PhD supervision
Interested in supervising students studying;
- Nanostructured materials for sustainable energy
- Hydrogen storage for energy systems
- Advanced materials for environmental control
- Characterisation and design of porous solids
- Molecular simulations of gas-sold interfaces
Dr Tim Mays
Head of Department
BSc, PhD, CPhys, CSci, MInstP, AMIChemEa
Profile
After gaining a degree in physics and working in the nuclear industry Dr Mays has been a PhD student, postdoctoral research assistant and since 1994 an academic at the University of Bath.
At Bath he is currently Head of Department and Deputy Director of the Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies and a member of the Board of the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment.
Research
Dr Mays’s research concerns the development of novel experimental, computational and analytical methods to study the fundamental nature of porosity in solid materials and the effects of porosity on material properties such as chemical reactivity and mechanical strength.
His particular interest is exploration of the use of new porous materials in sustainable engineering applications such as renewable energy conversion, low-carbon buildings and adsorption for environmental control. A major strand of his current (and planned) research is the study of nanoporous materials to store hydrogen as an energy carrier in fuel-cell vehicles and for the management of intermittent renewable electricity.
An objective is to develop H2 storage technologies with lower investment costs than conventional liquid or high-pressure gas systems. This will have significant impact as effective, economic storage is one of the main challenges to be met to ensure that H2 achieves its full potential in sustainable energy technologies, in particular to support the UK meeting its ambitious targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. His research focus on containing H2 in new porous materials is one of the most promising, and intellectually challenging, technology options for storage.
A recent output of this work includes a paper on H2 storage in nanoporous metal-organic framework materials developed at the University of Nottingham (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2009). This has already been cited over 100 times since publication, partly due to the interest generated by the exceptionally-high storage capacities observed, and was identified as a 2009 Research Highlight in the journal Nature.
Linked recent output includes papers (International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2011 and Faraday Discussions, 2011) ) that enhance the rigor of measurement and analysis of H2 storage in porous materials, the aim being to establish the highest quality evidence base for assessing and designing new systems.
Most of Dr Mays's current storage research is supported by the UK Sustainable Hydrogen Energy Consortium which he has led as Principal Investigator, and which has received total funding of £9,356k (£1,125k to Bath), since 2003. UK-SHEC is one of the longest-standing research consortia in the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's flagship Sustainable Power Generation and Supply programme, and one of the largest, comprising 71 researchers in 17 teams at 13 UK institutions working across the natural, engineering and social sciences.
A further significant aspect of his current research, which leads from collaboration with UK-SHEC partners working on policy aspects of H2 energy, is an EPSRC Knowledge Transfer Account Fellowship, co-supported by the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the UK Energy Research Centre.
This concerns the establishment of a UK Hydrogen Energy Programme via assessing current national capability in H2 energy and options for managing this better, especially to inform UK energy policy. Linked to that, he led the recent 2011 International Hydrogen Research Showcase at the University of Birmingham which gathered over 100 researchers and energy stakeholders from around the world to present and discuss their work in H2 energy.
The Showcase was mainly funded by an EPSRC Pathways to Impact Award to the University of Bath. It confirmed that rapid developments are being made in the UK and internationally in research and scholarship in H2 energy. It also showed that links with industry, business and government to transfer this research to practical H2 systems, and to energy policy, are improving. This momentum is being maintained, not least via research leadership that Dr Mays and others are providing.
Teaching
- Physical Chemistry
- Engineering Thermodynamics
- Environmental Management
- Advanced Materials and Porous Solids
- Materials Chemistry for Sustainable Energy
Publications
Book Sections
Yu, S., Mays, T. J. and Dunn, R. W., 2010. Hydrogen energy storage in isolated microgrids with wind generation. In: 2010 45th International Universities' Power Engineering Conference, UPEC 2010. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Computer Society.
Yu, S., Mays, T. J. and Dunn, R. W., 2009. A new methodology for designing hydrogen energy storage in wind power systems to balance generation and demand. In: 1st International Conference on Sustainable Power Generation and Supply, SUPERGEN '09. IEEE Computer Society, pp. 1-6.
