Trosolwg
Position: Post-doctoral Research Associate
Group: Materials 4 Life (M4L)
Qualifications: BEng, MSc, PhD
Department: Architectural, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Research Interests: Self-healing materials and technologies for concrete, reaction kinetics of cement hydration, dissolution kinetics and topographical evolution of solids with screw dislocation defects, macroscale and microstructural investigation of traditional cements and alternative geopolymer cements, cement-plastic composites
I am a post-doctoral research associate on the Resilient Materials 4 Life (RM4L) Project in the M4L research group. The latter's objective is to create self-diagnosing, adaptive and self-healing materials for the construction industry using biomimetic methods.
My work focusses on the testing of self-healing systems, in particular on mini vascular networks. This technology often encloses a healing agent which is released into cracks upon their formation in concrete, thereby autogenously healing them.
My background involves research on the reaction kinetics of cement hydration, and on the microscale and macroscale properties of cementitious systems. My expertise includes molecular dynamics modelling and KMC simulations, macroscale mechanical testing, microstructural characterisation, and durability testing of traditional cements, sustainable cements such as metakaolin geopolymers, and cement-plastic composites with UV-enhanced bonding.