Bath Engineering & Design Studentships: From inert minerals to reactive materials: mechanochemistry for low-carbon cements

This project is one of a number in competition for a studentship from the Faculty of Engineering and Design at the University of Bath. If successful, this studentship is expected to commence 04 October 2027.

An alternative start date may be possible if agreed with your intended supervisors and the Doctoral College.

Cement is consumed at a scale of ~4 billion tonnes per year and is responsible for ~8–10% of global CO₂ emissions. 
Reducing its environmental impact requires a major expansion of the materials that can replace Portland cement. Yet many abundant minerals, excavated clays and industrial residues remain unsuitable in their natural form because of their low intrinsic reactivity. 

Mechanochemical activation is a promising electrified route that can transform these overlooked resources into reactive cementitious materials without relying on high-temperature processing or chemical additions.

However, achieving effective mechanochemical activation is not simply a question of grinding more intensively. Mineralogy, crystal structure, particle interactions and processing conditions determine how mechanical energy is transferred to the material and whether it results primarily in particle size reduction, agglomeration or the structural transformations required to enhance reactivity. Controlling these processes while limiting unnecessary energy consumption remains a major scientific and technological challenge.

This PhD will investigate how mechanochemical processing can be engineered to maximise mineral activation and reactivity. A systematic experimental programme will examine minerals with contrasting compositions and structures, progressing towards complex underutilised mineral resources. Particular attention will be given to how processing strategies, including the use of selected grinding aids, influence particle interactions, energy transfer, structural disorder and agglomeration during activation. Advanced materials characterisation, including X-ray diffraction, spectroscopy, particle size and surface area analysis, thermal analysis and calorimetry, will establish relationships between processing conditions, structural transformations and cementitious reactivity.

The project will establish mineral–processing–structure–reactivity relationships that enable mechanochemical activation to be designed according to the characteristics of the starting material rather than optimised through trial and error. The research will contribute to the development of more efficient mechanochemical processing and broaden the range of mineral resources available for low-carbon cement production.