The rapid progress in intermittent solar, wind technologies has created an urgent need to develop parallel technologies of storing energy in forms that are suitable for on-site applications as well as long distance transmission. The present method of storing the surplus energy in batteries is not a viable solution in the long run, owing to the limited reserves and toxicity of battery materials. In such a scenario, storing the obtained energy in the form of H2 fuel is a fairly attractive strategy. Alkaline water electrolyzer (AWE) have been a key technology for large-scale hydrogen production and are capable of generating energy in MW range. Alkaline water electrolyzer (AWE) still requires technological make-over to reach the desired efficiency of about 90 % from the current 70 %. On the other hand, counterpart technology of proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzer is highly efficient, but its investment cost and low lifetime limits commercialization. The investment cost of AWE today is around 1000-1200 $/kW, and PEM is 1700-2500 $/kW. In addition, the lifetime of AWE is higher and the annual maintenance costs are lower compared to PEM. Although AWE has an economic advantage over PEM, integrating AWE with an intermittent energy source of solar and wind power requires a major advancement in the design to be used in dynamic operating conditions. The key objective of this research is to develop a multipurpose low-cost water electrolyzer for H2 production by electrolysis of alkaline-water with special focus on seawater (alkaline) water to store intermittent energy sources (solar and wind) in form of clean fuel. Unfortunately, there are no commercial electrolyzer that run on seawater, owing to the associated research and technical challenges of high activity, OER selectivity, stability, and low cost. The present project aims to develop AWE stacks for H2 production employing efficient, cost-effective two-dimensional transition metal compounds (2D-TMC).

Pharmaceutical industry is starting to adopt the approach of continuous manufacturing, with as few unit operations as possible, to deliver drug products in a faster, robust, cheaper and sustainable way. Poor mechanical properties of many drug substances are a hindrance to this, making them unsuitable for direct compression into tablets without additional operations. This challenge can be solved by co-processing: joining the particles of such drugs to the particles of inactive substances known as excipients (e.g. lactose), normally used for tablets production. The aim of this project is to develop a universal drug-excipient co-processing (CP) platform based on surface crystallization or co-precipitation. A CP method in a milifluidic device will be optimised with a range of drugs with differing physicochemical properties. The relationships between them, as well as excipient properties, parameters of the method and structural and functional characteristics of the obtained composites will be thoroughly investigated. To this end, cutting edge techniques will be employed to analyse particle size, morphology, dissolution and mechanical behaviour. To demonstrate improved manufacturability, the prototype CP material will be used for direct compression, and the tablets quality will be evaluated according to European Pharmacopeia requirements. The project will enable the researcher to achieve professional maturity in the field of particle engineering, allowing to employ her skills both in academia and in pharmaceutical industry. The results of the research will have commercialisation value, being of interest to companies as a potential new platform in (pre)formulation portfolio. The project will contribute to the body of evidence informing the decisions of regulators on pharmaceutical co-processing. In the long term, such impact should advance the transformation towards continuous manufacturing of affordable, available and sustainable drug products.

Lithium-metal solid-state batteries (LMSSBs) are regarded as highly promising Post-Lithium-Ion Technology due to their high energy density and exceptional safety. However, their practical application remains challenging because of the interfacial issues at the metallic lithium|solid-state electrolyte interface (e.g., contact resistance and dendrite formation). In this regard, interlayer engineering based on carbon materials with different dimensions and fluorination degrees has been proposed to effectively address interfacial issues. Specifically, carbon quantum dots (0D), nanostripes (1D), and nanosheets (2D) will be used to clarify the influence of the geometric structure of carbon on the plating/stripping performance of lithium ions. Also, the fluorination degrees of carbon nanostructures will be precisely regulated to quantitively understand the fluorine chemistry-electrochemical performance relationships. Ultimately, this project will fill the knowledge gap in geometric design and chemical modification of carbon-based interlayer materials for developing safety LMSSBs with energy density > 500 Wh kg-1 and cycling life > 2000 times.

Two dimensional (2D) materials and their composites are now in trends due high electrocatalytic activity and ion storage capacity. The development of cost-effective and simple electrocatalyst for energy applications are still challenging. The best substitute to typical Transition metal oxides/hydroxides/chalcogenides (TMOs/TMHs/TMC) for electrocatalysis is Transition metal based Layer Double Hydroxide (TM-LDH). Layer Double Hydroxide materials have various benefits, including low cost, chemical composition variety, easily manipulated characteristics, a wide range of preparation variables, unique anion exchange and intercalation properties, chemical stability, and colloidal and thermal behaviour. But the fewer active sites and poor electronic conductivity of Layer Double Hydroxide restricts their applications. Here, the proposed work has the purpose to contribute to the expansion of electrocatalysts that are effective in a variety of energy applications. The main focus is to develop hierarchical structure of Layer Double Hydroxide, composition of Layer Double Hydroxide/Transition metal chalcogenides and Layer Double Hydroxide/carbon based materials adopting various methods such as hydrothermal/solvothermal, liquid phase exfoliation and electrodeposition. The technique appears to eliminate hurdles related to electrical/ionic conductivity and surface morphology, resulting in a bifunctional/trifunctional electrocatalyst that is effective for wearable supercapacitor and overall water splitting.