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People

Principal Investigator

Dr Anna Hankin

I joined the Department of Chemical Engineering as a Lecturer/Assistant Professor in 2020. Previously I conducted my PhD and postdoctoral research in the Electrochemical Engineering research group at Imperial. I have a Master's degree in Physics.

Research interests

Electrochemical energy conversion

Water splitting & CO₂ reduction

Experimental characterisation of semiconductor | electrolyte interfaces

Micro-kinetic modelling of (photo-)electrochemical processes

Design, characterisation and modelling of scaled (photo-)electrochemical reactor systems

Metal recovery by electrodeposition

CO₂ utilisation

Postdoctoral Research Associates

Dr Xiaochu Wei

Hi, I am a Research Associate working with Dr Anna Hankin and Professor Magda Titirici. I completed my PhD in 2022, supervised by Dr Anna Hankin and Professor Geoff Kelsall in Chemical Engineering Department at Imperial College London where I also obtained an MSc in Advanced Chemical Engineering in 2017. My research focuses on the development of new processes to recover critical metals from multi-chemistry, end-of-life Li-ion and Na-ion batteries.

Dr John Rodriguez Acosta

Hello, I am working on up-scaling solar hydrogen production. I am modelling, designing, fabricating and testing novel prototype photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems. I received my Bachelor’s and PhD degrees at University of Valley, Colombia. I have experience in photoelectrocatalytic processes in wastewater treatment, modelling and simulation of chemical and electrochemical processes, development of electrochemical sensors and biosensors for virus detection and synthesis and bioconjugation of gold nanoparticles for sensing purposes.

PhD Researchers

Zhixu (Derek) Zhu

Hi, everyone! I am a third year PhD student at Imperial College London and funded by the Department of Chemical Engineering. My PhD research focuses on tackling global warming and the utilisation of carbon dioxide in carbon nanotube production with electrochemical methods. Before I started my PhD, I finished my MRes research on carbon aerogels in Department of Chemistry at Imperial. Before I joined Imperial, I received my BSc degree in Chemistry from University of Reading.

Mengya Yang

Hi! I am Mengya, a third year PhD student funded by the Department of Chemical Engineering. I received my BEng degree from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Central South University, and then I studied for a Master's degree at Zhejiang University, researching electrocatalyst materials. My PhD project focuses on the development and scale-up of photoelectrode materials for solar water splitting.

George Creasey

Hi! I am a second year PhD student at Imperial College London funded by the Department of Chemical Engineering. In 2022, I completed an integrated Master’s degree (MEng Chemical Engineering) at the University of Bath, with a year in industry at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). My PhD project focuses on the development and scale-up of photoelectrochemical reactors for hydrogen production.

Kanyapat (Kloy) Plub-in

Hi! I am a second year PhD student at Imperial College London and funded by the Royal Thai Government Scholarship. I graduated with a BEng degree in Chemical Engineering from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand before completing an MSc degree in Advanced Chemical Engineering at Imperial College in 2022. My PhD project focuses on the development of catalysts for electrochemical glycerol oxidation to co-produce hydrogen and value-added chemicals.

Hanzhi Ye

Hi, I am Hanzhi Ye, a second-year PhD student in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. I finished my BEng degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Manchester in 2020. I received my MSc degree in Advanced Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. My PhD research focus is on electrochemical oxidation of glycerol.

Visiting Researchers

Arend Moelich

Hello, I’m Arend! I’m a master’s candidate at Stellenbosch University (SU), South Africa, collaborating with Imperial College London on Solar2H2. My research is on the development of a concentrating solar optics system for photoelectrochemical hydrogen production. My background in mechanical engineering (BEng (Mechanical) at Stellenbosch University), and my love for nature, has led me to my current role as a researcher in the renewable energy field.

Jatupon Chaiwasu (2024)
Synthesis of Ni-based electrodes for alkaline water electrolysers via electrodeposition

Xiaochu Wei (2022)
Recovering materials from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries

Samara Sadeek (2021)
Electrochemical behaviour of carbon steel in aqueous amine solvents for post combustion CO2 capture

Dr Inyoung Jang
3D printing, characterisation and modelling of solid oxide electrochemical reactors.

MEng in Chemical Engineering

2023/2024

Weng Hin Hong & Li Xun Khor - 'Recovery of materials (Li, Mn, Ni, Co) from lithium-ion battery cathodes'

Alexander Kovacs & Konrad Reents - 'Operation and modelling of a new reactor for solar water splitting'

2022/2023

Sharwari Dixit - 'Design of a hybrid electrolyser system for H₂ production using an intermittent renewable power source'

Sid Halder & Jinjie Zhu - 'Modelling of optical components for H₂ production in modular photoelectrochemial reactors using COMSOL Multiphysics'

Marco Tome Freire & Daniel Binks - 'CO₂ utilisation in carbon nanotube (CNT) production'

2021/2022

Lok Wong - 'The creation, comparison, and validation of one- and two- dimensional vanadium redox flow battery stack process models'

Christopher Lawrence & Euichul Jeong - 'Metal electrodeposition to mitigate resistive losses associated with scale up of photoanodes in photoelectrochemical reactors'

MSc / MRes Students

2023/2024

Alvia Mohammad Yousuf - 'Investigating the photoactivation of Mo-doped BiVO4 for photoelectrochemical water oxidation' - MRes in Green Chemistry, Department of Chemistry - co-supervised with Dr Andreas Kafizas (Chemistry).

