Sans Research Group
Obinna Okafor
Obinna graduated with a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Liverpool. He currently develops novel mesoscale flow devices utilising 3D printing or Additive manufacturing with advanced mixing capabilities and added functionalities, for applications of synthesis applications, crystallisation and biochemistry.
Astrid Delorme
Astrid joined the Sans Research Group through the Centre of Doctoral Training in green and sustainable chemistry in 2016. She is looking into ways of tuning the redox properties of a catalyst with the aim to develop sustainable catalysts for selective oxidation of alcohols, for high-value manufacturing of chemicals in the pharmaceutical and fine-chemical industry. In her spare time she likes to travel, trying different sports and spending time with friends and family.
Andreas Weilhard
Andreas Weilhard obtained his MSc at the University of Cologne. The MSc-thesis was conducted in a co-operation of PD Dr. Martin Prechtl and Prof. Jairton Dupont on the field of nanocatalysis in ionic liquids.
In 2016 he joined the research group of Victor Sans Sangorrin. His research focuses on homogeneous - and heterogeneous catalysis in ionic liquids for Carbon Dioxide reduction.
Jose Pinto
Originally from Sesimbra, Portugal, José is currently a PhD student in CDT in Sustainable Chemistry. He graduated in 2011 with a BSc in Biochemistry and in 2013 José received an MSc in Biotechnology at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (NOVA), Portugal.
During his studies he worked in nanotechnology / biochemistry and developed a master’s thesis on the development of an alternative route for the separation of menthol oils using biocatalysis and alternative solvents.
Subsequently, he received a grant for project on production of molecularly imprinted polymers for the removal of genotoxic agents from Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, in a partnership between NOVA and Hovione.
Currently, he’s developing a surrogate jet fuel based in the selective hydrogenation of carefully chosen terpenes. This technology relies on the utilisation of organosilicas conjugated with metallic catalysts for the creation of a sustainable jet fuel.
His research interests are based on metallic catalysis, biocatalysis, process adaptation towards greener routes, alternative solvents and RAFT polymerization.
Alastair Baker
Alastair joins the SRG from the Institute of Process Research and Development (iPRD, Leeds) on a collaborative project. Having investigated homogenous catalysts for the valorisation of feedstock ethanol and constructed a multifunctional flow platform for high throughput screening. An automated continuous high temperature and pressure (High T/p) reactor with at-line GC with feedback loop performing Design of Experiments (DoE) and self-optimisation has been designed, built, tested and operating in the iPRD, Leeds.
Previously he received his PhD in 2016 from Cardiff University completing his thesis in developing flow factors for the continuous synthesis of garlic metabolites, on a joint funded SME industrial CASE award from Neem Biotech and the Welsh Assembly Government. He also expertise in the synthesis, characterisation and natural product isolation.
Dominic Wales
Dr Dominic J. Wales graduated from the University of Southampton (UK) with a 1st Class MChem degree (Hons) in chemistry in 2009, followed by the award of a Ph.D. in chemistry in 2014. In collaboration with the Optoelectronics Research Centre, his Ph.D. thesis investigated the application of porous materials and polymers to integrated optical refractometers for application in gas sensing. After completion of his Ph.D. studies, he continued researching in the fields of gas sensing, metal-organic framework chemistry and zeolite chemistry as a Research Officer at the University of Bath (UK). Most recently, he returned to the University of Southampton (UK) as a Research Fellow in Chemistry where he worked on amphiphilic self-assembling supramolecular lanthanide complexes for Langmuir-Blodgett and gas sensing applications. He has experience of scientific consultancy and is a Member of both the Royal Society of Chemistry and Optical Society of America.
Vinicius Maciel
VinÃcius Maciel is currently a PhD student from Brazil. He is a Chemist graduated in 2013 with a BSc in Chemistry Technology and in 2015 VinÃcius received an MSc in Materials Enginnering and Tecnology at the Pontifical University Catholic of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. His researches focuses on environmental impacts evaluation from Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. He has experience in LCA studies of the chemical industry, agricultural systems and energy generation from renewable energy. His research interests are based on sustainable processes, green chemistry and carbon dioxide reduction.
Juliane Langer
Juliane Langer is an undergraduate Chemical Engineer originally from Germany. She is participating in an industrial placement at Uniper in the 2017/18 academic year.
In the summer of 2017 she undertook a summer placement in the Sans Research group working on a range of projects; these included working with supported ionic liquid phase catalysts and a continuous flow reactor system to explore how sonication affects the size of the nanoparticles obtained.
Dr. Erno Karjalainen is a polymer scientist originally from Finland. He obtained his PhD from the University of Helsinki in 2015 and started working in the Sans Research Group in September of the same year.
His research interests include stimuli responsive polymers, controlled radical polymerization, and polymeric ionic liquids (PILs). He left the group in February 2017
Dr. Katharina Kastner
I studied for my chemistry degree at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, graduating with a masters degree in 2011. In 2012 I started my PhD in the field of vanadium-based molecular metal-oxides in the group of Prof. Carsten Streb in Erlangen. In 2013 our group moved to Ulm University, Germany, where I also obtained my PhD in 2015. During my PhD I spent 5 months at Monash University, Victoria, Australia to work with Prof. Alan Bond to investigate the redox-behaviour of transition-metal-functionalized vanadium-oxide compounds.
During my postdoc-project here at the University of Nottingham I am working with Dr Victor Sans and Dr Graham Newton. My project is focussed on the development of organic/inorganic hybrid materials based on molecular metal oxides.
She left the group in March 2017
Dr. Qun Cao
Qun graduated in 2011 with a B.Eng in Chemical Engineering and Technology from China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT). Then he was awarded PhD degree in Chemistry at Queen’s University Belfast, under the supervision of Dr. Mark Muldoon in 2016. Afterwards, Qun joined the Sans Research Group as postdoc at The University of Nottingham (UoN), and he is now focusing on synthesizing polymeric ionic liquids (PILs) with advanced molecular materials for 3D printing devices. He left the group in January 2017
Edgar Peris Salom
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