Dr Harvey Yi Huang is a Reader of Materials Chemistry and Engineering at the University of Edinburgh (UoE). He received a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering at Monash University, Australia and a joint undergraduate honours degree in both Chemical Engineering and Economics at Harbin Engineering University. As a part of his PhD program, Dr Huang worked at Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) as a postgraduate scientist. He also studied abroad at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, US. Following his PhD, Dr. Huang conducted extensive research at multiple U.S. institutions, where he developed interdisciplinary expertise at the intersection of materials science and environmental engineering. His work bridges fundamental material design with practical applications, focusing on 1) Novel Porous Materials Development; 2) Membrane Separation Technologies; 3) Sustainable Water Treatment Solutions; and 4) Water-Stable Catalysts for Environmental Remediation. Currently, he leads a dynamic research team at UoE pioneering advanced functional porous materials and novel 2D materials (e.g., graphene, MXenes, MOFs) and their nanoscale fabrication for transformative industrial and environmental applications.

Key Research Themes:

1. Next-Generation Materials Design:
   • Porous & 2D Materials: Tailoring high-surface-area architectures for gas storage (H₂, CH₄, CO₂), selective separation, and catalytic reactions.
   • Graphene Innovations: Developing scalable synthesis and functionalization methods (e.g., for membranes, coatings, or composites).
2. Novel Nanofabrication & Membranes:
   • Nanotechnologies: Designing ultrathin, high-flux membranes for mixture separation (liquid/gas) and water purification.
   • Antifouling/Self-Cleaning Interfaces: Antibacterial, anti-icing, and anti-corrosion coatings for industrial and biomedical use.
3. Applied Solutions for Global Challenges:
   • Energy & Sustainability: Gas adsorption/storage for clean energy transition (e.g., hydrogen economy, carbon capture).
   • Healthcare: Targeted anti-cancer drug delivery systems leveraging porous nanomaterials.
   • Clean Water: Scalable membrane technologies for desalination and pollutant removal.

Industrial Impact:

• £2.5M+ in Research Funding (since 2022) for projects centered on graphene commercialization and material innovations.
• Industry Partnerships: Multiple industrial collaborations bridging lab-scale breakthroughs to real-world applications 
• Translating fundamental material discoveries into scalable technologies for:
  • Net-Zero Goals (e.g., H₂/CH₄ storage, CO₂ capture).
  • Sustainable Manufacturing (e.g., self-cleaning surfaces, waste-free separations).
  • Healthcare & Water Security (e.g., drug delivery, affordable purification).

In addition, Dr Huang has several senior editorial duties. He is a Elsevier Editor of Separation and Purification Technology (IF 8.2) and Results in Engineering (IF 6.0), a Cambridge University Press Associate Editor of Cambridge Prisms: Carbon Technologies and a Editorial Board Member/Guest Editor of Green Chemical Engineering (IF 9.1), Sustainability (IF 3.3), and Advanced Membranes (CiteScore 12.5).

Awards (since 2020):

• 2020 Chemical Engineering Teaching Lab-Silver Sustainability Award (as one of the lab instructors)
• 2021/2022 CSE Teaching Contribution Reward (Internal)
• 2022 RINENG Distinguished Young Investigator 
• 2022 ISPT-BMS Young Membrane Scientist 
• 2023 Separation and Purification Technology (SPT) Distinguished Young Scholar
• 2024/2025 EUSA Teaching Award Winner - Teacher of the Year (CSE)

• All across the world, people are facing a wealth of new and challenging problems, particularly energy and environmental issues. For example, billions of tons of annual CO₂ emissions are the direct result of fossil fuel combustion to generate electricity. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. emitted 6.1 billion metric tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere in 2007. Producing clean energy from abundant sources, such as coal, will require a massive infrastructure and highly efficient capture technologies to curb CO₂ emissions. In addition to its environmental impact, CO₂ also reduces the heating value of the CH₄ gas streams in power plants and causes corrosion in pipes and equipment. To minimize the impact of CO₂ on the environment, the design of high-performance separation materials and technologies for efficient carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is urgent and essential. Our research in this area is creating novel nanostructured (membrane) materials with enhanced transport properties by ordering their nano-architectures via different methods and meanwhile exploring their novel and energy-sustainable scale-up.
• Enhanced demand for fuels worldwide not only decreased world oil reserves but also increased climate concerns about the use of fossil-based fuels. To address these energy and environmental problems, efforts have been made towards improved utilization of fossil fuels and the development of renewable energy production. With its abundant availability and carbon-neutral nature, biomass is recognized as one of the most promising renewable energy resources. A number of transportation fuels can be produced from biomass, helping to alleviate demand for petroleum products and improve the greenhouse gas emissions profile of the transportation sector. Traditional catalysts suffer from many undesirable properties, such as small accessible pore size, low hydrothermal stability, and less controllable active sites. Among these, low hydrothermal stability at upgrading temperatures greatly hinders the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to biofuel. My research is focused on synthesizing a new class of ultra-stable catalysts with tunable nanostructure and functionalities for efficient bio-oil upgrading, with special emphasis on the study of their hydrothermal stability.
• Oil pollution is another serious global issue because of the large amounts of oily wastewater produced by petrochemical and other industries, as well as by frequent off-shore oil spill accidents. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) issues guidance addressed to all companies involved in offshore exploration and production where oil may be released into the sea or other water systems. The regulatory limit for the concentration of oil in produced water discharged into the sea is set at a 30 mg/l performance standard (this figure applies as averaged over a monthly period). At any one time, the concentration must not exceed 100 mg/l. Therefore, it is in great need to develop effective techniques to treat oil-polluted wastewater at such low oil/grease concentrations in order to satisfy the stringent governmental limitations and preserve the environment. Membrane techniques have been widely employed for water purification and are very effective in separating stabilized oil emulsions-especially for removing oil droplets. However, current membranes suffer from membrane fouling both on surfaces and in internal structures, which significantly limits their service time and degrades separation performance in practical operations. My research in this field attempts to adopt the concept of biomimetic hierarchical roughness in membrane design for creating superoleophobic membrane surfaces from a vast pool of candidate materials, such as zeolites, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and single-layered graphene oxide. Our research also focuses on the development of facile, low-cost preparation techniques which would open a completely new direction for the membrane society.

• Chemical Reaction Engineering 4/MSc (CHEE10008/PGEE10025) - Course Organiser

• Chemical Engineering Design: Projects 4 (CHEE10002) - Project Supervision

• Chemical Engineering Laboratory 3 (CHEE09016) - Course Instructor

• Chemical Engineering Study Project 4 (CHEE10009) - Project Supervision

• Chemical Engineering Industrial Project 5 (CHEE11014) - Project Supervision

• Chemical Engineering Research Project 5 (CHEE11017) - Project Supervision

• Advanced Chemical Engineering Dissertation (MSc) (PGEE11151) - Project Supervision

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