Materials for sustainable solutions

Welcome to the interfacial engineering Research (iR) group

We are a multidisciplinary team of chemical engineers, material scientists, geoscientists, civil engineers and electromechanical engineers. We study physical and chemical properties of the contact and interaction between materials, and aim to optimize those properties to create materials with improved overall performance for (i) energy storage, conversion, and efficiency, (ii) gas storage and conversion, and (iii) healthcare devices.

News

Lucas Van De Walle won the Crowd Favorite Prize at KU Leuven Future Proef award

His master's thesis, "Sustainable CaCO3-Flax-PP Composites: An Investigation of Thermal, Acoustic, and Mechanical Properties," not only snagged a KU Leuven Future Proef Award nomination but also won the Crowd Favorite Prize!

6 December 2023

Jasper Vitse receives the Studieprijs 2022-2023 from the Belgische Betongroepering

He was awarded the Studieprijs 2022-2023 for his Master thesis "Building on Mars: geopolymers from in situ resources".

9 November 2023

Junru Wang has obtained an FWO strategic basic research PhD fellowship

His PhD focuses on the development of flexible zinc-ion batteries with improved performance.

6 October 2023

Dr. Fatemeh Mokhtari is awarded a Horizon Europe MSCA postdoctoral fellowship: SMRT-DRUG-DLVR

In this project, we will develop functional piezoelectric nanocomposite electrospun fibres for controlled drug delivery.

8 June 2023

Dharmjeet Madhav receives the Student EMS Conference Fee Award from the European Membrane Society

This travel grant enables presentation of his work on bio-inspired mineralization of CO2 into CaCO3 at the ICOM2023 conference, 9-14 July 2023 in Chiba, Japan

25 May 2023

Research highlights

Interfacial engineering strategies for Mn-based oxide cathodes in aqueous zinc-ion batteries

Dolomitisation favoured by Lewis acidic background compounds in saline fluids

Nacre-inspired materials: chemistry, strengthening-deformation mechanism, synthesis and applications

Nanoporous carbons from biosourced compounds: ordered hierarchical nanoarchitectures

Mineralogy, micro-structures and geo-mechanics of rock salt for underground gas storage

Thermal insulation properties of modified fly ash based geopolymers

interfacial engineering Research (iR) group


Prof. dr. Veerle VandeginsteKU Leuven - BrugesDepartment of Materials EngineeringSurface and Interface Engineered MaterialsContact Prof. Vandeginste