Biography

Jay graduated from the CDT in 2021 

Research Project: The removal of arsenic from groundwater
Supervisors: Dominik Weiss (Imperial), Ramon Vilar (Imperial)

Jay received a First-Class Honours degree (MSci) in Chemistry from University College London, with a master’s project using DFT calculations to model carbon nitride polymers as a material in lithium-ion energy device anodes. After working as a Chemistry teacher in South Korea Jay is now studying for a PhD, where his research  investigates the use of novel photocatalyst-sorbent composite materials for the removal of arsenic from contaminated drinking water in countries such as Bangladesh and India. Currently researching mesoporous titania-hematite composites, Jay is modelling surface adsorption through determination of surface charge (potentiometric titration), surface complexation constants (batch experiments, ICP-MS, ICP-AES) and physical characterisation with LEIS and BET analysis. The next part of this work will involve determining rate constants for the UV catalysed oxidation of As(III) to As(V) in different aqueous media. In these experiments arsenic speciation is determined by Anodic Stripping Voltammetry. Characterisation techniques used so far include XRD, SEM-EDS, TEM, LEIS, and BET analysis.