Research

To provide resilience, existing materials must be reinforced to cope, and new infrastructure materials must be designed to endure

State-of-the-art Advanced Infrastructure Materials Lab

The Advanced Infrastructure Materials Lab focuses on producing, processing, imaging, analysing and testing infrastructure materials. The aim is to provide advanced techniques that are not readily available to infrastructure materials researchers in the UK.

Find out more about our new Advanced Infrastructure Materials lab

Current Research Themes

Low-carbon sustainable infrastructure:
New cements, 3D printed metals, industrial ecology

Long-term durability and performance:
Concrete durability, fracture mechanics, service-life prediction

Functional and improved materials:
New types of permeable pavement, durable super-hydrophobic surfaces

Circular economy:
Novel thermal insulation materials, new biomaterials, ceramic processing, plastics in the oceans


Postgraduate Research

The Materials section provides a highly stimulating environment for research. If you are interested in applying for a PhD, contact the academic in the list below who works in your area of interest. Specific opportunities are advertised on the Opportunities page. 

Members of the Materials Section

Materials Academic and Teaching Staff A-Z
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Craig Buchanan

Senior Lecturer in Construction, PhD
Professional Institutions Liaison Officer
3D printing, metals, Material testing, Structural testing, Finite element modelling.

Nick Buenfeld

Professor of Concrete Structures,PhD, DIC, FICE, FIStructE, FREng
Concrete structures; Deterioration mechanisms; Design for durability; Condition assessment and monitoring; Life prediction of new and existing concrete structures. 

Chris Cheeseman

Professor of Materials Resources Engineering, PhD, MCIWM
Head of Materials Section
Waste management; Beneficial reuse of wastes; Low-carbon materials; Waste encapsulation technologies.

Livia Cupertino Malheiros

Lecturer, PhD
Hydrogen embrittlement; Materials science; Metallurgy; Corrosion; Environmentally assisted fracture; Engineering alloys; Fracture mechanics

Rupert Myers

Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Materials Engineering, PhD
Industrial ecology; Circular economy; Sustainable cities; Beneficial use of wastes/by-products; Cement, minerals, and aquatic chemistry/thermodynamics; Open science.

Hong Wong

Professor of Concrete Materials, PhD, DIC
Director of MSc in Advanced Materials for Sustainable Infrastructure
Undergraduate Year 2 Coordinator
Cement, concrete, microstructure, petrography, porous media, mass transport properties, durability, sustainability, low-carbon materials.

Chao Wu

Reader in Civil Engineering Materials, PhD
Polymer and polymer based composites, Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites and structures, Fatigue and fracture mechanics, Engineered cementitious composites (ECC), Structural retrofitting, Timber

Marcus Yio

Research Fellow, PhD
Laboratory Manager for the new Centre for Infrastructure Materials (CIM)
Cementitious materials; Concrete durability; Microstructure; Microscopy; Image analysis
Email Marcus
Materials Academics A-Z
Structures Academics A-Z
Materials Research Staff A-Z
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Anusha Basavaraj

Research Associate, PhD
Life cycle and Sustainability Assessment of Concrete Systems/ Working in the EPSRC sponsored project (EUREKA: Engineered UK Clays for the Production of Low Carbon Cement)
Email Anusha

Hamed Dabiri

Research Associate, PhD
Structural engineering; High strength permeable concrete pavements; Experimental investigation: Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis; Machine learning 
Email Hamed
Sam Draper

Sam Draper

Research Assistant
Carbon sequestration in the built environment

Email Sam

Jean Noel Djobo Yankwa

Research Associate in Low-Carbon Construction, PhD
Development of methods for processing abundant natural resources and industrial by-products (clay, volcanic rock, lateritic soil, rice husk, etc.) for synthesising low-carbon building materials with tailored properties; Development of technologies out of these materials, for application for insulating or natural cooling of buildings, for energy storage, and for reducing the cost of building infrastructure in low-income countries. 
Email Noel

Jianhang Feng

Research Assistant
Development of zero-emission cement based on electric arc furnace slag. 
Email Jianhang

