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:
This research is focused on the carbon dioxide molecule and is aimed at utilising CO2 as a feedstock for the synthesis of commodity chemicals. We are looking at novel transition metal-based complexes to bind and transform the carbon dioxide molecule. This will be achieved by employing a proton shuttle type methodology in a similar fashion found in enzymes. The aim is to be able to efficiently produce chemicals such as methanol or organic carbonates at a relatively cheap cost.
We have two projects on this theme:
Development of Methodologies for Manufacture of Value Chemicals Derived from Carbon Dioxide. This is a £500K project funded by the Sêr Cymru – Capacity Building Acceleration Award Scheme.
Development of Methodologies for Conversion of Carbon Dioxide into Value Commodity Chemicals via Transition Metal Mediated Proton Shuttle Mechanisms. This is a KESS II funded PhD student project (Joseph Goldsworthy) in collaboration with Tata Steel.
Desulfurisation and transformation of sulfur containing compounds into sulfate. This is a KESS II funded PhD student project (Miriam Jackson) in collaboration with Tata Steel as industrial sponsor. Miriam’s project focuses on the challenges associated with the presence of sulfur-based compounds within coke oven gas. Coke oven gas is produced during coke making; an essential part of steel production. One of the major sulfur containing components is hydrogen sulfide. The project looks at the transformation of hydrogen sulfide into sulfates. The project also focuses on the synthesis and application of transition metal complexes for the transformation of H2S and other sulfur-based components into new compounds.
Upgraded value of coke oven by-products – deriving higher value chemicals from Coke Oven by-products and wastes. This is a KESS II funded PhD student project (Shannan Southwood Samuel) in collaboration with Tata Steel as industrial sponsor. Shannan’s project is tailored around extracting high value commodities components from coal tars. Coal tar contains over 400 different compounds and so the aim of this research is to identify the high value compounds and extract them from this complex matrix. The research focuses on the design and synthesis of new Task Specific Ionic Liquids (TSILs) for the purposes of extraction and separation of these value chemicals via specific solvent-solute interactions.
This is a KESS II funded PhD student project (Rachel McLaren) in collaboration with Perpetuus Carbon Technologies. Rachel’s project entails the synthetic modification, characterisation and application of commercially synthesised plasma exfoliated graphitic material. The project investigates covalent and non-covalent synthetic procedures to functionalise the surface of the materials, and quantify these via analytical techniques including XPS, Raman spectroscopy, BET, XRD, NMR, FT-IR, SEM, TEM and TGA.
We are currently investigating the application of multi-layer graphitic composites within membrane synthesis. Furthermore, the project also looks at the porous structures of the materials, and how these can be altered and tailored for advanced applications.
We have a number of projects focused on the development of multifunctional complexes which have more than one reaction site. More specifically, these include transition metal complexes which contain ligands capable of receiving (storing) various functional groups at a site away from the metal centre.
As shown in Scheme 1, a system we have developed in particular depth is that in which a borane containing functional group has been tethered in close proximity to a transition metal centre via various three atom bridging groups (represented by the E▬L notation). These systems exhibit the potential for reactivity at both the boron and the transition metal centres. This offers significant advantages since it allows the metal to exhibit reactivity which would have potentially otherwise been blocked. It is hard for the metal juggling many transformations at the same time. In essence, the boron centre in this case is offering the metal “a helping hand”. With the transition metal‒borane complexes possess there is the added advantage that transformations can also occur at the boron centre itself or in combination with the transition metal centre.
We have demonstrated this type of reactivity and shown that it can successfully be applied to the activation of element‒element bonds (Scheme 2).
These two transformations in combination afford powerful tools for the activation of bonds and delivery of hydrogen atoms (or potentially other groups) on to various substrates. These are being utilised within homogeneous catalytic transformations.
We were the first to demonstrate that the bond in H2 could be cleaved in this way. This new mode of Lewis acid mediated heterolytic cleavage provides a way in which hydrogen atoms can be added to the boron centre, providing a mechanism for recharge and thus offering a new strategy for catalysis.
PhD student, Simon Thomas is working on this research theme. Simon’s project has provided an exploration of the interplay and migration of hydrogen atoms between reactive centres within transition metal catalysts.
This research work, funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant, is a continuation of a long-standing collaboration between USW's Dr Andy Graham and Professor Stuart Taylor (Cardiff Catalysis Institute, Cardiff University).
Imogolite nanotubes lengthwise view
Imogolite nanotubes end on view
This project further extends this relationship to develop strategies to access a new class of hierarchical nanocomposite inorganic/organic materials derived from imogolite nanotubes, and to harness their potential as novel catalytic materials for clean chemical technology.
Projects include:
The shortened and efficient synthesis of analogues of the natural product lactacystin. Lactacystin 1 is an important biologically active pyrrolidinone based natural product showing potent, highly selective, and irreversible inhibition of the 20S proteasome.
The construction of 2,5-dihydropyrroles/and derivatives via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of azomethine ylides. The 2,5-dihydropyrrole motif is present in numerous natural alkaloids and biologically active compounds and can serve as an important building block in organic synthesis through further elaboration/functionalisation of its carbon–carbon double bond. Using the established protocol of our ultimate aim is to expand on 2,5-dihydropyrrole scaffold to access bioactive heterocyclic compounds.