Hasna Sobari Ati - 'Optimising green hydrogen production: A focus on catalyst synthesis and implementation in an alkaline anion exchange membrane water electrolyser' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Puru Goel - 'Electrochemical recovery of valuable materials from spent Li-ion batteries' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Adilah Hassen - 'Optimising solar hydrogen generation in up-scaled systems' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Mischelle Thomas - 'CO₂ utilisation in carbon nanotube synthesis' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

2022/2023

Mohammed Alotaibi - 'Synthesis, optimisation, and characterisation of non-noble low-cost Ni-Mo electrocatalysts for integrated green hydrogen production via anion exchange membrane water electrolysis' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Liam O'Neill - 'Experimental characterisation of a novel photoelectrochemical reactor for hydrogen production via solar water splitting' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Yutong Ji - 'Investigation of metal ion (Li, Ni, Mn, Co) electrodeposition for cathode metal recovery from spent lithium-ion battery' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Sean Baywood Ibe - 'Deployment of carbon dioxide in carbon nanotubes synthesis' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Tristan McCallum - 'Enhancing the performance and stability of nanostructured WO₃/BiVO₄ heterojunction photoanodes, for medium scale photoelectrochemical hydrogen production via electrolyte fine-tuning' - MRes in Green Chemistry, Department of Chemistry - co-supervised with Dr Andreas Kafizas (Chemistry).

2021/2022

Kanyapat Plub-in - 'Electrocatalyst development for anion exchange membrane water electrolyser' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Feiran Li - 'Carbon dioxide utilisation in carbon nanotube production' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Bochen Li - 'Solar hydrogen generation in an up-scaled photoelectrochemical reactor' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Alex Fleetwood - 'Photo-electrochemical reactors for solar-powered hydrogen production' - MRes in Catalysis: Chemistry and Engineering, Department of Chemistry - co-supervised with Dr Andreas Kafizas (Chemistry).

2020/2021

Giovanni Lento - 'Carbon dioxide utilisation in carbon nanotube production' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Yuming Zhang - 'Optimisation of photoelectrode substrate structures for up-scaled photoelectrochemical reactors via kinetic modelling' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Nicole Marroquin - 'The effect of light attenuation on photoelectrochemical reactor efficiency' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering.

Yuqi Chen - 'Moving towards the low-cost solar generation of H₂ fuel - can metal oxide heterojunctions make this a reality?' - MRes in Catalysis: Chemistry and Engineering, Department of Chemistry - co-supervised with Dr Andreas Kafizas (Chemistry).

Christos Krigkou - 'Improving the performance of large-scale metal oxide heterojunction photoanodes for solar-driven water splitting: understanding their limitations through prototype device testing' - MSci in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry - co-supervised with Dr Andreas Kafizas (Chemistry).

2019/2020

Connor Donovan - 'Moving towards the low-cost solar generation of H₂ fuel - can metal oxide heterojunctions make this a reality?' - MRes in Catalysis: Chemistry and Engineering, Department of Chemistry - co-supervised by Dr Andreas Kafizas (Chemistry).

Gian Bains - 'A mechanistic study into the electrochemical stability of deep eutectic solvents' - MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering - co-supervised by Dr Sze-yin Tan (Chemical Engineering).

Undergraduate Research Opportunities (UROP) Students

Maximilian Allison (UG student from the University of Toronto) (2024) - 'Flat band potential of BiVO₄ photoanodes - a theoretical and experimental study for its determination'

Bruno Kubo (2024) - 'Development of an online tool for modelling electrochemical thermodynamics' (contd. project of R. Tang, E. Lam and C. Lawrence)

XingYu Piao, Candy Zhang & Maximilian Mittl (UG student at the Technical University of Munich) (2024) - 'Electrochemical recovery of heavy metals from waste solutions generated by sustainability-focused research'

Callum Wootton (2023) - 'Development of a novel method of synthesizing carbon nanotubes using CO₂ as a feedstock'

Chelsea Okezie-Akwiwu (2023) - 'Developing materials for low-cost, sustainable H₂ production from solar energy'

Ben Shelley (2023) - 'Solar hydrogen generation in an up-scaled photoelectrochemical reactor'

Haiyi Wang (2022) - 'Recovery of metals from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries'

Bohui (Robert) Tang (2022) - 'Development of an online tool for modelling electrochemical thermodynamics' (contd. project of E. Lam and C. Lawrence)

Sharwari Dixit (2021) - 'Enhancement of photoelectrode performance in green hydrogen production via electrodeposition of conductive metal interlayers'

Heather Page (2021) - 'Solar fuel devices database: Quantifying progress, unifying reporting, and enabling benchmarking'

Elton Lam (2021) - 'Development of an online tool for modelling electrochemical thermodynamics' (contd. project of C. Lawrence)

Christopher Lawrence (2020) - 'Development of an online tool for modelling electrochemical thermodynamics'

Federico Trotta (2019) - 'Synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using cameillia sinesis as biological reducing agent to produce conductive silver Inks for photoelectrochemical applications'