-Castro, J. J., Lester, E., Williams, O., Stevens, L., & Barraza-Burgos, J. (2023). Solutions to hazardous wastes issues in the leather industry: adsorption of Chromium iii and vi from leather industry wastewaters using activated carbons produced from leather industry solid wastes. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 11(3), Article 109715. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2023.109715

This study presents the use of an innovative material to tackle hazardous wastes in the leather industry. Activated carbons produced from Leather industry waste (LIW) were used to adsorb (Cr) III and (VI), which are found in leather wastewater. Two p... Read More about Solutions to hazardous wastes issues in the leather industry: adsorption of Chromium iii and vi from leather industry wastewaters using activated carbons produced from leather industry solid wastes.

Production of Nano Hydroxyapatite and Mg-Whitlockite from Biowaste-Derived products via Continuous Flow Hydrothermal Synthesis: A Step towards Circular Economy (2023)
Journal Article
Nigar, F., Johnston, A. L., Smith, J., Oakley, W., Islam, M. T., Felfel, R., …Ahmed, I. (2023). Production of Nano Hydroxyapatite and Mg-Whitlockite from Biowaste-Derived products via Continuous Flow Hydrothermal Synthesis: A Step towards Circular Economy. Materials, 16(6), Article 2138. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16062138

Biowastes from agriculture, sewage, household wastes, and industries comprise promising resources to produce biomaterials while reducing adverse environmental effects. This study focused on utilising waste-derived materials (i.e., eggshells as a calc... Read More about Production of Nano Hydroxyapatite and Mg-Whitlockite from Biowaste-Derived products via Continuous Flow Hydrothermal Synthesis: A Step towards Circular Economy.

The integration of low temperature supercritical water gasification with continuous in situ nano-catalyst synthesis for hydrogen generation from biomass wastewater (2022)
Journal Article
Siah Lee, C., Conradie, A. V., & Lester, E. (2023). The integration of low temperature supercritical water gasification with continuous in situ nano-catalyst synthesis for hydrogen generation from biomass wastewater. Chemical Engineering Journal, 455, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.140845

A continuous hydrothermal process is demonstrated, for the first time, that can operate at low gasification temperature (430 °C) and residence time (20 s) by combining supercritical water gasification (SCWG) and partial oxidation with in situ synthes... Read More about The integration of low temperature supercritical water gasification with continuous in situ nano-catalyst synthesis for hydrogen generation from biomass wastewater.

Solutions to Hazardous Wastes Issues in the Leather Industry: Adsorption of Chromium Iii and Vi from Leather Industry Wastewaters Using Activated Carbons Produced from Leather Industry Solid Wastes (2022)
Working Paper
Jimenez-Paz, J., Lozada-Castro, J., Lester, E., Williams, O., Stevens, L., & Barraza-Burgos, J. Solutions to Hazardous Wastes Issues in the Leather Industry: Adsorption of Chromium Iii and Vi from Leather Industry Wastewaters Using Activated Carbons Produced from Leather Industry Solid Wastes

This study presents the use of an innovative material to tackle hazardous wastes in the leather industry. Activated carbons produced from Leather industry waste (LIW) were used to adsorb Chromium (Cr) III and (VI), which are found in leather wastewa... Read More about Solutions to Hazardous Wastes Issues in the Leather Industry: Adsorption of Chromium Iii and Vi from Leather Industry Wastewaters Using Activated Carbons Produced from Leather Industry Solid Wastes.

Impact of dielectric substrates on chipless RFID tag performance (2022)
Journal Article
Ali, A., Smartt, C., Im, J., Williams, O., Lester, E., & Greedy, S. (2022). Impact of dielectric substrates on chipless RFID tag performance. International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies, https://doi.org/10.1017/s1759078722001039

A five-slot hexagonal shape chipless RFID tag is designed, simulated, and manufactured on FR4 substrate. The designed tag's copper geometry was replicated on a wide range of dielectric substrate to quantify the impact on resonance quality factor (RQF... Read More about Impact of dielectric substrates on chipless RFID tag performance.

A comprehensive comparative study on the energy application of chars produced from different biomass feedstocks via hydrothermal conversion, pyrolysis, and torrefaction (2022)
Journal Article
Güleç, F., Williams, O., Kostas, E. T., Samson, A., & Lester, E. (2022). A comprehensive comparative study on the energy application of chars produced from different biomass feedstocks via hydrothermal conversion, pyrolysis, and torrefaction. Energy Conversion and Management, 270, Article 116260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2022.116260

Understanding the suitability of different conversion technologies for different types of biomass feedstocks is crucial in delivering the full valorisation of different types of biomasses. This is novel research which presents an extensive comparativ... Read More about A comprehensive comparative study on the energy application of chars produced from different biomass feedstocks via hydrothermal conversion, pyrolysis, and torrefaction.

Biofuel characteristics of chars produced from rapeseed, whitewood, and seaweed via thermal conversion technologies – Impacts of feedstocks and process conditions (2022)
Journal Article
Gulec, F., Samson, A., Williams, O., Kostas, E. T., & Lester, E. (2022). Biofuel characteristics of chars produced from rapeseed, whitewood, and seaweed via thermal conversion technologies – Impacts of feedstocks and process conditions. Fuel Processing Technology, 238, Article 107492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2022.107492

Understanding the suitability of different conversion technologies for different types of biomass feedstocks is crucial in delivering the full valorisation of different types of biomass feedstocks. Optimal valorisation pathways can be identified by i... Read More about Biofuel characteristics of chars produced from rapeseed, whitewood, and seaweed via thermal conversion technologies – Impacts of feedstocks and process conditions.

