The majority of chemistry research at USW is concerned with the development and application of new catalytic entities, particularly within the field of renewable energy and sustainable manufacturing processes. The ongoing development and application of novel chemical entities, which strongly impacts many areas of our everyday life, is a critical factor in the continued competitiveness of our society.
Within this field, catalysis is uniquely placed as a multidisciplinary and enabling technology which is at the heart of strategies for reducing environmental impact, the development of novel sustainable chemistry and future energy challenges. Recent developments within the fields of heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis, has led to new and exciting opportunities to develop these new catalytic entities to address these challenges at a regional, national and international level.
The wider scope of chemistry research at USW encompass those areas of solid oxide fuel cells, computational chemistry, analytical chemistry, nanotechnology, pharmaceutical formulation and natural product syntheses.
Dr Nildo Costa
The synthesis, characterisation and exploitation of novel dimensional silicate materials as highly selective heterogeneous catalysts in sustainable chemical technology.
The development and characterisation of heterogeneous supported metal catalysts for the use in oxidation and reductions in the field of sustainable chemical reactions with a particular focus on the use of precious metal catalysts and investigating the effect of preparation conditions on their properties and final activity.
Coordination chemistry, organometallic chemistry, and homogeneous catalysis including the investigation of the activation and transformation of small molecules such as hydrogen, carbon dioxide and organic molecules, with a particular focus on boron-based ligands which act cooperatively with a transition metal to cleave H2 and store hydrogen atoms. These can be reversibly transferred between boron and metal centres via a hydrogen atom shuttle mechanism. This can be utilised as a tool for the construction of new molecules.
Our multidisciplinary research involves collaboration with industry, academia and Government partners. These include:
We welcome UK and international applications from suitably qualified graduates interested in joining us for either Masters by Research or PhD research programmes. We also offer a one year taught MSc in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, which tailors students expertise to areas in the pharmaceutical industry. Find out more on the Graduate School website or contact Professor Gareth Owen for an informal discussion.