Particle-driven gravity currents arise in many situations in nature and industry, including large turbidity currents that spread up to hundreds of km over the sea floor, volcanic ash flows that travel tens of km from volcanic vents, and particle suspensions produced during deep-sea mining operations. Much research into the dynamics of these flows has been
Electrochemical splitting of water to generate hydrogen as a fuel is one of the important possible approaches to replace fossil fuels. Demand for hydrogen is increasing rapidly owing to its various applications in the chemical industry, transportation, and power sectors. Hydrogen is also essential to decarbonise major industrial processes such as the Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis
The performance of Zn metal batteries is limited by the parasitic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), which occurs at potentials similar to Zn plating. The HER contributes to losses in coulombic efficiency and causes passivation via local pH changes, resulting in by-product formation on the electrode surface. Understanding these processes is essential for controlling Zn morphology
A new paper by professor Andy Woods and former PhD student Dan Toy has been recently published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics. In this paper, Andy and Dan investigate the transient ventilation flows which develop in a building with upward mechanical displacement ventilation following variations in the heat load and ventilation rate. In steady
Greenland and Antarctica are the world’s largest store of freshwater ice, with the potential to become the main drivers of sea-level rise. Subglacial water plays a key role in determining how the ice sheets slide over their bases, and hence how much ice is transported to regions where melting is enhanced. At the base of
Carbon capture and storage must play a central part of the decarbonisation of the energy system, and researchers at the Institute has been working on carbon storage for over 15 years, exploring the control of CO2 in subsurface saline aquifers. A new research paper has just been published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, and illustrates
Corrosion continues to be a major global challenge representing 3% of the GDP of industrialised nations. However, there are still many unanswered scientific and technical questions about the corrosion process and the corrosion products that iron forms. It is not clear which of the many iron oxides, hydroxide and oxyhydroxides form as a scale, particularly
Small-scale turbulent mixing in the ocean interior is vital in governing ocean circulation and tracer distributions, and hence global climate. However, the planetary extent of this role and its dependence on the microphysics of mixing remain inadequately understood. A new article published in Nature Communications and co-authored by professor Colm Caulfield emphasises the variety of
Thin elastomeric gloves are protective equipment and essential in many occupations. Their value in the health and care sector was demonstrated during the recent Covid-19 pandemic. Most thin gloves are made from aqueous polymer dispersions, often called a latex, using a dipping process. A hand-shaped mould is dipped into a saturated calcium nitrate solution, followed
The Arctic Ocean has been changing rapidly in a warming climate. To monitor these changes, it is useful to classify the Arctic Ocean into water masses – bodies of water with similar origin and physical and biogeochemical properties. However, there are significant barriers to Arctic water mass classification: observations of seawater properties are sparse, and