Upcycling Glass Waste into Porous Microspheres for Wastewater Treatment Applications: Efficacy of Dye Removal (2022)
Journal Article
Samad, S. A., Arafat, A., Lester, E., & Ahmed, I. (2022). Upcycling Glass Waste into Porous Microspheres for Wastewater Treatment Applications: Efficacy of Dye Removal. Materials, 15(17), Article 5809. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15175809

Each year about 7.6 million tons of waste glasses are landfilled without recycling, reclaiming or upcycling. Herein we have developed a solvent free upcycling method for recycled glass waste (RG) by remanufacturing it into porous recycled glass micro... Read More about Upcycling Glass Waste into Porous Microspheres for Wastewater Treatment Applications: Efficacy of Dye Removal.

The influence of mineral addition on the Optimised Advanced Ash Fusion Test (OAAFT) and its thermochemical modelling and prediction (2022)
Journal Article
Daley, P., Reinmöller, M., Williams, O., Pang, C. H., & Lester, E. (2022). The influence of mineral addition on the Optimised Advanced Ash Fusion Test (OAAFT) and its thermochemical modelling and prediction. Journal of the Energy Institute, 105, 121-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joei.2022.08.004

Specific minerals in ash are triggers for ash fusion during combustion. This study analyses, for the first time, the link between individual minerals and the ash fusion of pseudo ash pellets using the Optimised Advanced Ash Fusion Test (OAAFT) and Fa... Read More about The influence of mineral addition on the Optimised Advanced Ash Fusion Test (OAAFT) and its thermochemical modelling and prediction.

A comprehensive comparative study on methylene blue removal from aqueous solution using biochars produced from rapeseed, whitewood, and seaweed via different thermal conversion technologies (2022)
Journal Article
Güleç, F., Williams, O., Kostas, E. T., Samson, A., Stevens, L. A., & Lester, E. (2022). A comprehensive comparative study on methylene blue removal from aqueous solution using biochars produced from rapeseed, whitewood, and seaweed via different thermal conversion technologies. Fuel, 330, Article 125428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2022.125428

This paper presents, for the first time, a comprehensive comparative analysis of the potential of using biochars from three distinctly different UK-sourced biomass feedstocks, produced via three different thermal processing techniques, to adsorb meth... Read More about A comprehensive comparative study on methylene blue removal from aqueous solution using biochars produced from rapeseed, whitewood, and seaweed via different thermal conversion technologies.

High capacity chipless RFID tags for biomass tracking application (2022)
Journal Article
Ali, A., Smartt, C., Lester, E., Williams, O., & Greedy, S. (2023). High capacity chipless RFID tags for biomass tracking application. International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies, 15(5), 742-752. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1759078722000745

The design of a low-cost, flexible, miniaturized, and a high code density chipless radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag is presented as a solution for tracking the transportation of biomass fuel pellets. The performance of the tag is presented a... Read More about High capacity chipless RFID tags for biomass tracking application.

High capacity chipless RFID tags for biomass tracking application (2022)
Journal Article
Ali, A., Smartt, C., Lester, E., Williams, O., & Greedy, S. (2023). High capacity chipless RFID tags for biomass tracking application. International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies, 15(5), 742-752. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1759078722000745

The design of a low-cost, flexible, miniaturized and a high code density chipless RFID tag is presented as a solution for tracking the transportation of biomass fuel pellets. The performance of the tag is presented and demonstrates the applicability... Read More about High capacity chipless RFID tags for biomass tracking application.

High Code Density and Humidity Sensor Chipless RFID Tag (2022)
Presentation / Conference
Ali, A., Williams, O., Lester, E., & Greedy, S. (2022, July). High Code Density and Humidity Sensor Chipless RFID Tag. Paper presented at 2022 7th International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Technologies, SpliTech 2022, Split / Bol, Croatia

This article presents a low cost, miniaturize, flexible, high code density chipless sensor tag. The tag is designed on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate with a compact size of 1cm radius operating in ultra-wideband, ranging from 3.5 to 16GHz... Read More about High Code Density and Humidity Sensor Chipless RFID Tag.

Novel Thermal and Microscopic Techniques To Determine the Causes of Suboptimal Combustion Performance at Colombian Stoker Furnaces (2022)
Journal Article
Williams, O. S. A., Daley, P., Perkins, J., Shah, S., Saavedra, E. A. G., Trujillo, M., …Lester, E. H. (2022). Novel Thermal and Microscopic Techniques To Determine the Causes of Suboptimal Combustion Performance at Colombian Stoker Furnaces. ACS Omega, 7(14), 11618-11630. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.1c06314

This study presents the application of a novel approach, using thermal and optical techniques, to identify the causes of poor burnout performance of Colombian stoker furnaces in the Cauca Valley State. The four coals used in these furnaces were chara... Read More about Novel Thermal and Microscopic Techniques To Determine the Causes of Suboptimal Combustion Performance at Colombian Stoker Furnaces.

Novel Thermal and Microscopic Techniques To Determine the Causes of Suboptimal Combustion Performance at Colombian Stoker Furnaces (2022)
Journal Article
Williams, O. S. A., Daley, P., Perkins, J., Shah, S., Saavedra, E. A. G., Trujillo, M., …Lester, E. H. (2022). Novel Thermal and Microscopic Techniques To Determine the Causes of Suboptimal Combustion Performance at Colombian Stoker Furnaces. ACS Omega, 7(14), 11618–11630. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.1c06314

This study presents the application of a novel approach, using thermal and optical techniques, to identify the causes of poor burnout performance of Colombian stoker furnaces in the Cauca Valley State. The four coals used in these furnaces were char... Read More about Novel Thermal and Microscopic Techniques To Determine the Causes of Suboptimal Combustion Performance at Colombian Stoker Furnaces.