Gillard, I. C. and Mays, T. J., 2008. Hydrogen energy in the information age. In: 17th World Hydrogen Energy Conference 2008, WHEC 2008. , pp. 1255-1258.
McEnaney, B., Alain, E., Yin, Y. F. and Mays, T. J., 2001. Porous carbons for gas storage and separation: characterisation and performance. In: Rand, B., Appleyard, S. P. and Yardim, M. F., eds. Design and Control of Structure of Advanced Carbon Materials for Enhanced Performance. Vol. 374. Springer, pp. 295-318. (NATO Science Series E: Applied Sciences)
Articles
Sharpe, J., Bimbo, N., Ting, V., Burrows, A., Jiang, D. and Mays, T., 2013. Supercritical hydrogen adsorption in nanostructured solids with hydrogen density variation in pores. Adsorption, 19 (2-4), pp. 643-652.
Minett, D. R., O'Byrne, J. P., Jones, M. D., Ting, V. P., Mays, T. J. and Mattia, D., 2013. One-step production of monolith-supported long carbon nanotube arrays. Carbon, 51 (1), pp. 327-334.
Hruzewicz-Kolodziejczyk, A., Ting, V. P., Bimbo, N. and Mays, T. J., 2012. Improving comparability of hydrogen storage capacities of nanoporous materials. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 37 (3), pp. 2728-2736.
Bimbo, N., Ting, V., Sharpe, J. and Mays, T., 2012. Forthcoming. Analysis of optimal conditions for adsorptive hydrogen storage in microporous solids. Colloids and Surfaces, A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects
Bimbo, N., Ting, V. P., Hruzewicz-Kolodziejczyk, A. and Mays, T. J., 2011. Analysis of hydrogen storage in nanoporous materials for low carbon energy applications. Faraday Discussions, 151, pp. 59-74.
Crittenden, B. D., Camus, O., Perera, S. P., Mays, T. J., Sanchez-Liarte, F., Tennison, S. R. and Crezee, E., 2011. Nonuniform channels in adsorbent monoliths. AIChE Journal, 57 (5), pp. 1163-1172.
Chua, L. M., Vazhnova, T., Mays, T. J., Lukyanov, D. B. and Rigby, S. P., 2010. Deactivation of PtH-MFI bifunctional catalysts by coke formation during benzene alkylation with ethane. Journal of Catalysis, 271 (2), pp. 401-412.
Lin, X., Telepeni, I., Blake, A. J., Dailly, A., Brown, C. M., Simmons, J. M., Zoppi, M., Walker, G. S., Thomas, K. M., Mays, T. J., Hubberstey, P., Champness, N. R. and Schroder, M., 2009. High capacity hydrogen adsorption in Cu(II) tetracarboxylate framework materials: the role of pore size, ligand functionalization, and exposed metal sites. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131 (6), pp. 2159-2171.
Lawrence, R. M. H., Mays, T., Rigby, S., Walker, P. and D'Ayala, D., 2007. Effects of carbonation on the pore structure of non-hydraulic lime mortars. Cement and Concrete Research, 37 (7), pp. 1059-1069.
Mays, T. J., 2007. A new classification of pore sizes. Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis, 160 (Characterization of ), pp. 57-62.
Odunsi, O. Y., He, Y. and Mays, T. J., 2007. Hydrogen storage in nanoporous carbon. Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis, 160 (Characterization of ), pp. 423-430.
Lawrence, R.M.H., Mays, T. J., Walker, P. and D'Ayala, D., 2006. Determination of carbonation profiles in non-hydraulic lime mortars using thermogravimetric analysis. Thermochimica Acta, 444 (2), pp. 179-189.
Lawrence, R.M.H., Mays, T. J., Walker, P. and D'Ayala, D., 2006. The use of TG to measure different concentrations of lime in non-hydraulic lime mortars. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 85 (2), pp. 377-382.