Hafiz Muhammad Adeel Hassan

Research Associate, PhD
The thermal performance of resilient permeable concrete pavements
Email Hafiz

Caitlin Howe

Research Assistant
Manufacture of carbon negative construction products through mineral sequestration of CO2
Email Caitlin

Alalea Kia

Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow, PhD
Permeable concrete; Concrete pavement design; Durability of cement-based materials; Pore structure; Cementitious materials
Email Alalea
 Barnaby Shanks

Barnaby Shanks

Research Assistant
Manufacture of carbon negative construction products through mineral sequestration of CO2

Email Barney

Adam Mason

Research Assistant
Characterising global material cycles for natural and anthropogenic wellbeing
Email Adam
Materials Research Students A-Z
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Tsz Chun (Jack) Chan

Started Feb 2022
Machine learning techniques in concrete microstructure and durability
Supervised by: Wong, H.S.Yio, M
Email Jack
Kaine Chinwah

Kaine Chinwah

Started Dec 2019
Novel oil sorption materials produced from waste feathers
Supervised by: Cheeseman, C.R.
Email Kaine
 Theo Clayton

Theo Clayton

Started Oct 2020
Advanced fracture mechanics modelling to understand earth-environment interactions
Supervised by: Martinez-Paneda, E.
Email Theo

Guozhen Ding

Started Sep 2023
Polymer composites for hydrogen storage
Supervised by: Wu, C.
Email Guozhen
Tiejun Ding

Tiejun Ding

Started Feb 2020
Development of circular concrete through indirect carbonation of waste concrete
Supervised by: Cheeseman, C.R.Wong, H.S.
Email Tiejin
Sam Draper

Sam Draper

Started Oct 2017
Microstructure and durability of concrete prepared using new multi-component cements
Supervised by: Wong, H.S.Cheeseman, C.R.; Buenfeld, N.R.;
Email Sam
Meng Gao

Meng Gao

Started Nov 2020
System-performance based design of durable low-carbon concrete
Supervised by: Myers, RJ.Wong, H.S.
Email Meng

Xiangdong Geng

Started Oct 2022
Durability prediction of fiber reinforced polymer composite using machine learning
Supervised by: Wu, C.
Email Xiangdong
 Maria Georgiades

Maria Georgiades

Started Nov 2020
Environmental sustainability assessment to guide the development of cements produced from bauxite residue and other high-volume industrial by-products
Supervised by: Myers, RJ.Cheeseman, C.R
Email Maria
 Theo Glashier

Theo Glashier 

Started Mar 2021
Short and long-term structural behaviour of metal 3D printed structures
Supervised by: Buchanan, C. 
Email Theo
 Mehrdad Isfandbod

Mehrdad Isfandbod

Started Oct 2019
Modelling and characterization of hydrogen embrittlement of austenitic steels
Supervised by: Martinez-Paneda, E.
Email Mehrdad
Evzen Korec

Evzen Korec

Started Sep 2020
Electro-chemo-mechanical models for predicting stress corrosion cracking
Supervised by: Martinez-Paneda, E.
Email Evzen
 Alexander Kumi-Larbi

Alexander Kumi-Larbi 

Started July 2018
The use of waste plastic composites as an alternative low-cost construction material
Supervised by: Cheeseman, C.R.; Wilson, D.C. 
Email Alexander

Yu Luan

Started Mar 2022
Carbonation-induced corrosion in low CO2 emission concrete
Supervised by: Wong, H.S.Yio, M.; Myers, RJ.
Email Yu
John Obuobi Ofosu-Appeah

John Obuobi Ofosu-Appeah 

Started Apr 2021
Engineered mycelium products
Supervised by: Cheeseman, C.R.
Email John

Pei Boon Ong

Started Oct 2022
Low carbon cements from magnesium silicates
Supervised by: Wong, H.S.Cheeseman, C.R.
Email Pei

Sangchu Quan

Started Oct 2022
Experimental insight into the mechanisms underlying hydrogen embrittlement in Ni-based materials
Supervised by: Cupertino Malheiros, L.Wu, C.
Email Sangchu