Predictability of higher heating value of biomass feedstocks via proximate and ultimate analyses – A comprehensive study of artificial neural network applications (2022)
Journal Article
Güleç, F., Pekaslan, D., Williams, O., & Lester, E. (2022). Predictability of higher heating value of biomass feedstocks via proximate and ultimate analyses – A comprehensive study of artificial neural network applications. Fuel, 320, Article 123944. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2022.123944

Higher heating value (HHV) is a key characteristic for the assessment and selection of biomass feedstocks as a fuel source. The HHV is usually measured using an adiabatic oxygen bomb calorimeter; however, this method can be time consuming and expensi... Read More about Predictability of higher heating value of biomass feedstocks via proximate and ultimate analyses – A comprehensive study of artificial neural network applications.

Upgrading of Low-Grade Colombian Coals via Low-Cost and Sustainable Calcium Nitrate Dense Media Separation (2022)
Journal Article
Williams, O. S. A., Daley, P., Perkins, J., Martinez-Mendoza, K. L., Guerrero-Perrez, J., Mazabuel, L. M. S., …Lester, E. H. (2022). Upgrading of Low-Grade Colombian Coals via Low-Cost and Sustainable Calcium Nitrate Dense Media Separation. ACS Omega, 7(4), 3348-3358. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.1c05346

Wet coal beneficiation in Colombia is prohibitive due to the high cost and scarcity of commonly used dense media. The practical value of this study is that it demonstrates for the first time that a common fertilizer, calcium nitrate, can be used in t... Read More about Upgrading of Low-Grade Colombian Coals via Low-Cost and Sustainable Calcium Nitrate Dense Media Separation.

Investigation of the hydrodynamics in the regenerator of fluid catalytic cracking unit integrated by chemical looping combustion (2021)
Journal Article
Güleç, F., Erdogan, A., Clough, P. T., & Lester, E. (2021). Investigation of the hydrodynamics in the regenerator of fluid catalytic cracking unit integrated by chemical looping combustion. Fuel Processing Technology, 223, Article 106998. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2021.106998

Oil refineries are responsible for 4–6% of global CO2 emissions, and 20–35% of these emissions released from the regenerator of Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) units, which are the essential units for the conversion of heavier petroleum residues (vacu... Read More about Investigation of the hydrodynamics in the regenerator of fluid catalytic cracking unit integrated by chemical looping combustion.

Adsorption studies and effect of heat treatment on porous glass microspheres (2021)
Journal Article
Samad, S. A., Arafat, A., Ferrari, R., Gomes, R. L., Lester, E., & Ahmed, I. (2022). Adsorption studies and effect of heat treatment on porous glass microspheres. International Journal of Applied Glass Science, 13(1), 63-81. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijag.16352

This paper investigates the effect of heat treatment on porous glass microspheres produced via a novel flame spheroidization process, followed by exploring their suitability for dye removal from water. The effect of simple use of smaller porogen (≤5 ... Read More about Adsorption studies and effect of heat treatment on porous glass microspheres.

Hydrothermal conversion of different lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks - Effect of the process conditions on hydrochar structures (2021)
Journal Article
Güleç, F., Riesco, L., Williams, O., Kostas, E. T., Samson, A., & Lester, E. (2021). Hydrothermal conversion of different lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks - Effect of the process conditions on hydrochar structures. Fuel, 302, Article 121166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2021.121166

Five biomass feedstocks (Coffee residues, Rice waste, Whitewood, Zilkha black, and Lignin) were hydrothermally processed in a semi-continuous flow rig using 9 different processing conditions (75, 150, 250 °C, and 1, 50, 240 bar). Solid residues produ... Read More about Hydrothermal conversion of different lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks - Effect of the process conditions on hydrochar structures.

YAG thermal barrier coatings deposited by suspension and solution precursor thermal spray (2021)
Journal Article
Owoseni, T. A., Rincon Romero, A., Pala, Z., Venturi, F., Lester, E. H., Grant, D. M., & Hussain, T. (2021). YAG thermal barrier coatings deposited by suspension and solution precursor thermal spray. Ceramics International, 47(17), 23803-23813. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2021.05.087

Yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) is a promising topcoat material for thermal barrier coatings due to its high temperature stability and better CMAS (calcium-magnesium-alumino-silicate) resistance. YAG topcoats were deposited by suspension and solution... Read More about YAG thermal barrier coatings deposited by suspension and solution precursor thermal spray.

Review of supercritical water gasification with lignocellulosic real biomass as the feedstocks: Process parameters, biomass composition, catalyst development, reactor design and its challenges (2021)
Journal Article
Lee, C. S., Conradie, A. V., & Lester, E. (2021). Review of supercritical water gasification with lignocellulosic real biomass as the feedstocks: Process parameters, biomass composition, catalyst development, reactor design and its challenges. Chemical Engineering Journal, 415, Article 128837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2021.128837

Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) is a combined thermal decomposition and hydrolysis process for converting wet biomass feedstock with high water content potentially (80 wt%) to syngas. The process bypasses the need for an energy intensive pre-... Read More about Review of supercritical water gasification with lignocellulosic real biomass as the feedstocks: Process parameters, biomass composition, catalyst development, reactor design and its challenges.

Understanding Layered Double Hydroxide properties as sorbent materials for removing organic pollutants from environmental waters (2021)
Journal Article
Johnston, A., Lester, E., Williams, O., & Gomes, R. L. (2021). Understanding Layered Double Hydroxide properties as sorbent materials for removing organic pollutants from environmental waters. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 9(4), Article 105197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2021.105197

Emerging contaminants (ECs) are a group of anthropogenic organic pollutants known to have a host of adverse environmental and health implications. The removal of such pollutants from aqueous environments to ensure water is of a quality fit for reuse... Read More about Understanding Layered Double Hydroxide properties as sorbent materials for removing organic pollutants from environmental waters.

