1)      Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes for Ethanol Dehydration

Contact/Supervisor: da Costa, A/Prof. Joe

Available to: Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Chemistry

Reference URL:

Ethanol dehydration is one of the most energy intensive processes for delivering anhydrous ethanol as fuels for the transportation sector. This project focuses on using nanotechnology to enhance the properties of carbon molecular sieve membranes for ethanol separation from aqueous solution.  The membranes will be developed and tested at different temperature, pressure and concentration regimes. 

2)      Perovskite Hollow Fibre Membranes for Oxygen Separation

Contact/Supervisor: da Costa, A/Prof. Joe

Available to: Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Chemistry

Reference URL:

This project focuses on the development of mechanically robust inorganic hollow fibres for oxygen separation from air.  Perovskites are ceramic type of materials with mixed ionic and electronic properties for the ionic transport of oxygen at elevated temperatures. Robust perovskite membranes are required in clean energy delivery in processes such as coal gasification or oxyfuel coal combustion.

The project will be supervised by A/Prof. Joe da Costa (j.dacosta@uq.edu.au) from the FIMLab - Films and Inorganic Membrane Laboratory in Chemical Engineering and A/Prof. Shaomin Liu from Chemical Engineering, Curtin University.

4)      Modelling Transport Phenomena of Gas Mixtures Separation in Membranes (Postgraduate (PhD)): Available

Contact/Supervisor: da Costa, A/Prof. Joe

Available to: Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Chemistry

Reference URL:

Gas mixture separation is paramount in the delivery of hydrogen for clean energy delivery applications such as fuel cells in the transportation sector. In the case of molecular sieve membranes, gas separations has a temperature flux dependency (activated transport) which can be positive or negative depending on the gas, molecular kinetic diameter and adsorption properties. This project entails the fundamental study of gas mixtures at high temperatures and pressures using inorganic membranes.

 The project will be supervised by A/Prof. Joe da Costa (j.dacosta@uq.edu.au) from the FIMLab - Films and Inorganic Membrane Laboratory and Prof. Suresh Bhatia (p.bhatia@uq.edu.au) in Chemical Engineering.

5)      The Effect of Trace Elements in Gas Separation Membranes

Contact/Supervisor: da Costa, A/Prof. Joe

Available to: Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Chemistry

Reference URL:

Gas separation unit operations are downstream to gas cleaning unit operations in coal power generation or coal gasification. As a consequence, trace elements (Hg, Ni, Cd etc) in very small concentrations (ppm) are likely to impact on gas separation systems. This project entails the fundamental study of trace elements on molecular sieve membranes for gas separation at high temperatures and pressures, modelling and effects in gas separation.

The project will be supervised by A/Prof. Joe da Costa (j.dacosta@uq.edu.au) and Dr Simon Smart (s.smart@uq.edu.au) from FIMLab - Films and Inorganic Membrane Laboratory in Chemical Engineering.

6)      Mercury Capture in Coal Combustion

Contact/Supervisor: da Costa, A/Prof. Joe

Available to: Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry

Reference URL:

Mercury emission control from Coal Power Cycles is becoming very stringent.  This research work will focus on the fundamental investigation of mercury adsorption and desorption in composite palladium Nanomaterials. Mechanisms of adsorption and desorption coupled with Nanomaterials synergy will be studied.

The project will be supervised by A/Prof. Joe da Costa (j.dacosta@uq.edu.au) from the FIMLab - Films and Inorganic Membrane Laboratory in Chemical Engineering.

7)      Membrane Reactors for Dehydrogenation Reactions

Contact/Supervisor: da Costa, A/Prof. Joe

Available to: Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

Reference URL:

This project will focus on the development and scale up of membrane reactors for dehydrogenation reactions with potential applications in the petrochemical industry.  High temperature inorganic membranes allow hydrogen to diffuse and hence shift the reaction to the product side, resulting in high conversions. This project entails (i) the optimisation of best combination of membrane and catalyst technologies, (ii) parametric studies of gas permeation, temperature, pressure and reaction rates, and (ii) developing engineering design parameters for scaling up.

This project is supervised by A/Prof. Joe da Costa (joedac@uq.edu.au) from FIMLab - Films and Inorganic Membrane Laboratory and Prof Victor Rudolph (v.rudolph@uq.edu.au) from the Energy and Environmental Group in Chemical Engineering.

8)      Membrane Reactors for the Water Gas Shift Reaction

Contact/Supervisor: da Costa, A/Prof. Joe

Available to: Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering

Reference URL:

This project focuses on the development and scale up of hydrostable silica membranes in combination with off the shelf catalysts for the high temperature water gas shift reaction.  It involves (i) the optimisation of best combination of membrane and catalyst technologies, (ii) parametric studies of gas permeation, temperature, pressure and conversion rates, and (ii) developing engineering design parameters for scale up. 

This project is supervised by A/Prof. Joe da Costa (joedac@uq.edu.au) from FIMLab - Films and Inorganic Membrane Laboratory and Prof Victor Rudolph (v.rudolph@uq.edu.au) from the Energy and Environmental Group in Chemical Engineering.

9)      Modelling and Process Control of Membrane Reactors for the Water Gas Shift Reaction (Postgraduate (PhD)): Available

Contact/Supervisor: da Costa, A/Prof. Joe

Available to: Chemical Engineering

Reference URL:

Modelling, process control and optimisation of membrane reactors for the water gas shift reaction, in particular for gasification process.  The project aims at providing desing engineering parameters for membrane reactors for applications ranging from petrochemical to coal power generation plants.

The project will be supervised by A/Prof. Joe da Costa (joedac@cheque.uq.edu.au) from the FIMLab - Films and Inorganic Membrane Laboratory and Prof Ian Cameron (itc@uq.edu.au) from the Centre for Advanced Process Control, in Chemical Engineering.

10) Novel Molecular Templated Membranes for Desalination

Contact/Supervisor: da Costa, A/Prof. Joe

Available to: Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Chemistry

Reference URL:

This project entails the fundamental study of molecular integration of templates in silica derived membranes for desalination applications. It will involve the use of nanotechnology to synthesise materials with controlled pore sizes, surface areas and pore volumes.  The materials will also have to be functionalised to sustain hydrostability and high salt rejection in desalination processes.

The project will be supervised by A/Prof. Joe da Costa (j.dacosta@uq.edu.au) and Dr Simon Smart (s.smart@uq.edu.au) from FIMLab - Films and Inorganic Membrane Laboratory in Chemical Engineering.