This project is jointly supervised by staff at Loughborough University and the Natural History Museum. It will focus on synthesising and characterising iron oxyhydroxide phases, such as goethite and ferrihydrite, and the incorporation of Co into these systems. The programme of research will investigate the effects of pH, time, Co starting reagent, concentration of base and temperature on the phase or phases produced. Additionally, real-time dynamic studies will be carried out to investigate the transformation pathways of the synthesised phases with respect to temperature.

A mutli-technique approach to characterization of these phases and their transformations will be carried out using in-house equipment (X-ray diffraction, IR Spectroscopy, Raman Spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric Analysis and Transmission Electron Microscopy) as well as synchrotron spectroscopy and diffraction on beamlines at Diamond Light Source. To complete the time resolved studies, a reaction cell will be developed by the student for use at the X-ray diffraction laboratories housed at the NHM.

This studentship is part of a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funded consortium grant; "CoG3: The geology, geometallurgy and geomicrobiology of cobalt resources leading to new product streams". Cobalt has been defined by NERC as an E-tech element that is essential for a technologically advanced and low carbon society. The principal aim of the CoG3 consortium is to understand the natural behaviour and biogeochemistry of cobalt in order to develop and apply novel bioprocessing strategies for cobalt extraction, recovery and the synthesis of targeted products using an integrated multi-institute and multidisciplinary approach. The consortium is a cross-discipline group of scientists, consisting of 8 academic institutes and supported by industrial partners from the mining and mineral processing sectors, and by the Cobalt Development Institute.