About the Project

Surfaces in wet environments biofoul, which is a pressing issue affecting many industries, including water treatment industries: during membrane filtration, bacteria adhere on the membrane surface and biofouling forms, reducing water quantity and quality produced, increasing energy costs and requiring frequent harsh cleaning methods. Ultimately, cleaning becomes inefficient and irretrievable surface damage occurs, requiring complete replacement of the membranes. The objective of this project is to develop efficient cleaning strategies for membranes, including optimizing and testing innovative self-cleaning and anti-biofouling membrane polymeric coatings currently being developed by the team (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352940725002719). The coating is light responsive, i.e. it will change its physical properties at the nano and microscale when subjected to visible light, allowing for surface biofouling to be removed with visible light, remotely and contactless. This translates to more sustainable cleaning practices by removing the need for chemical cleaning techniques with hazardous and toxic cleaning agents, or the need for harsh physical cleaning methods. Moreover, enhanced material reusability is achieved, translating to lower replacement needs and lowering operational costs. This project is part of the EPSRC Programme Grant “Decentralized Water Technologies” (https://www.offgridwater.org.uk/), a consortium of several Universities, aiming at accelerating the delivery of sustainable and low-cost decentralised water and wastewater technologies, by bringing most up-to-date bioscience and engineering together, so off-grid systems are configured with confidence.

Early application is advised as the position will be filled once a suitable candidate is identified.

Funding Notes

Tuition fees + stipend are available for applicants who qualify as Home applicants.

To qualify as a Home student, you must fulfil one of the following criteria:

• You are a UK applicant.
• You are an EU applicant with settled/pre-settled status who also has 3 years residency in the UK/EEA/Gibraltar/Switzerland immediately before the start of your programme.

Applications are also welcomed from those who have secured their own funding through scholarship or similar.