RESEARCH THEMES Sustainable Power

A reliable and affordable supply of low-carbon electricity is critical to the decarbonisation of economies around the world. The electrification of heating, transport and industry, until now major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, will drive increasing demand for clean power in the decades to come. In the UK and in a growing number of other countries, low-carbon energy sources like wind, solar and nuclear already provide a significant share of electricity generation, but the imperative remains to improve performance and reduce costs.

New technologies will also be needed to ensure the stability of power systems. Imperial College London has a rich portfolio of basic and applied research in sustainable power ranging from wind and solar energy to marine, bioenergy and fuel cell technologies. Through our Sustainable Power theme, we seek to drive innovation in the development of these technologies, and, by collaborating with industrial partners, demonstrate their effectiveness and scalability.

Centre for Nuclear Engineering

Led by Dr Michael Bluck, the Centre for Nuclear Engineering (CNE) is a cross-faculty centre promoting and co-ordinating nuclear energy research across Imperial in collaboration with key external partners. The Centre’s history spans back to just after the Second World War, and in the intervening time its researchers have made important contributions to the development of nuclear energy in the UK and overseas. The Centre also coordinates innovative educational programmes at all levels, both within the college and externally.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/nuclear-engineering/

Data Learning group

Led by Dr Rossella Arcucci from the Department of Earth Sciences and Engineering, the Data Learning Group is an interdisciplinary working group of researchers and students developing new technologies based on Data Assimilation and Machine Learning. The group fosters effective communication between scientists coming from different scientific disciplines and departments at Imperial College London and other institutions.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/data-science/research/ research-themes/datalearning/

Durrant Group

Led by Professor James Durrant, the Durrant Group, based in the Department of Chemistry, is developing new chemical approaches to solar energy conversion - harnessing solar energy either to produce electricity or molecular fuels. The group undertakes fundamental scientific studies of new materials and device concepts, aiming to elucidate design principles which enable technological development. Its research is based around using transient laser spectroscopies to undertake photochemical studies of light-driven electron and energy transfer reactions. Such studies are undertaken in parallel with device development and functional characterisation.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/durrant-group/

Kucernak Group

Led by Professor Anthony Kucernak, the Kucernak Group is based in the Department of Chemistry. The team specialises in the creation of novel electrochemical diagnostic techniques used in the development of clean energy devices such as low-temperature fuel cells, supercapacitors and redox flow batteries. The team studies a large number of aspects of fuel cell systems ranging from the development of new electrocatalysts, the development of new techniques to characterise and study electrocatalysts, the development of fuel cell electrodes, and the development of new methods to characterise fuel cells.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/kucernak-group/

Load Control and Aeroelastics Lab

Led by Professor Rafael Palacios, the Load Control and Aeroelastics Laboratory, based in the Department of Aeronatics, investigates computational methods for the multidisciplinary analysis, design, optimization, and feedback control of next-generation aeroelastic air vehicles (big and small) and wind turbines. The team puts a particular emphasis on solutions that continuously modify the aerodynamic characteristics of wings and blades using real-time feedback systems and on building the computational methods necessary to both understand the problems and implement them in real applications.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/aeroelastics/about

Mattevi 2D Materials group

Led by Dr Cecilia Mattevi, the 2D Materials group investigates the science and engineering of novel 2D atomically thin materials to enable applications in energy conversion and energy storage. The group focuses on the precise synthesis of 2D materials and their three-dimensional structuring in the form of miniaturized devices to address pressing challenges in energy storage devices and energy conversion systems. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/two-dimensionalmaterials/

Plasma Physics Group

As over 99% of the universe is in a plasma state, plasma physics is a fundamental subject underpinning many wide research areas such as astrophysics, space physics, laboratory ionised gases and controlled thermonuclear fusion. One of humanity's vital quests today is to harness the power source of the sun in a controlled laboratory environment for a new source of energy. The concept originated with the groundbreaking work of Sir George Thomson in our group. Being one of the main driving forces behind plasma physics research, the group continues to engage in both aspects of intertial confinement fusion (ICF) and magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) research.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/plasma-physics/

Reaction Engineering and Catalytic Technology (REaCT)

Led by Professor Klaus Hellgardt, the Reaction Engineering and Catalytic Technology group is a multidisciplinary team based in the Department of Chemical Engineering. The group’s research centres on catalyst technology as well as processes which involve a combination of both reaction and separation. This work extends to the development and application of structured reactors as well as interest in the modelling of catalytic processes. The environment, energy and the incorporation of green technology also figure prominently in a number of the group’s research projects.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/reaction-engineering-andcatalytic-technology/

Smart Combustion and Elegant Fluids (SCEF)

Led by Dr Andrea Giusti in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Smart Combustion and Elegant Fluids group investigates interactions at the micro/ nano scales in fluids using both experiments and numerical simulations. Tailoring the fluid characteristics with nanomaterials and exploiting interactions with electromagnetic waves are foreseen as the two main paths for innovation of a wide range of technologies using fluids. Activities include the investigations of elecromagnetic interactions in nanofuel combustion and the study of engineered bubbles.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/a.giusti

Integrated Development of Low-Carbon Energy Systems

The Integrated Development of Low-Carbon Energy Systems (IDLES) programme brings together researchers from across Imperial College to provide the evidence needed to facilitate a cost-effective and secure transition to a low-carbon future. This 5-year programme, funded by EPSRC and industry partners, began in November 2018 and centres on whole-energy systems analysis; aiming to create a modelling tool that can better coordinate the complex interactions within the energy domain and indicate optimal forms of future, integrated, energy systems to policy makers. Using this approach to plan the UK’s future energy system has the potential to enable large cost savings in providing decarbonised energy, to ensure security of supply and compliance with emissions targets.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/energy-futures-lab/ idles/

Wireless Power Lab

Led by Professor Paul Mitcheson, the Wireless Power Lab at Imperial College London is a world-leading research group in the field of mid-range wireless power transfer using highly efficient, high frequency power electronics. The group holds the IP of several state-of-the-art circuit topologies that enable impressively high efficiencies (>85%) for wireless power transfer whilst allowing the device getting charged to move within a large energised area generated by the transmitter. This latter feature is crucial in applications such as dynamic charging of electric vehicles and wireless charging of biomedical implants where exact alignment between transmitter and receiver is not possible.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/wireless-power/