In this collaborative project with Tata Steel Strip Products in Port Talbot, UK, the use of solid oxide fuel cell and electrolysis technology is being investigated to recover hydrogen, electrical power and heat energy from waste methane and ammonia produced as a result of steelmaking.
Dr Anna Booth's research interests lie in utilising main group, organometallic and coordination chemistry for applied applications. She is currently drawing on experience in these areas to develop sustainable chemistry solutions for battery recycling and hydrogen storage materials. Anna completed her PhD at the University of Oxford under the supervision of professors S. Aldridge, S. Faulkner and B. Cornelissen. Her work explored the synthesis and water stability of fluoroborane compounds for bioconjugation and medical imaging applications
Dr Nildo Costa is a senior researcher in inorganic chemistry and carries out research in inorganic chemistry and materials focussing on hydrogen storage and catalysis. He has also interest in the synthesis of advanced functional materials for application in photonics and sensors.
Dr Costa is Director of Studies for a KESSII sponsored PhD project in collaboration with Tata Steel UK as industrial partner. The project aims at developing catalysts for carbon dioxide transformation and utilisation as chemical feedstock leading to sustainable and environmentally friendly processes.
Dr Costa received his PhD degree in 2006 from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He carried out postdoctoral research in chemistry at the Universities of Bordeaux, Bristol, Saint Andrews and Imperial College London.
Dr Natasha Galea's research is concerned with computational chemistry; particularly the molecular modelling of gas-phase catalysis, and solid state materials (mainly SOFCs).
Dr Andrew Graham's research interests are concerned with the synthesis, characterisation and exploitation of novel dimensional silicate materials as highly selective heterogeneous catalysts in sustainable chemical technology. In particular:
His current project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, will develop new strategies for the synthesis of surface functionalised nanotubular materials.
Dr Rehana Karim's research interests include synthesis of bioactive heterocyclic compounds and natural products.
Her current projects include: synthesis of analogues of natural product lactacystin and synthesis of of 2,5-dihydropyrroles/and derivatives via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of azomethine ylides.
Dr Karim completed her PhD under the supervision of professors Russ Bowman and Steve Allin (Loughborough University) followed by postdoctoral research under the supervision of Professor John Joule (The University of Manchester).
Dr Suzanna Kean is Head of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Science at USW. She has extensive experience as a chemical analyst, and specialises in NMR spectroscopy.
Dr Christian Laycock is a lecturer specialising in electrochemistry and heterogeneous catalysis and a member of SERC. His research interests focus on the application of solid oxide fuel cell technology to the utilisation and disposal of renewable and industrial waste gas feedstocks.
He has expertise in the real-time analysis of gas streams using online mass spectrometry, in particular to observe fuel processing, catalysis, and the effects of fuel variability and contaminants. He is also involved in research activities concerned with hybrid flow battery technology and their application to recovery of scrap metals. In addition, Christian has expertise in the application of alkali silicates to treat industrial waste and by-product streams.
Dr Laycock has worked on a range of WEFO-funded projects including CymruH2Wales, SOLCER and Welsh Energy Sector Training (WEST) He is currently working on the ERDF-funded FLEXIS and RICE projects. He is the director of studies for five PhD projects, four of which are funded by the ESF KESSII scheme.
Dr Peter Miedziak's research interests are focused on the development and characterisation of heterogeneous supported metal catalysts for the use in oxidation and reductions in the field of sustainable chemical reactions. He has a particular interest in precious metal catalysts focussing on investigating the effect of preparation conditions on the properties and activity of the final catalyst.
Gareth Owen is Professor in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of South Wales.
Professor Owen has published 54 research articles during his career to date [Total number of citations: 1901; (Feb 2021, H-index: 24)] with a total research grant portfolio of £1.7 million. He currently maintains a research group of a senior researcher and five PhD students. In 2012 Professor Owen was awarded a “2012 Organometallics Fellowship’ prize by the American Chemical Society. (See editorial: Organometallics 2012, 31, 7303). ORCID: 0000-0002-8695-757X.
He received his PhD from Imperial College London and subsequently took a postdoctoral post in the research group of Professor John A. Gladysz, in Germany. During this time, Professor Owen was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship. He later returned to the UK to take up a Centenary Ramsay Memorial Research Fellowship which was hosted at the University of Bristol. This was followed by a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship again at Bristol.
Dr Ranjit Bag is a research fellow in Homogeneous Catalysis at University of South Wales. Currently he is working on the project development of methodologies for manufacture of value chemicals derived from carbon dioxide in Dr Owen’s research group.
Dr Bag obtained his PhD degree in Inorganic Chemistry in 2021 from Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai for research on synthesis and reactivity of metallaborane and transition metal diborane complexes. During PhD studies he received the Institute research award 2021, IITM in recognition of his excellent research work. Also, he received the Warner Prize for the best thesis in Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry.
Dr Shepherd Siangwata’s research interests lie in organometallic synthesis, coordination chemistry, green chemistry and homogeneous catalysis. His current project with Associate Professor Gareth Owen is aimed at novel synthetic strategies for the sustainable use of precious metals on activation of carbon dioxide.
Shepherd holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. His PhD thesis focused on Platinum Group Metals through the preparation of recoverable and reusable novel mono- and multinuclear dendritic catalyst precursors for application in the hydroformylation reaction. Shepherd also carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Cape Town, focusing on the development of a new class of ruthenium-based bimetallic complexes with potential anti-proliferative activity.
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.
