Biography

Research Project: Advanced characterisation of small molecule adsorption in complex solid materials
Supervisors: Daryl Williams (Imperial), Ivan Parkin (UCL)

Elwin graduated with an MEng in Chemical Engineering from UCL. His project is focused on air cleaning and environmental applications and has two key goals. First, the development of novel techniques for measuring the adsorption interactions of materials with complex headspaces consisting of multiple volatile species and an excess water vapour. Second, using these techniques to characterise the interactions of harmful species with a range of solid materials: industrial adsorbents, such as activated charcoals and zeolites; household materials, such as cotton, polyester, and polypropylene; and novel adsorbents such as porous polymers and zeolitic frameworks. By understanding how these materials adsorb VOCs in real-world conditions, important design and screening decisions can be made for the application of air cleaning.