Leonel Quinteros Palominos

Started Jan 2021
Carbon nanotube-based smart skins for structural health monitoring applications
Supervised by: Martinez-Paneda, E.
Email Leonel 

Rony Reategui

Started Nov 2023
Sustainable structural elements through additive manufacturing
Supervised by: Buchanan, C. 
Email Rony

Qibah Reduan

Started Aug 2023
Novel 3D printing for developing sustainable urban infrastructure
Supervised by: Kia, A.Buchanan, C.
Email Qibah
 Barnaby Shanks

Barnaby Shanks

Started Oct 2018
Investigating new low-carbon cements based on MgO/silica components of olivine
Supervised by: Cheeseman, C.R.Wong, H.S.
Email Barney
Tu Yang

Yang Tu

Started Oct 2020
Multiphysics modelling of battery degradation
Supervised by: Martinez-Paneda, E.; Wu, B. 
Email Yang
Terry Ugama

Terry Ugama

Started Apr 2019
New low carbon cement for sustainable infrastructure development manufactured from olivine
Supervised by: Wong, H.S.Cheeseman, C.R.
Email Terry
 Runzi Wang

Runzi Wang

Started Apr 2020
Chemomechanical fracture
Supervised by: Wu, B.; Martínez-Pañeda, E.
Email Runzi
Amy Wilson

Amy Wilson

Started Oct 2018
Reducing the impact of nanoparticle emissions during concrete production and recycling
Supervised by: Stettler, MEJ.Wong, H.S.Fowler, G.D.Cheeseman, C.R.
Email Amy 

Haoming Wu

Started Sep 2023
Development of low-carbon cement and concrete materials from UK clays
Supervised by: Wong, H.S.
Email Haoming

Alperen Yayla

Started Oct 2022
ElementTracker: Analysing resource implications of socioeconomic development through a digital twin of the physical economy
Supervised by: Myers, RJ.
Email Alpren

Minggen Zhang

Started Sep 2022
Understanding the chemistry of alkali ferro(alumino)silicate gel
Supervised by: Myers, RJ.; Cheeseman, C.R.
Email Minggen
Yixiu Zhuge

Yixiu Zhuge

Started Jan 2022
Concrete carbonation chemistry and product development under forced carbonation conditions
Supervised by: Myers, RJ.Wong, H.S.
Email Yixiu
Materials Research Students A-Z
Systems Academics A-Z
Technical and Administrative Staff (A-Z)
Photo Details

Jonathan Turner

Administrator, Materials
Room 243, +44 (0)207 594 5869
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Andrew Morris

Laboratory Technician, Structures
Room 236, +44 (0)207 594 5954, Email Andrew
Materials Technical and Administrative Staff
Systems Academics A-Z

Recently completed PhD research

Materials 2023

2023

NameTitle and supervisor
Liew, Jia Xiang Non-destructive monitoring of moisture at the steel-concrete interface with embedded RFID MEMS sensors
Supervised by: Buenfeld, N.Wong, H.S.
Zheng, Shiying Cement-based materials with hydrophobic micro-textured surface
Supervised by: Wong, H.S.

 2022

NameTitle and supervisor
Chen, Xi Enhancing the spacer-concrete interface for durable structures
Supervised by: Wong, H.S.Buenfeld, N.
Zhang, Kai Assessing long-term carbonation resistance of blended concretes from short-term natural exposure
Supervised by: Wong, H.S.Buenfeld, N.

 

 

Contact us

Materials Section
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
South Kensington Campus
Imperial College London
London SW7 2AZ - UK

Research enquiries
Professor Chris Cheeseman
c.cheeseman@imperial.ac.uk
+44 (0)20 7594 5971

Laboratory enquiries
Dr Marcus Yio
marcus.yio11@imperial.ac.uk
+44 (0)20 7594 3495

MSc enquiries
Postgraduate Taught Office
cvpgo@imperial.ac.uk
+44 (0)207 594 5932
+44 (0)207 594 5929