Assoc Prof Bradley Ladewig - Researcher Profile

A/Prof Bradley Ladewig

Address

Chemical Engineering
Faculty of Engineering, Clayton

Contact Details

Tel: +61 3 990 51995

Fax: +61 3 990 55686

Email: Bradley.Ladewig@monash.edu


Biography

Thin membranes make a world of difference

Their features may be measured in the nanoscale, but the nanocomposite membranes developed by Dr Bradley Ladewig could make a huge contribution to creating a cleaner, more sustainable planet.

 

Bradley believes energy and water are two of the key issues that will dominate the economic and environmental sustainability of all countries, and the world in general into the future. And while that sentiment may be shared by many, Bradley is among the few to be actively doing something about it.

“The overall purpose of my research is to develop new materials and technologies that will facilitate a revolution in clean energy, bring clean water to communities and help transition to a low carbon future,” Bradley says.

“The whole purpose of my research is to contribute to making the world a better place; that’s the overarching principle for everything we do in our group.”

Bradley makes his contribution through the development of new membrane materials and membrane processes. These membranes act as complex filters capable of separating out liquids, solids and gases into their component parts. Once broken down, these substances can be better manipulated, paving the way for advances in environmentally sustainable technologies. 

When applied to the fields of energy and water, that translates to the development of next generation stationary and transport power sources with zero harmful emissions, water desalination with lower energy consumption, and clean coal technologies driven by more effective carbon capture and storage.

In the case of clean coal, Bradley is working with Monash colleagues to develop novel polymer membranes capable of separating out carbon dioxide emitted during the coal firing process. Within a coal-fired power station, coal is burned in a boiler to boil water and make steam. It is from this steam that the electricity is generated. However, this process also produces what is known as flue gas, a potent mix of chemicals including carbon dioxide. Bradley is researching a membrane that will reject or block all chemicals except carbon dioxide from passing through, effectively capturing the suspected greenhouse gas and allowing it to be disposed of deep underground. 

Another current project makes use of advanced membranes to turn waste water into a cleaning product.

In partnership with researchers at the University of Queensland, Bradley is developing a novel ion-exchange membrane that, with the aid of bacteria and an electrically balanced environment similar to a fuel cell, allows hydrogen ions plus sodium and potassium to be filtered from waste water and turned into powerful cleaning agents: sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide.

This process is currently undergoing pilot trials and would reduce the amount of waste water sent for conventional treatment, as well as cutting down on the manufacture of cleaning chemicals.

In a new collaboration with Dr Wei Shen of Monash University’s Chemical Engineering Department, Bradley is investigating novel sensors for environmental applications using ink-jet printing technology to create low-cost, versatile single-use sensors.

 

 

Related Links:

Keywords

•Environment, Clean Energy, Desalination, Environment, Green Chemistry, Membrane materials, Membrane processes, Water treatment

Qualifications

GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Institution: Monash University
Year awarded: 2010
PHD IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Institution: The University of Queensland
Year awarded: 2006
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING (CHEMICAL) WITH HONS
Institution: The University of Queensland
Year awarded: 2002

Publications

Books

Ladewig, B., Asquith, B., 2012, Desalination Concentrate Management, Springer, USA.

Ladewig, B.P., 2008, Nafion Nanocomposite Membranes for the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell, VDM Verlag Dr. Muller GmbH & Co. KG, Germany.

Book Chapters

Klaysom, C., Ladewig, B.P., Lu, G.Q.M., Wang, L., 2013, Recent advances in ion exchange membranes for desalination applications, in Functional Nanostructured Materials and Membranes for Water Treatment, eds Mikel Duke, Dongyuan Zhao, Raphael Semiat, Wiley-VCH, Germany, pp. 125-161.

Brett, D.J.L., Brandon, N.P., Vasileiadis, N., Vesovic, V., Kucernak, A., Atkins, S., Ladewig, B.P., Blewitt, R., Shrimpton, J., 2007, Developing an experimental functional map of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, in Progress in Fuel Cell Research, eds Petr V. Alemo, Nova Science Publishers, USA, pp. 1-53.

Journal Articles

Lyndon, R., Konstas, K., Ladewig, B.P., Southon, P.D., Kepert, C.J., Hill, M.R., 2013, Dynamic photo-switching in metal-organic frameworks as a route to low-energy carbon dioxide capture and release, Angewandte Chemie - International Edition [P], vol Early View, WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, Germany, pp. 1-5.

Yee, R.S., Rozendal, R.A., Zhang, K., Ladewig, B.P., 2012, Cost effective cation exchange membranes: A review, Chemical Engineering Research & Design [P], vol 90, issue 7, The Institution of Chemical Engineers, Rugby UK, pp. 950-959.

Huang, J., Zhang, K., Wang, K., Xie, Z., Ladewig, B.P., Wang, H., 2012, Fabrication of polyethersulfone-mesoporous silica nanocomposite ultrafiltration membranes with antifouling properties, Journal of Membranes Science [P], vol 423-424, Elsevier Science BV, Netherlands, pp. 362-370.

Thornton, A.W., Dubbeldam, D., Liu, M., Ladewig, B.P., Hill, A., Hill, M.R., 2012, Feasibility of zeolitic imidazolate framework membranes for clean energy, Energy & Environmental Science [P], vol 5, issue 6, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge UK, pp. 7637-7646.

