Babatunde Okesola
Envirogel - Self-Assembling Materials for Environmental Remediation

Project Overview

I carried out my first degree in Nigeria, and am now studying for an MSc in Dave's group. My project is attempting to use self-assembled gels for the environmental remediation of polluted waste water. In particular, we are hoping to show that the structure of the gelator has a direct inmpact on the ability of the self-assembled fibrillar network to absorb specific compounds from waste streams. Nanostructured gels are ideally suited for this purpose, as they are compatible with solvent, highly porous, and the small diameters of the fibres mean they have high surface areas for pollutant adsorption.