Dr Preetam Kumar

M.Tech., PhD, AFHEA

Pronouns: She/her
  • Research Associate in Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction

Background:

Preetam Sharma is a Research Associate in the Department of Chemical Engineering. He is researching electrochemical CO2 reduction for olefins production under The UKRI Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy (CircularChem). Specifically, he is focusing on the preparation of novel catalysts along with reactor development. 

He received his PhD in photoelectrochemical water splitting and CO2 reduction from the School of Engineering, Ulster University, UK in 2017. Since completing his PhD, he has been working on a variety of academic and industrial projects focusing on advanced materials for energy, environment and health. 

Qualifications:

  • PhD, Ulster University, UK 
  • M.Tech., University of Rajasthan, India 
  • AFHEA, Ulster University, UK 

Key awards:

  • Winner of Visualisation/Microscopy competition at AACME Research Day 2022 at Loughborough University.
  • Research Safety Award 2022 for significant contributions to the safety culture in AACME School, Loughborough University.
  • Catalysis Today ‘Certificate of outstanding contribution’ in reviewing (Aug 2018).
  • Best paper award for “Comparison of photoelectrochemical properties of commercial titanium dioxide nanopowders” in Research conference, Ulster University UK (May 2015).
  • Vice Chancellor's Research Studentship, Ulster University for PhD (Dec 2013-Dec 2016).
  • Best paper award for “Effect of sensitizers on H2S sensing properties of ZnO nanowires” in International conference on advanced nanomaterials and emerging engineering technologies at Sathyabhama University, India (July 2013).

Professional affiliations:

  • Associate Fellow of Higher Education Academy (reference no. PR180017).
  • Member of Royal Society of Chemistry since June 2014 (membership no. 538178).
  • Member of the International Society of Electrochemistry since April 2022 (membership no. 22058).
  • Member of The Carbon Recycling Network since Oct 2021.
  • Member of India’s Carbon Capture & Utilization Network (CO2INDIA) since July 2021.

 

 

 

 

 

Outline of main research interests:

  • Catalysts development for electrochemical CO2 reduction
  • Reactor design, development and scale-up
  • Photo/bio-electrocatalysis
  • Nanomaterials for energy and environment

Teaching responsibilities:

  • CGC032 The Circular Economy in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering 
  • oCGC842 Environmental Protection and Pollution Control 
  • oCGP006 Advanced Process Design and Optimisation project 

Selected publications:

  1. B. Siritanaratkul, M. Forster, F. Greenwell, P. K. Sharma, E. Yu, A. J. Cowan, Improved CO selectivity in a zero-gap CO2electrolyzer using molecular catalysts and a bipolar membrane, Journal of American Chemical Society, 2022, 144, 7551-7556. 
  2. Z. Yu, H. Yang, N. Soin, P. K. Sharma, L. Chen, N. Black, Ke Xu, C. Tsonos, A. Kumar, J. Luo, Bismuth Oxyhalide based Photo-enhanced Triboelectric Nanogenerators, Nano Energy, 2021, 89, 106419. 
  3. S. Duraisamy, A. Ganguly, P. K. Sharma, J. Benson, J. Davis, P. Papakonstantinou, One-Step Hydrothermal Synthesis of Phase-Engineered MoS2/MoO3 Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction, ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2021, 4, 2642-2656. 
  4. P. K. Sharma, M. A. Cortes, J. W. J. Hamilton, Y. Han, J. A. Byrne, M. Nolan, Surface modification of TiO2 with copper clusters for band gap narrowing, Catalysis Today,2019, 321, 9-17. 
  5. M. A. LRM Cortes, J. W. J. Hamilton, P. K. Sharma, A. Brown, J. A. Byrne, Formal quantum efficiencies for the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 in a gas phase batch reactor, Catalysis Today, 2019, 326, 75-81. 
  6. B. R. Cruz-Ortiz, J. W. J. Hamilton, C. Pablos, L. Díaz-Jiménez, D. A. Cortés-Hernández, P. K. Sharma, M. Castro-Alférez, P. Fernández-Ibañez, P. S. M. Dunlop, J. A. Byrne, Mechanism of photocatalytic disinfection using titania-graphene composites under UV and visible irradiation, Chemical Engineering Journal, 2017, 316, 179-186.

Please see the full list of publications using the links in my profile details at the top of the page.

External roles and appointments:

  • Outreach and Widening Participation Co-ordinator, CircularChem