Towards the Continuous Hydrothermal Synthesis of ZnO@Mg2Al-CO3 Core-Shell Composite Nanomaterials (2020)
Journal Article
Clark, I., Smith, J., Gomes, R. L., & Lester, E. (2020). Towards the Continuous Hydrothermal Synthesis of ZnO@Mg2Al-CO3 Core-Shell Composite Nanomaterials. Nanomaterials, 10(10), Article 2052. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10102052

Core-shell Zinc Oxide/Layered Double Hydroxide (ZnO@LDH) composite nanomaterials have been produced by a one-step continuous hydrothermal synthesis process, in an attempt to further enhance the application potential of layered double hydroxide (LDH)... Read More about Towards the Continuous Hydrothermal Synthesis of ZnO@Mg2Al-CO3 Core-Shell Composite Nanomaterials.

Residual Stress Measurement of Suspension HVOF-Sprayed Alumina Coating via a Hole-Drilling Method (2020)
Journal Article
Owoseni, T. A., Bai, M., Curry, N., Lester, E. H., Grant, D. M., & Hussain, T. (2020). Residual Stress Measurement of Suspension HVOF-Sprayed Alumina Coating via a Hole-Drilling Method. Journal of Thermal Spray Technology, 29(6), 1339–1350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11666-020-01072-z

The nature and magnitude of residual stresses in thermal-sprayed coatings determine their lifetime and failure mechanisms. The residual stresses of suspension high-velocity oxy-fuel (SHVOF) thermal sprayed alumina (Al2O3) coating were measured with h... Read More about Residual Stress Measurement of Suspension HVOF-Sprayed Alumina Coating via a Hole-Drilling Method.

A Sustainable Chemicals Manufacturing Paradigm Using CO2 and Renewable H2 (2020)
Journal Article
Bommareddy, R. R., Wang, Y., Pearcy, N., Hayes, M., Lester, E., Minton, N. P., & Conradie, A. V. (2020). A Sustainable Chemicals Manufacturing Paradigm Using CO2 and Renewable H2. iScience, 23(6), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2020.101218

© 2020 The Author(s) The chemical industry must decarbonize to align with UN Sustainable Development Goals. A shift toward circular economies makes CO2 an attractive feedstock for producing chemicals, provided renewable H2 is available through techno... Read More about A Sustainable Chemicals Manufacturing Paradigm Using CO2 and Renewable H2.

Experimental data on morphological characterization of chars from coal and bagasse blends (2020)
Journal Article
Garcia, E., Barraza-Burgos, J., Guerrero, J., Trujillo, M., Lester, E., & Williams, O. (in press). Experimental data on morphological characterization of chars from coal and bagasse blends. Data in Brief, 29, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2020.105358

© 2020 The Authors Morphological characterization of chars from coal and bagasse plays an important role in both the burning efficiency and intrinsic reactivity of chars, during a combustion process [1], [2]. In this work, abundant data on the morpho... Read More about Experimental data on morphological characterization of chars from coal and bagasse blends.

Application of TG technique to determine spontaneous heating propensity of coals (2020)
Journal Article
Lowndes, I. S., Mohalik, N. K., & Lester, E. (2021). Application of TG technique to determine spontaneous heating propensity of coals. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 143, 185-201. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-019-09237-x

© 2020, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary. The TG method is applied to eleven coal samples of varying rank collected from across the Jharia coalfield, India, to determine spontaneous heating susceptibility. Previous literature does not agree as to t... Read More about Application of TG technique to determine spontaneous heating propensity of coals.

Automated image analysis techniques to characterise pulverised coal particles and predict combustion char morphology (2019)
Journal Article
Perkins, J., Williams, O., Wu, T., & Lester, E. (2020). Automated image analysis techniques to characterise pulverised coal particles and predict combustion char morphology. Fuel, 259, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2019.116022

A new automated image analysis system that analyses individual coal particles to predict daughter char morphology is presented. 12 different coals were milled to 75-106 µm, segmented from large mosaic images and the proportions of the different petro... Read More about Automated image analysis techniques to characterise pulverised coal particles and predict combustion char morphology.

Sustainability assessment of continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis of nanomaterials in the context of other production technologies (2019)
Journal Article
Stieberova, B., Zilka, M., Ticha, M., Freiberg, F., Caramazana-González, P., McKechnie, J., & Lester, E. (2019). Sustainability assessment of continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis of nanomaterials in the context of other production technologies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 241, Article 118325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118325

In this paper, we provide a comprehensive techno-economic and life cycle environmental evaluation of the continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis (CFHS) of nanoparticles in the context of current production technologies. This method is compared with a... Read More about Sustainability assessment of continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis of nanomaterials in the context of other production technologies.

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.

Continuous Synthesis of Zn2Al-CO3 Layered Double Hydroxides for the Adsorption of Reactive Dyes from Water (2019)
Journal Article
Clark, I., Smith, J., Gomes, R. L., & Lester, E. (2019). Continuous Synthesis of Zn2Al-CO3 Layered Double Hydroxides for the Adsorption of Reactive Dyes from Water. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 7(3), Article 103175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2019.103175

A novel pilot scale approach to continuous synthesis of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) was used to produce Zn2Al-CO3. The Zn2Al-CO3 was calcined and used in the adsorption of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) and Reactive Orange 16 (RO16) from water. The spec... Read More about Continuous Synthesis of Zn2Al-CO3 Layered Double Hydroxides for the Adsorption of Reactive Dyes from Water.

The impact of ash pellet characteristics and pellet processing parameters on ash fusion behaviour (2019)
Journal Article
Daley, P., Williams, O., Pang, C. H., Wu, T., & Lester, E. (2019). The impact of ash pellet characteristics and pellet processing parameters on ash fusion behaviour. Fuel, 251, 779-788. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2019.03.142

The Ash Fusion Test (AFT) is considered to be the most popular method of characterising the melt characteristics of solid fuel ash. This study shows how pellet preparation can make significant improvements to repeatability. Pelleting pressure, pellet... Read More about The impact of ash pellet characteristics and pellet processing parameters on ash fusion behaviour.

