³Ô¹Ïtv

Professor Ashleigh Fletcher

Head Of Department

Chemical and Process Engineering

Contact

Personal statement

Originally from Sunderland, England, I completed a BSc in Chemistry at Durham University in 1997, before graduating with a PhD in adsorption science from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 2000. I undertook several post-doctoral research positions in Newcastle, and a one year lectureship in physical chemistry, before moving to the ³Ô¹Ïtv in 2008 to take up a lectureship in the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2015 and Professor in 2020, and was appointed Head of Deaprtment in 2024.

I lead a research team of six, as primary supervisor, with a focus on adsorption processes; this includes materials development and characterisation with applications from the removal of gas and liquid phase contaminants to gas storage and sensor development.  Also interested in pedagogic research, I currently co-supervise a project aimed at developing skills for enhanced employability within engineering disciplines.

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Prize And Awards

Recipient
2021
Recipient
2020
Recipient
2020
Recipient
2019
Recipient
2018
Recipient
2018

Qualifications

  • PhD: The Compensation Effect in Adsorption/Desorption of Gases/Vapours on Porous Materials (University of Newcastle, EPSRC funded, supervisor Prof. K.M. Thomas, 2000)
  • PhD: Development and evaluation of open-ended learning activities to support chemical engineering students’ development (³Ô¹Ïtv, supervisor Dr. K. Sypek, 2020)
  • MSc Advanced Professional Studies (³Ô¹Ïtv, 2016)
  • 2:1 BSc Honours in Chemistry (University of Durham, 1997)
  • FRSC (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2021)
  • SFHEA (Higher Education Academy, 2017)
  • CSci (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2004)
  • CChem (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2002)
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Publications

, , Osei-Amponsah Charity, Gebrezgabher Solomie, Mupangwa Walter, Adamtey Noah, Nartey Eric, Lord Richard, Ennis Chris, , , ,
(2025)
, , , Gomes José RB, ,
Microporous and Mesoporous Materials Vol 397 (2025)
Snelgrove Matthew P, , Sangster Calum S, , Regincós Martí Emma, , Tidey Jeremiah P, Gomes José RB, , , Parsons Simon, ,
Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol 64 (2025)
Vitorica-Yrezabal Iñigo J, McAnally Craig A, Snelgrove Matthew P, Warren Mark R, Hill Adrian H, Thompson Stephen P, Quinn Martin, Mottley Sam, Mottley Stephen, , Brammer Lee
Nature Chemistry Vol 17, pp. 1705-1711 (2025)
, ,
EDULEARN25 Proceedings EDULEARN25 EDULEARN25 Proceedings, pp. 7217-7224 (2025)
, Carrington Elliot J, Roseveare Thomas M, McMonagle Charles J, , , Düren Tina, Warren Mark R, Moggach Stephen A, , Brammer Lee
Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol 64 (2025)

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Teaching

I am the Deputy Head of Department for Teaching and Learning, which means that I am responsible for the strategic planning of teaching within the Department, assisting colleauges in the delivery of an excellent teaching experience for all of our students. My teaching duties include the full time courses of basic principles in chemical engineering (CP101), chemical principles (CP203), chemical engineering design (CP407) and the final year chemical engineering project (18530). I also teach on several distance learning modules: chemical engineering principles and thermodynamics (CP211), and MSc research project (CP936). In addition to this, I am have undertaken an MSc in advanced academic studies and a PhD in engineering education, which involved research projects that fit with my ongoing pedagogic research interests, which include the effects of peer tutelage, embedding skills for employability, course redesign and inclusive curricula.

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Research Interests

My current research involves the use of a range of nanoporous adsorbents, including activated carbon, zeolites and metal organic framework materials, with particular focus on the adsorption properties of such structures.   Kinetics of adsorption are key to understanding the mechanisms involved in processes such as gas purification/separation, effluent removal and adsorbent recovery.  The future direction of my work involves the development of nanoporous materials for use in biomedical applications.  For example highly porous carbonaceous materials currently used in water purification processes for dialysis units require extensive improvement to reduce complications produced by persistent species (e.g. chloramines) that can contaminate patients’ blood, thus reducing associated therapeutic medication costs; or the removal of glycation end products for the reduction of diabetes in susceptible groups.  Another area for future research is in bio-terrorism with the need for improved personal protection devices and integrated decontamination processes.  These targets are all achievable by developing an appropriate nanoporous adsorbent possibly with tailored surface character.

Accepting PhD Student Applications in the following topics:

New methods for removal of pollutants from water

New methods of carbon capture using green materials

Professional Activities

Invited speaker
19/2/2025
Contributor
20/11/2024
Member
27/9/2024
Organiser
11/6/2024
Examiner
12/4/2024
Host
25/3/2024

Projects

Fletcher, Ashleigh (Principal Investigator) Zhang, Xiaolei (Co-investigator)
09-Jan-2024 - 07-Jan-2025
Jorge, Miguel (Principal Investigator) Fletcher, Ashleigh (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2023 - 30-Jan-2027
Fletcher, Ashleigh (Principal Investigator) Jorge, Miguel (Co-investigator) Abusam, Razan (Research Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2023 - 01-Jan-2027
Jorge, Miguel (Principal Investigator) Fletcher, Ashleigh (Co-investigator) Sefcik, Jan (Co-investigator) Asif, Khadija (Research Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2023 - 01-Jan-2027
Craig, Gavin (Principal Investigator) Fletcher, Ashleigh (Co-investigator) Regincos Marti, Emma (Researcher)
15-Jan-2023 - 14-Jan-2026
Neagu, Dragos (Principal Investigator) Hamilton, Andrea (Co-investigator) Craig, Gavin (Co-investigator) Ivaturi, Aruna (Co-investigator) Zhang, Xiaolei (Co-investigator) Inglezakis, Vasileios (Co-investigator) Fletcher, Ashleigh (Co-investigator) Roy, Sudipta (Co-investigator) Massabuau, Fabien (Co-investigator) Rahimi, Salaheddin (Co-investigator) Steedman, Andrew (Co-investigator)
The project aThe instrument is a Benchtop X-Ray Diffractometer, which is a device that can analyse the structure and composition of various materials. It can provide data on crystal and molecular structure, phase identification and quantification, and crystallite size and strain. It is suitable for a wide range of inorganic and organic materials in different forms, such as powders, films, or solids. The instrument is compact, fast, easy to use, and low-cost, making it ideal for routine and high-throughput analysis. It can support research in many fields, such as materials science, engineering, chemistry, energy, and healthcare.
The instrument was acquired through an EPSRC Core Equipment fund, with an internally allocated £64k from the ³Ô¹Ïtv
01-Jan-2023

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Contact

Professor Ashleigh Fletcher
Head Of Department
Chemical and Process Engineering

Email: ashleigh.fletcher@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 574 5306