Professor Ashleigh Fletcher
Head Of Department
Chemical and Process Engineering
Personal statement
Originally from Sunderland, England, I completed a BSc in Chemistry at Durham University in 1997, before graduating with a PhD in adsorption science from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 2000. I undertook several post-doctoral research positions in Newcastle, and a one year lectureship in physical chemistry, before moving to the University of Strathclyde in 2008 to take up a lectureship in the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2015 and Professor in 2020, and was appointed Head of Deaprtment in 2024.
I lead a research team of six, as primary supervisor, with a focus on adsorption processes; this includes materials development and characterisation with applications from the removal of gas and liquid phase contaminants to gas storage and sensor development. Also interested in pedagogic research, I currently co-supervise a project aimed at developing skills for enhanced employability within engineering disciplines.
Area of Expertise
- adsorption capacity measurements for most gases and vapours
- determination of adsorption kinetics
- surface area determination, including pore volume and pore size distribution analysis
- specialised equipment to study adsorption systems under flow and at high temperature
- furnace capabilities for pyrolysis and activation methods
- thermal stabilities of materials
- surface chemistry determination by Fourier transform infrared and Boehm titration
- liquid phase adsorption analysis including leaching tendencies, small scale column studies and solvent phase extraction for determination by gas chromatography
Prize And Awards
- Nomination for Strathclyde Teaching Excellence Award
- Recipient
- 2021
- Nomination for Strathclyde Teaching Excellence Award
- Recipient
- 2020
- Winner Best Lecturer in Faculty of Engineering
- Recipient
- 2020
- Nomination for Strathclyde Teaching Excellence Award
- Recipient
- 2019
- Nomination for Strathclyde Teaching Excellence Award
- Recipient
- 2018
- Shortlisted for Best Lecturer in Faculty of Engineering
- Recipient
- 2018
Qualifications
- PhD: The Compensation Effect in Adsorption/Desorption of Gases/Vapours on Porous Materials (University of Newcastle, EPSRC funded, supervisor Prof. K.M. Thomas, 2000)
- PhD: Development and evaluation of open-ended learning activities to support chemical engineering students’ development (University of Strathclyde, supervisor Dr. K. Sypek, 2020)
- MSc Advanced Professional Studies (University of Strathclyde, 2016)
- 2:1 BSc Honours in Chemistry (University of Durham, 1997)
- FRSC (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2021)
- SFHEA (Higher Education Academy, 2017)
- CSci (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2004)
- CChem (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2002)
Publications
- Solvent-switchable continuous-breathing behaviour in a diamondoid metal-organic framework and its influence on CO2 vs CH4 selectivity
- Carrington Elliot J, McAnally Craig A, Fletcher Ashleigh J, Thompson Stephen P, Warren Mark, Brammer Lee
- Nature Chemistry Vol 9, pp. 882-889 (2017)
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2747
- Novel hydrophilic and hydrophobic amorphous silica : characterization and adsorption of aqueous phase organic compounds
- Tasca Andrea Luca, Ghajeri Farnaz, Fletcher Ashleigh J
- Adsorption Science & Technology Vol 36, pp. 327-342 (2018)
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0263617417692339
- Scalable continuous solvothermal synthesis of metal organic framework (MOF-5) crystals
- McKinstry Colin, Cathcart Russell J, Cussen Edmund J, Fletcher Ashleigh J, Patwardhan Siddharth V, Sefcik Jan
- Chemical Engineering Journal Vol 285, pp. 718-725 (2016)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2015.10.023
- Gelation mechanism of resorcinol-formaldehyde gels investigated by dynamic light scattering
- Taylor Stewart J, Haw Mark D, Sefcik Jan, Fletcher Ashleigh J
- Langmuir Vol 30, pp. 10231-10240 (2014)
- https://doi.org/10.1021/la502394u
- Metaldehyde removal from aqueous solution by adsorption and ion exchange mechanisms onto activated carbon and polymeric sorbents
- Tao Bing, Fletcher Ashleigh
- Journal of Hazardous Materials Vol 244-245, pp. 240–250 (2013)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2012.11.014
- Chemical transformations of a crystalline coordination polymer : a multi-stage solid–vapour reaction manifold
- Vitorica-Yrezabal Iñigo, Mínguez Espallargas Guillermo, Soleimannejad Janet, Florence Alastair, Fletcher Ashleigh, Brammer Lee
- Chemical Science Vol 4, pp. 696-708 (2013)
- https://doi.org/10.1039/C2SC21654J
Teaching
I am the Deputy Head of Department for Teaching and Learning, which means that I am responsible for the strategic planning of teaching within the Department, assisting colleauges in the delivery of an excellent teaching experience for all of our students. My teaching duties include the full time courses of basic principles in chemical engineering (CP101), chemical principles (CP203), chemical engineering design (CP407) and the final year chemical engineering project (18530). I also teach on several distance learning modules: chemical engineering principles and thermodynamics (CP211), and MSc research project (CP936). In addition to this, I am have undertaken an MSc in advanced academic studies and a PhD in engineering education, which involved research projects that fit with my ongoing pedagogic research interests, which include the effects of peer tutelage, embedding skills for employability, course redesign and inclusive curricula.