Continuous synthesis of Zn2Al-CO3 layered double hydroxides: A comparison of bench, pilot and industrial scale syntheses (2019)
Journal Article
Clark, I., Gomes, R. L., Crawshaw, C., Neve, L., Lodge, R., Fay, M., …Lester, E. (2019). Continuous synthesis of Zn2Al-CO3 layered double hydroxides: A comparison of bench, pilot and industrial scale syntheses. Reaction Chemistry and Engineering, 4(4), 663-666. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8re00241j

© 2019 The Royal Society of Chemistry. Zn2Al-CO3 was produced continuously at bench (g h-1), pilot (100s g h-1) and industrial scale (10s kg h-1). Crystal domain length and BET surface area were similar at all three scales although there was a small... Read More about Continuous synthesis of Zn2Al-CO3 layered double hydroxides: A comparison of bench, pilot and industrial scale syntheses.

Predicting the Behaviour of Near-Critical and Supercritical Alcohols at Microwave Frequencies: Validation of Molecular Dynamic Simulations as a Tool that can Substitute for Measurements under Extreme Experimental Conditions (2019)
Journal Article
Robinson, D., Irvine, D. J., Robinson, J. P., Lester, E. H., Kingman, S. W., & Dimitrakis, G. (2019). Predicting the Behaviour of Near-Critical and Supercritical Alcohols at Microwave Frequencies: Validation of Molecular Dynamic Simulations as a Tool that can Substitute for Measurements under Extreme Experimental Conditions. Journal of Supercritical Fluids, 146, 165-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.supflu.2019.01.018

Equilibrium and non-equilibrium molecular dynamic simulations, predicting the dielectric properties of near-critical and supercritical methanol and ethanol at microwave frequencies have been carried out. The autocorrelation functions of the dielectri... Read More about Predicting the Behaviour of Near-Critical and Supercritical Alcohols at Microwave Frequencies: Validation of Molecular Dynamic Simulations as a Tool that can Substitute for Measurements under Extreme Experimental Conditions.

Removal of copper from cattle footbath wastewater with layered double hydroxide adsorbents as a route to antimicrobial resistance mitigation on dairy farms (2018)
Journal Article
Williams, O., Clark, I., Gomes, R. L., Perehinec, T., Hobman, J. L., Stekel, D. J., …Lester, E. (2019). Removal of copper from cattle footbath wastewater with layered double hydroxide adsorbents as a route to antimicrobial resistance mitigation on dairy farms. Science of the Total Environment, 655, 1139-1149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.330

Copper and zinc are routinely used in livestock antimicrobial footbaths in commercial farming. The footbath mix is a cost to farmers, and the disposal of spent footbath into slurry tanks leads to soil contamination, as well as the potential for antim... Read More about Removal of copper from cattle footbath wastewater with layered double hydroxide adsorbents as a route to antimicrobial resistance mitigation on dairy farms.

Development a modified crossing point temperature (CPTHR) method to assess spontaneous combustion propensity of coal and its chemo-metric analysis (2018)
Journal Article
Mohalik, N., Lester, E., & Lowndes, I. (2018). Development a modified crossing point temperature (CPTHR) method to assess spontaneous combustion propensity of coal and its chemo-metric analysis. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 56, 359-369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlp.2018.09.00

Spontaneous combustion of Indian coals was investigated using spontaneous combustion rig at University of Nottingham, UK to assess their susceptibility. In the present study authors have used eleven coal samples collected from the Jharia coalfield (J... Read More about Development a modified crossing point temperature (CPTHR) method to assess spontaneous combustion propensity of coal and its chemo-metric analysis.

High efficiency synthesis of HKUST-1 under mild conditions with high BET surface area and CO2 uptake capacity (2018)
Journal Article
Chen, Y., Mu, X., Lester, E., & Wu, T. (2018). High efficiency synthesis of HKUST-1 under mild conditions with high BET surface area and CO2 uptake capacity. Progress in Natural Science, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnsc.2018.08.002

This study focuses on the development of a hydrothermal method for the rapid synthesis of good quality copper benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (referred to as HKUST-1) with high yield under mild preparation conditions to address the issues associated wit... Read More about High efficiency synthesis of HKUST-1 under mild conditions with high BET surface area and CO2 uptake capacity.

Suspension high velocity oxy-fuel (SHVOF) spray of delta-theta alumina suspension: Phase transformation and tribology (2018)
Journal Article
Owoseni, T., Murray, J., Pala, Z., Lester, E., Grant, D., & Hussain, T. (2018). Suspension high velocity oxy-fuel (SHVOF) spray of delta-theta alumina suspension: Phase transformation and tribology. Surface and Coatings Technology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2018.08.047

Suspension high-velocity oxy-fuel (SHVOF) thermal spray is an emerging spray technology that enables the processing of nanometric feedstock. Although SHVOF thermal sprayed alumina coatings prepared from alpha alumina feedstock have been widely report... Read More about Suspension high velocity oxy-fuel (SHVOF) spray of delta-theta alumina suspension: Phase transformation and tribology.

Applicability of mechanical tests for biomass pellet characterisation for bioenergy applications (2018)
Journal Article
Williams, O., Taylor, S., Lester, E., Kingman, S., Giddings, D., & Eastwick, C. (2018). Applicability of mechanical tests for biomass pellet characterisation for bioenergy applications. Materials, 11(8), https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11081329

In this paper, the applicability of mechanical tests for biomass pellet characterisation was investigated. Pellet durability, quasi-static (low strain rate), and dynamic (high strain rate) mechanical tests were applied to mixed wood, eucalyptus, sunf... Read More about Applicability of mechanical tests for biomass pellet characterisation for bioenergy applications.

