Material
benefits
Professor Ian Kinloch aims to develop practical methods
of manufacturing and using carbon nanomaterials.
Concepts that he pioneered in carbon nanotubes are
now being applied to other materials such as graphene.
Research area
Ian Kinloch became Professor of
Materials Science at the University of
Manchester in 2012. He leads the
nanomaterials group and works with
other departments within the
university and with researchers at
other universities and in industry. From
doctoral studies and postdoctoral work
at the University of Cambridge, he
developed methods for the large-scale
production of carbon nanotubes which
have been commercialised through the
speciality chemicals company that
sponsored his studies and through a
spin-out company based in Cambridge.
His current research applies the
methods developed for carbon
nanotubes to investigate routes to
manufacture graphene on a
commercial scale; he is also
researching the rheological properties
of graphene – how it might be
distributed within a polymer matrix –
and methods of developing composite
materials that could take advantage of
graphene’s properties. Professor
Kinloch takes what he terms a ‘
holistic’ approach in developing the
materials, the processes to
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manufacture them, and the application
markets, all in parallel. “This assures
potential customers that the product
will be available in the right quantities
when they need it, and assures
suppliers that there are markets for
the materials and products that they
are gearing up to produce”, he said.
Academy support
Ian Kinloch held a Royal Academy of
Engineering/EPSRC Research
Fellowship, initially at Cambridge and
later at Manchester. The Fellowship
enabled him to progress his ideas
about commercial- scale production of
carbon nanotubes and to build his own
career and, at Manchester, his own
laboratory.
He said, “One of the beauties of the
Royal Academy support is that it is an
individual prize, and gives a huge
amount of flexibility. It takes the
brightest and the best people who are
going to be the future engineering
leaders and gives them a completely
open field in terms of what they
research. The focus of the research is
of your own choosing, and the
Academy enables you to progress your
career by developing your research
topics and by providing the flexibility to
move between institutions. Its support
for me included a wonderful mentor in
Professor Dame Julia King DBE FREng,
and I appreciated the low admin load
as well. But m ostly it really gave me
the chance to develop my own
independent research career.”
Other support
Including the Academy’s support, Ian
Kinloch’s research has attracted
funding totalling more than £4 million,
with contributions from the Royal
Society, the EPSRC, the BBSRC and
industry. He currently receives funding
from the EPSRC, and aims to transfer
the work that he pioneered with carbon
nanotubes to graphene.
Research impact
Ian Kinloch’s research has been based
in commercial realities throughout his
career, and has implications for
important industries such as
aerospace, automotive and biomedical
engineering. His postdoctoral research
at Cambridge was sponsored by
Thomas Swan and Co and is the basis
of the commercial carbon nanotubes