Ouassef Nahi

Biography

Ouassef studied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the Graduate School of Chemistry, Biology and Physics (ENSCBP) in Bordeaux, France. During the final year of his Master’s, Ouassef specialised in the design and synthesis of colloidal and polymeric systems.
Ouassef carried out a six-month internship at the University of Leeds focused on the synthesis of amphiphilic diblock copolymers with various morphologies to stabilise colloidal systems.

PhD: Single Crystal Composites: a bio-inspired approach to complex particulates

Advances in technology require ever-increasing control over material structure, properties and function.  A promising way of meeting this demand is the fabrication of structured composites from materials with contrasting properties. This project will develop a general methodology for the synthesis of a unique class of functional composite particles – single crystals containing “occlusion species” ranging from small molecules to inorganic nanoparticles to emulsion droplets. Our approach takes inspiration from the remarkable structures of biominerals – where even single crystal biominerals are inorganic/organic composites in which proteins are embedded within the crystal lattice. By judiciously pairing the crystal and occlusion species, it is possible to achieve remarkable levels of incorporation, where the additives are completely protected by the crystal host.  Applications such as controlled-release systems will be targeted for these composite crystals, where actives present in emulsion droplets can be incorporated, or to endow a host crystal with new properties such as colour or superior hardness. The novel structures will be characterised using a wide range of techniques including electron microscopy, raman microscopy and X-ray diffraction.

Masters research project in year 1 of CDT:

• ‘Developing analysis of binary particulate systems with electron microscopy’ with Professor Rik Drummond-Brydson, Chemical & Process Engineering