A proposed biomass char classification system (2018)
Journal Article
Lester, E., Avila, C., Pang, C. H., Williams, O., Perkins, J., Gaddipatti⁠, S., …Wu, T. (2018). A proposed biomass char classification system. Fuel, 232, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2018.05.153

A new classification system is proposed for the morphological characterisation of char structures from biomass. These char structures are unlike the coal chars that have an established nomenclature via the International Committee of Coal and Organic... Read More about A proposed biomass char classification system.

A review of the environmental impact of nanomaterial synthesis using continuous flow hydrothermal synthesis (2018)
Journal Article
Caramazana, P., Dunne, P., Gimeno-Fabra, M., McKechnie, J., & Lester, E. (2018). A review of the environmental impact of nanomaterial synthesis using continuous flow hydrothermal synthesis. Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, 12, 57-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsc.2018.06.016

Continuous flow hydrothermal synthesis (CFHS) is an emerging process technology for the manufacture of nanomaterials. Recent work has been undertaken to establish the green ‘credentials’ of CFHS amongst alternative techniques for nanosynthesis. In th... Read More about A review of the environmental impact of nanomaterial synthesis using continuous flow hydrothermal synthesis.

A techno-economic assessment of the potential for combining supercritical water oxidation with ‘in-situ’ hydrothermal synthesis of nanocatalysts using a counter current mixing reactor (2018)
Journal Article
Al-Atta, A., Huddle, T., Rodríguez, Y. G., Mato, F., García-Serna, J., Cocero, M. J., …Lester, E. (2018). A techno-economic assessment of the potential for combining supercritical water oxidation with ‘in-situ’ hydrothermal synthesis of nanocatalysts using a counter current mixing reactor. Chemical Engineering Journal, 344, 431-440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2018.03.058

A combined process of supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) and supercritical water hydrothermal synthesis (SCWHS) in a continuous counter current reactor is reported. Acrylic acid was used as a model unsaturated carboxylic acid compound and the effec... Read More about A techno-economic assessment of the potential for combining supercritical water oxidation with ‘in-situ’ hydrothermal synthesis of nanocatalysts using a counter current mixing reactor.

Development of a petrographic technique to assess the spontaneous combustion susceptibility of Indian coals (2017)
Journal Article
Mohalik, N., Lester, E., & Lowndes, I. (in press). Development of a petrographic technique to assess the spontaneous combustion susceptibility of Indian coals. International Journal of Coal Preparation and Utilization, https://doi.org/10.1080/19392699.2017.1360874

Petrographic studies are commonly used categorise the potential utilisation of coals. Eleven coal samples from the jharia coalfield (JCF), india, were studied using petrographic techniques to investigate maceral content, reflectance, and textural cha... Read More about Development of a petrographic technique to assess the spontaneous combustion susceptibility of Indian coals.

Bayesian deconvolution of vessel residence time distribution (2017)
Journal Article
Huddle, T., Langston, P., & Lester, E. (2018). Bayesian deconvolution of vessel residence time distribution. International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering, 16(4), https://doi.org/10.1515/ijcre-2016-0219

Residence time distribution (RTD) within vessels is a critical aspect for the design and operation of continuous flow technologies, such as hydrothermal synthesis of nanomaterials (Cabanas, Darr et al. 2000). RTD affects product characteristics, such... Read More about Bayesian deconvolution of vessel residence time distribution.

Benefits of dry comminution of biomass pellets in a knife mill (2017)
Journal Article
Williams, O., Lester, E., Kingman, S., Giddings, D., Lormor, S., & Eastwick, C. (in press). Benefits of dry comminution of biomass pellets in a knife mill. Biosystems Engineering, 160, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2017.05.011

The potential benefits of dry comminution in a knife mill for a diverse range of biomass 6 pellets are explored. The impact of dry comminution on energy consumption, particle size and shape, 7 is examined as well as the link between milling and mecha... Read More about Benefits of dry comminution of biomass pellets in a knife mill.

Continuous hydrothermal synthesis of Ca2Al-NO3 layered double hydroxides: the impact of reactor temperature, pressure and NaOH concentration on crystal characteristics (2017)
Journal Article
Clark, I., Dunne, P. W., Gomes, R. L., & Lester, E. (2017). Continuous hydrothermal synthesis of Ca2Al-NO3 layered double hydroxides: the impact of reactor temperature, pressure and NaOH concentration on crystal characteristics. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 504, Article 492-499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2017.05.105

Overcoming the caking phenomenon in olive mill wastes (2017)
Journal Article
Williams, O., Eastwick, C., Kingman, S., Giddings, D., Lormor, S., & Lester, E. (2017). Overcoming the caking phenomenon in olive mill wastes. Industrial Crops and Products, 101, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2017.02.036

The use of olive mill wastes (orujillo) within coal fired power stations in the UK has led to unexpected difficulties with material caking within the fuel handling plant. This study replicated orujillo caking on a laboratory scale using a planetary b... Read More about Overcoming the caking phenomenon in olive mill wastes.

Improved quantification of curvature in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy lattice fringe micrographs of soots (2017)
Journal Article
Wang, C., Huddle, T., Huang, C., Zhu, W., Vander Wal, R. L., Lester, E. H., & Mathews, J. P. (2017). Improved quantification of curvature in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy lattice fringe micrographs of soots. Carbon, 117, 174-181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2017.02.059

Soot affects climate change and human health. Its structure is influenced by fuel and combustion conditions. Image analysis of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy lattice fringes indicates curvature is common and impacts reactivity. Here... Read More about Improved quantification of curvature in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy lattice fringe micrographs of soots.

Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of titania nanoparticle production by continuous flow solvo/hydrothermal synthesis (2017)
Journal Article
Caramazana-Gonzalez, P., Dunne, P. W., Gimeno-Fabra, M., Zilka, M., Ticha, M., Stieberova, B., …Lester, E. (in press). Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of titania nanoparticle production by continuous flow solvo/hydrothermal synthesis. Green Chemistry, 19, https://doi.org/10.1039/C6GC03357A

Continuous-flow hydrothermal and solvothermal syntheses offer substantial advantages over conventional processes, producing high quality materials from a wide range of precursors. In this study, we evaluate the “cradle-to-gate” life cycle environment... Read More about Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of titania nanoparticle production by continuous flow solvo/hydrothermal synthesis.

Application of ZnO nanoparticles in a self-cleaning coating on a metal panel: an assessment of environmental benefits (2017)
Journal Article
Stieberova, B., Zilka, M., Ticha, M., Freiberg, F., Caramazana-Gonzalez, P., McKechnie, J., & Lester, E. (2017). Application of ZnO nanoparticles in a self-cleaning coating on a metal panel: an assessment of environmental benefits. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 5(3), 2493-2500. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b02848

This article is focused on assessing environmental benefits of a self-cleaning coating (SCCs) containing nanoparticles (NPs) applied on metal panels. ZnO NPs are incorporated in the coating to enhance the level of hydrophobicity, which enables a dram... Read More about Application of ZnO nanoparticles in a self-cleaning coating on a metal panel: an assessment of environmental benefits.

Estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from spontaneous combustion/fire of coal in opencast mines – Indian context (2016)
Journal Article
Mohalik, N., Lester, E., Lowndes, I., & Singh, V. (in press). Estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from spontaneous combustion/fire of coal in opencast mines – Indian context. Carbon Management, 7(5-6), https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2016.1249216

There are a significant number of uncontrolled coal mine fires (primarily due to spontaneous combustion of coal), which are currently burning all over the world. These spontaneous combustion sources emit greenhouse gases (GHGs). A critical review rev... Read More about Estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from spontaneous combustion/fire of coal in opencast mines – Indian context.

Review of experimental methods to determine spontaneous combustion susceptibility of coal – Indian context (2016)
Journal Article
Mohalik, N., Lester, E., & Lowndes, I. (in press). Review of experimental methods to determine spontaneous combustion susceptibility of coal – Indian context. International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment, 31(5), https://doi.org/10.1080/17480930.2016.1232334

This paper presents a critical review of the different techniques developed to investigate the susceptibility of coal to spontaneous combustion and fire. These methods may be sub-classified into the two following areas: (1) Basic coal characterisatio... Read More about Review of experimental methods to determine spontaneous combustion susceptibility of coal – Indian context.

Influence of mill type on densified biomass comminution (2016)
Journal Article
Williams, O., Newbolt, G., Eastwick, C., Kingman, S. W., Giddings, D., Lormor, S., & Lester, E. (2016). Influence of mill type on densified biomass comminution. Applied Energy, 182, 219-231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.08.111

The impact of different mill fracture mechanisms were examined for a wide range of densified biomass pellets to provide a comprehensive analysis of biomass milling behaviour for pulverised fuel combustion. The milling behaviour of 7 woody, herbaceous... Read More about Influence of mill type on densified biomass comminution.

Understanding bottom-up continuous hydrothermal synthesis of nanoparticles using empirical measurement and computational simulation (2016)
Journal Article
Sierra-Pallares, J., Huddle, T., García-Serna, J., Alonso, E., Mato, F., Shvets, I., …Lester, E. (2016). Understanding bottom-up continuous hydrothermal synthesis of nanoparticles using empirical measurement and computational simulation. Nano Research, 9(11), 3377-3387. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1215-6

Continuous hydrothermal synthesis was highlighted in a recent review as an enabling technology for the production of nanoparticles. In recent years, it has been shown to be a suitable reaction medium for the synthesis of a wide range of nanomaterials... Read More about Understanding bottom-up continuous hydrothermal synthesis of nanoparticles using empirical measurement and computational simulation.

Impact of mill type on biomass mill behavior (2015)
Conference Proceeding
Williams, O., Eastwick, C., Lester, E., Giddings, D., & Lormor, S. (in press). Impact of mill type on biomass mill behavior.

With increasing use of biomass in pulverized fuel coal fired power stations, the impact of mill type on biomass size and shape is fundamental in optimizing mill and burner performance. The impact of mill type on the energy consumption, particle size... Read More about Impact of mill type on biomass mill behavior.

Continuous synthesis of dispersant-coated hydroxyapatite plates (2015)
Journal Article
Gimeno-Fabra, M., Hild, F., Dunne, P., Walton, K., Grant, D., Irvine, D. J., & Lester, E. (2015). Continuous synthesis of dispersant-coated hydroxyapatite plates. CrystEngComm, 17(32), 6175-6182. doi:10.1039/c5ce00628g

A continuous flow hydrothermal synthetic route which allows the direct “in situ” capping/coating of hydroxyapatite nanoplates with functional dispersants in a single stage is reported. The methodology induced crystallisation by rapid mixing of stream... Read More about Continuous synthesis of dispersant-coated hydroxyapatite plates.

Large-scale continuous hydrothermal production and activation of ZIF-8 (2015)
Journal Article
Munn, A., Dunne, P. W., Tang, S., & Lester, E. (2015). Large-scale continuous hydrothermal production and activation of ZIF-8. Chemical Communications, 51(64), 12811-12814. https://doi.org/10.1039/c5cc04636j

© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015. A new method for the large-scale hydrothermal production and activation of ZIF-8 is presented in this communication. Activated ZIF-8 has been produced, at lab-scale and pilot-scale, at a rate of 27 g h-1 and 810... Read More about Large-scale continuous hydrothermal production and activation of ZIF-8.