Research Interests
My current research involves the use of a range of nanoporous adsorbents, including activated carbon, zeolites and metal organic framework materials, with particular focus on the adsorption properties of such structures. Kinetics of adsorption are key to understanding the mechanisms involved in processes such as gas purification/separation, effluent removal and adsorbent recovery. The future direction of my work involves the development of nanoporous materials for use in biomedical applications. For example highly porous carbonaceous materials currently used in water purification processes for dialysis units require extensive improvement to reduce complications produced by persistent species (e.g. chloramines) that can contaminate patients’ blood, thus reducing associated therapeutic medication costs; or the removal of glycation end products for the reduction of diabetes in susceptible groups. Another area for future research is in bio-terrorism with the need for improved personal protection devices and integrated decontamination processes. These targets are all achievable by developing an appropriate nanoporous adsorbent possibly with tailored surface character.
Accepting PhD Student Applications in the following topics:
New methods for removal of pollutants from water
New methods of carbon capture using green materials
Professional Activities
- The use of biochar towards a circular economy- optimisation of chemically activated biochar for aqueous phosphate recovery
- Contributor
- 20/11/2024
- Scientific Council of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (External organisation)
- Member
- 27/9/2024
- PhD internal examiner
- Examiner
- 12/4/2024
- Chloe Le Mehaute
- Host
- 25/3/2024
- PhD convenor
- Examiner
- 21/3/2024
- PhD external examiner
- Examiner
- 23/1/2024
Projects
- Industrial Case Account - University of Strathclyde 2023 | Asif, Khadija
- Jorge, Miguel (Principal Investigator) Fletcher, Ashleigh (Co-investigator) Sefcik, Jan (Co-investigator) Asif, Khadija (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 01-Jan-2027
- Screening Porous Materials for Direct Air CO2 Capture Under Realistic Conditions
- Jorge, Miguel (Principal Investigator) Fletcher, Ashleigh (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 30-Jan-2027
- DTP 2224 University of Strathclyde | Abusam, Razan
- Fletcher, Ashleigh (Principal Investigator) Jorge, Miguel (Co-investigator) Abusam, Razan (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 01-Jan-2027
- Sustainable routes to membranes containing porous metal-organic materials
- Craig, Gavin (Principal Investigator) Fletcher, Ashleigh (Co-investigator) Regincos Marti, Emma (Researcher)
- 15-Jan-2023 - 14-Jan-2026
- Understanding cooperative gas uptake in adaptable cage molecules
- Craig, Gavin (Principal Investigator) Fletcher, Ashleigh (Co-investigator)
- 03-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2025
- DTP 2224 University of Strathclyde | Harvey, Aidan
- Fletcher, Ashleigh (Principal Investigator) Craig, Gavin (Co-investigator) Harvey, Aidan (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 01-Jan-2026
Contact
Professor
Ashleigh
Fletcher
Head Of Department
Chemical and Process Engineering
Email: ashleigh.fletcher@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 574 5306