Sima-Ella, E., Yuan, G. and Mays, T., 2005. A simple kinetic analysis to determine the intrinsic reactivity of coal chars. Fuel, 84 (14-15), pp. 1920-1925.
Sima-Ella, E. and Mays, T. J., 2005. Analysis of the oxidation reactivity of carbonaceous materials using thermogravimetric analysis. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 80 (1), pp. 109-113.
McLoughlin, M. J., Mays, T. J. and Price, R., 2005. Growth Spiral Activity and Step Velocities on a Crystal Surface. Physical Review Letters, 95 (11), 115504/1-115504/4.
Lapkin, A., Bozkaya, B., Mays, T., Borello, L., Edler, K. and Crittenden, B. D., 2003. Preparation and characterization of heteropolyacids supported on synthetic mesoporous carbons and silica. Catalysis Today, 81, pp. 611-621.
Barata-Rodrigues, P. M., Mays, T. J. and Moggridge, G. D., 2003. Structured carbon adsorbents from clay, zeolite and mesoporous aluminosilicate templates. Carbon, 41 (12), pp. 2231-2246.
Barata-Rodrigues, P. M., Mays, T. J., Seaton, N. A. and Moggridge, G. D., 2002. Comparison of porous carbons developed via templating approaches. Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis, 144 (Characterization of ), pp. 139-146.
Conference or Workshop Items
Sharpe, J., Bimbo, N., Noguera Díaz, A. J., Ting, V., Rushworth, A. and Mays, T., 2013. A new generalised model for supercritical sorption in nanoporous materials. In: 11th International Conference on Fundamentals of Adsorption, 2013-05-19 - 2013-05-24, Baltimore.
Bimbo, N., Owens, S., Sharpe, J., Noguera Díaz, A. J., Rushworth, A., Smith, M., Berry, M., Hayes, P. and Mays, T., 2013. Hydrogen Energy Research in the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Bath, UK. In: ChemEngDayUK 2013, 2013-03-25 - 2013-03-26, London.
Sharpe, J., Burrows, A., Godula-Jopek, A. and Mays, T., 2012. Hydrogen storage in nanoporous materials for aerospace applications. In: EADS Innovation Works PhD Showcase, 2012-05-27 - 2012-05-28, Bristol.
Ahmet, I., Sharpe, J., Ting, V., Bimbo, N., Burrows, A., Godula-Jopek, A. and Mays, T., 2012. Metal-organic framework materials for hydrogen storage in aerospace applications. In: CPM-6, 2012-04-30 - 2012-05-02, Delray Beach, Florida.
Camus, O., Crittenden, B., Perera, S., Mays, T., Sanchez Liarte, F., Patsos, A., Tennison, S. R. and Crezee, E., 2007. Non-Uniformities in Adsorbent Monoliths. In: 9th International Conference on Fundamentals of Adsorption, 2007-05-20 - 2007-05-25, Giardini Naxos, Sicily.
Odunsi, O. Y., He, Y. and Mays, T. J., 2005. Hydrogen storage on nanoporous carbons. In: World Congress of Chemical Engineering, 7th, 2005-07-10 - 2005-07-14, Glasgow.
Crittenden, B., Perera, S., Mays, T., Camus, O. and Tennison, S., 2005. Monolithic adsorbents in sustainable development. In: World Congress of Chemical Engineering, 7th, 2005-07-10 - 2005-07-14, Glasgow.
Sima-Ella, E. and Mays, T., 2005. Oxidation reactivity of coal chars: a simple kinetic analysis. In: World Congress of Chemical Engineering, 7th, 2005-07-10 - 2005-07-14, Glasgow.
Lindsey, B. and Mays, T., 2005. Thermogravimetric analysis of the Co-carbonisation of biomass-lignite blends. In: World Congress of Chemical Engineering, 7th, 2005-07-10 - 2005-07-14, Glasgow.
Other
Mays, T., 2012. UK Hydrogen Energy Programme. University of Bath.