Investigation into the applicability of Bond Work Index (BWI) and Hardgrove Grindability Index (HGI) tests for several biomasses compared to Colombian La Loma coal (2015)
Journal Article
Williams, O., Eastwick, C., Kingman, S., Giddings, D., Lormor, S., & Lester, E. (2015). Investigation into the applicability of Bond Work Index (BWI) and Hardgrove Grindability Index (HGI) tests for several biomasses compared to Colombian La Loma coal. Fuel, 158, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2015.05.027

With increasing quantities of biomass being combusted in coal fired power stations, there is an urgent need to be able to predict the grindability of biomass in existing coal mills, but currently no standard biomass grindability test exists. In this... Read More about Investigation into the applicability of Bond Work Index (BWI) and Hardgrove Grindability Index (HGI) tests for several biomasses compared to Colombian La Loma coal.

The sequential continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis of molybdenum disulphide (2015)
Journal Article
Dunne, P. W., Munn, A. S., Starkey, C. L., & Lester, E. H. (2015). The sequential continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis of molybdenum disulphide. Chemical Communications, 51(19), 4048-4050. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4cc10158h

Molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) has been widely used as a catalyst and high temperature lubricant. It has been heavily researched recently as a graphene analogue and member of the so-called inorganic fullerenes. Here we report the first continuous flow... Read More about The sequential continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis of molybdenum disulphide.

The impact of moisture on the milling behavior of different biomasses (2014)
Conference Proceeding
Williams, O., Eastwick, C., Lester, E., Giddings, D., & Byrne, N. (2014). The impact of moisture on the milling behavior of different biomasses.

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of moisture content on the milling behaviour of four different biomasses commonly used in the power sector and characterise their milling behaviour in a laboratory scale planetary ball mill. As received... Read More about The impact of moisture on the milling behavior of different biomasses.

Factors affecting the microwave coking of coals and the implications on microwave cavity design (2014)
Journal Article
Binner, E., Medeira-Munoyerro, M., Huddle, T., Kingman, S., Dodds, C., Dimitrakis, G., …Lester, E. (2014). Factors affecting the microwave coking of coals and the implications on microwave cavity design. Fuel Processing Technology, 125, 8-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2014.03.006

The work carried out in this paper assessed how processing conditions and feedstock affect the quality of the coke produced during microwave coke making. The aim was to gather information that would support the development of an optimised microwave c... Read More about Factors affecting the microwave coking of coals and the implications on microwave cavity design.

Investigation into the mechanisms by which microwave heating enhances separation of water-in-oil emulsions (2014)
Journal Article
Binner, E., Robinson, J. P., Silvester, S., Kingman, S., & Lester, E. (2014). Investigation into the mechanisms by which microwave heating enhances separation of water-in-oil emulsions. Fuel, 116, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2013.08.042

The separation of water-in-oil emulsions made with Azeri crude was investigated using natural gravity settling and microwave heating techniques. Separation times could be reduced by an order of magnitude compared with untreated emulsions. Increasing... Read More about Investigation into the mechanisms by which microwave heating enhances separation of water-in-oil emulsions.

The rapid size- and shape-controlled continuous hydrothermal synthesis of metal sulphide nanomaterials (2014)
Journal Article
Dunne, P. W., Starkey, C. L., Gimeno-Fabra, M., & Lester, E. (2014). The rapid size- and shape-controlled continuous hydrothermal synthesis of metal sulphide nanomaterials. Nanoscale, 6(4), 2406-2418. https://doi.org/10.1039/c3nr05749f

Continuous flow hydrothermal synthesis offers a cheap, green and highly scalable route for the preparation of inorganic nanomaterials which has predominantly been applied to metal oxide based materials. In this work we report the first continuous flo... Read More about The rapid size- and shape-controlled continuous hydrothermal synthesis of metal sulphide nanomaterials.

A review of microwave coal processing (2014)
Journal Article
Binner, E., Lester, E., Kingman, S., Dodds, C., Wu, T., Robinson, J. P., …Mathews, J. P. (2014). A review of microwave coal processing. Journal of Microwave Power and Electromagnetic Energy, 48(1),

This paper reviews the application of microwave energy in coal processing and utilisation. It covers a wide variety of processes including liberation of minerals, coal drying, pre-treatment to improve grindability, liquefaction enhancements and coke... Read More about A review of microwave coal processing.

Optimisation of biomass milling for conveyance and combustion (2013)
Conference Proceeding
Williams, O., Eastwick, C., Lester, E., Giddings, D., & Byrne, N. (2013). Optimisation of biomass milling for conveyance and combustion.

Agricultural wastes are increasingly being used as biomass materials for co-firing in coal fired power stations. However issues in milling and conveyance of agricultural residues are limiting the use of these resources and a greater understanding of... Read More about Optimisation of biomass milling for conveyance and combustion.

Separation of oil/water emulsions in continuous flow using microwave heating (2013)
Journal Article
Binner, E., Robinson, J. P., Kingman, S., Lester, E., Azzopardi, B. J., Dimitrakis, G., & Briggs, J. (2013). Separation of oil/water emulsions in continuous flow using microwave heating. Energy and Fuels, 27(6), https://doi.org/10.1021/ef400634n

This work studies a continuous flow microwave system to enhance gravity settling of water-in-oil emulsions. Settling times were found to be dependent upon the applied power, flowrate and energy input. Power and energy input are linked to liquid flowr... Read More about Separation of oil/water emulsions in continuous flow using microwave heating.

Melt-processed PLA/HA platelet nanoparticle composites produced using tailored dispersants
Conference Proceeding
Parsons, A. J., Walton, K., Hild, F., Ilchev, A., Gimeno-Fabra, M., Tomczynska, M. M., …Irvine, D. J. (in press). Melt-processed PLA/HA platelet nanoparticle composites produced using tailored dispersants.

Hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles, similar to those seen in the structure of human bone, have been produced via hydrothermal synthesisand used to produce nanocomposite materials via melt blending with poly(lactic acid)(PLA). Both of these processes a... Read More about Melt-processed PLA/HA platelet nanoparticle composites produced using tailored dispersants.