Bulk Carbon Materials

The bulk carbon materials research group (a full list of current students and individual projects can be found here) is led by Dr Heinrich Badenhorst and forms part of the SARChI Chair for carbon materials and technology. Research within the group is centered around two key carbon allotropes:

Graphite

(crystalline carbon)

Carbon black

(amorphous carbon)

The research aims to fundamentally understand the microstructure of these carbon materials. As a part of this the group strives to identify the links between the precursor feedstocks and final product properties. This not only enables the tailoring of material properties to suit specific applications but also facilitates the production of valuable artefacts from locally available raw materials. Mostly, however, we are just having fun exploring the complex and ever-changing landscape of carbon...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the application side the central theme is energy with special emphasis on concentrated solar power. The work is aligned with the local government's Integrated Resource Plan and the University's own Institutional Research theme. Both of these strive to develop Southern Africa's renewable energy resources and to reduce our carbon footprint. A unique solar concentration platform has been designed and implemented in the group. The system is the basis for on-going research ranging from concentrated photo-voltaics to seawater desalination using nano-vaporisation technology.

 

Key parts of tailoring the system or material properties are accurate property measurment and modelling of the observed behaviour. Within each project there are several initiatives to simulate the material behaviour and predict the properties. This is closely linked with postgraduate courses on process integration, which not only strive to model complex, multi-phase, transient problems, but also integrate processes for optimal performance. Shown below are the melting of a phase change material, used to store solar energy and the finite element model of the process.

 

Recent achievements and awards:

Third place winner in 2015 GAP Green innovation competition hosted by The Innovation Hub Management Company. The competition aims to support innovations that more effectively manage the use of water and energy by citizens and enterprises in Gauteng.

Winner of best paper in Solar Thermal at 2015 South African Solar Energy Conference.

Winner 2013 International Green Talents Competition. The award entailed a two week tour of German institutions involved in sustainability and renewable energy research. This includes a three month stay at a German institution during 2014 to complete a joint research project. http://www.greentalents.de/

Keynote address: International Carbon Conference, July 2013 “Linking graphite particle micro-structure and reactivity” H. Badenhorst, B. Rand and W.W. Focke

- Author Dr Badenhorst

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