Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Marc-Olivier Coppens,
for his immense support, patient guidance and constant encouragement throughout
my adventure of fluidisation. His innovative nature-inspired methodology towards
engineering challenges attracted me into the world of scientific research. I feel
deeply grateful to him for all the opportunities he has offered me to communicate
with the researchers around the world, which allows me to spark new ideas and
follow the cutting-edge researches in chemical engineering.
I would like to greatly thank Dr. Lilian de Martín and Dr. Luca Mazzei for their
enormous support for teaching me both experimental and computational skills at the
beginning stage of my project. These techniques and knowledge extend my horizons, grant me different perspectives towards my project and open many possible
avenues to progress.
I would also like to thank Dr. Victor Francia for his patient guidance and being
constantly “unsatisfied” about the analysis and results. His encouragement to think
critically and freely motivates me to many improvements in this study.
A special thanks to Dr. Simon Barrass for his constant support and constructive
suggestions on designing and building the experimental facilities.
I greatly appreciate the Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE) for
providing a wonderful research platform. Not only has it provided a fully equipped
laboratory, but also granted me opportunities to learn beyond my research scope
and taste a bit of everything, from molecule transport to porous material synthesis.
I gratefully acknowledge the funding support received from the Engineering and
Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Doctorate Training Award and a
UCL Faculty Dean’s Scholarship.
Many thanks also to my colleagues and friends: Haiyue, Nidhi, Jason, Jerome,
Michele, Halan, Silo, Weiyang and Wentian.
Finally, I must thank my parents for their love and unwavering support
throughout these years. They are always there for me.
xiii
I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Marc-Olivier Coppens,
for his immense support, patient guidance and constant encouragement throughout
my adventure of fluidisation. His innovative nature-inspired methodology towards
engineering challenges attracted me into the world of scientific research. I feel
deeply grateful to him for all the opportunities he has offered me to communicate
with the researchers around the world, which allows me to spark new ideas and
follow the cutting-edge researches in chemical engineering.
I would like to greatly thank Dr. Lilian de Martín and Dr. Luca Mazzei for their
enormous support for teaching me both experimental and computational skills at the
beginning stage of my project. These techniques and knowledge extend my horizons, grant me different perspectives towards my project and open many possible
avenues to progress.
I would also like to thank Dr. Victor Francia for his patient guidance and being
constantly “unsatisfied” about the analysis and results. His encouragement to think
critically and freely motivates me to many improvements in this study.
A special thanks to Dr. Simon Barrass for his constant support and constructive
suggestions on designing and building the experimental facilities.
I greatly appreciate the Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE) for
providing a wonderful research platform. Not only has it provided a fully equipped
laboratory, but also granted me opportunities to learn beyond my research scope
and taste a bit of everything, from molecule transport to porous material synthesis.
I gratefully acknowledge the funding support received from the Engineering and
Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Doctorate Training Award and a
UCL Faculty Dean’s Scholarship.
Many thanks also to my colleagues and friends: Haiyue, Nidhi, Jason, Jerome,
Michele, Halan, Silo, Weiyang and Wentian.
Finally, I must thank my parents for their love and unwavering support
throughout these years. They are always there for me.
xiii