Rady, A., Giddey, S., Badwal, S., Ladewig, B., Bhattacharya, S., 2012, Review of fuels for direct carbon fuel cells, Energy & Fuels [P], vol 26, issue 3, American Chemical Society, Washington DC USA, pp. 1471-1488.

Dimitrakakis, C., Marmiroli, B., Amenitsch, H., Malfatti, L., Innocenzi, P., Grenci, G., Vaccari, L., Hill, A., Ladewig, B.P., Hill, M.R., Falcaro, P., 2012, Top-down patterning of zeolitic imidazolate framework composite thin films by deep x-ray lithography, Chemical Communications [P], vol 23, issue 42, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge UK, pp. 7483-7485.

Lawler, W., Bradford-Hartke, Z., Cran, M., Duke, M., Leslie, G., Ladewig, B.P., Le-Clech, P., 2012, Towards new opportunities for reuse, recycling and disposal of used reverse osmosis membranes, Desalination [P], vol 299, Elsevier Science BV, Netherlands, pp. 103-112.

Yao, M., Ladewig, B., Zhang, K., 2011, Identification of the change of soluble microbial products on membrane fouling in membrane bioreactor (MBR), Desalination [P], vol 278, issue 1-3, Elsevier Science BV, Netherlands, pp. 126-131.

Klaysom, C., Ladewig, B., Lu, G., Wang, L., 2011, Preparation and characterization of sulfonated polyethersulfone for cation-exchange membranes, Journal of Membranes Science [P], vol 368, issue 1-2, Elsevier Science BV, Netherlands, pp. 48-53.

Klaysom, C., Marschall, R., Moon, S., Ladewig, B., Lu, G., Wang, L., 2011, Preparation of porous composite ion-exchange membranes for desalination application, Journal Of Materials Chemistry [P], vol 21, The Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, pp. 7401-7409.

Klaysom, C., Moon, S., Ladewig, B., Lu, G., Wang, L., 2011, Preparation of porous ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) and their characterizations, Journal of Membranes Science [P], vol 371, issue 1-2, Elsevier Science BV, Netherlands, pp. 37-44.

Ladewig, B., Tan, Y., Lin, C., Ladewig, K., da Costa, J., Smart, S., 2011, Preparation, characterization and performance of templated silica membranes in non-osmotic desalination, Materials [E], vol 4, MDPI Publishing, Basel Switzerland, pp. 845-856.

Klaysom, C., Moon, S., Ladewig, B., Lu, G., Wang, L., 2011, The effects of aspect ratio of inorganic fillers on the structure and property of composite ion-exchange membranes, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science [P], vol 363, issue 2, Academic Press Inc. Elsevier Science, USA, pp. 431-439.

Klaysom, C., Moon, S., Ladewig, B., Lu, G., Wang, L., 2011, The influence of inorganic filler particle size on composite ion-exchange membranes for desalination, Journal of Physical Chemistry C [P], vol 115, issue 31, American Chemical Society, USA, pp. 15124-15132.

Duke, M.C., Ladewig, B.P., Smart, S., Rudolph, V., Diniz da Costa, J.C., 2010, Assessment of postcombustion carbon capture technologies for power generation, Frontiers of Chemical Engineering in China [P], vol 4, issue 2, Higher Education Press, co-published with Springer-Verlag GmbH, USA, pp. 184-195.

Hartono, S.B., Qiao, S.Z., Liu, J., Jack, K., Ladewig, B.P., Hao, Z., Lu, G.Q.M., 2010, Functionalized mesoporous silica with very large pores for cellulase immobilization, Journal of Physical Chemistry C [P], vol 114, issue 18, Amer Chemical Soc, USA, pp. 8353-8362.

Battersby, S., Ladewig, B.P., Duke, M.C., Rudolph, V., Diniz da Costa, J.C., 2010, Membrane reactor modelling, validation and simulation for the WGS reaction using metal doped silica membranes, Asia-Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering [E], vol 5, issue 1, John Wiley & Sons Inc., UK, pp. 83-92.

Chai, Z., Wang, C., Zhang, H., Doherty, C., Ladewig, B., Hill, A., Wang, H., 2010, Nafion-carbon nanocomposite membranes prepared using hydrothermal carbonization for proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells, Advanced Functional Materials [P], vol 20, issue 24, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, Germany, pp. 4394-4399.

Klaysom, C., Marschall, R., Wang, L., Ladewig, B.P., Lu, G.Q.M., 2010, Synthesis of composite ion-exchange membranes and their electrochemical properties for desalination applications, Journal Of Materials Chemistry [P], vol 20, issue 22, Royal Soc. Chemistry, UK, pp. 4669-4674.

Brett, D.J.L., Kucemak, A.R., Aguiar, P., Atkins, S.C., Brandon, N.P., Clague, R., Cohen, L.F., Hinds, G., Kalyvas, C., Offer, G.J., Ladewig, B.P., Maher, R., Marquis, A., Shearing, P., Vasileiadis, N., Vesovic, V., 2010, What happens inside a fuel cell? Developing an experimental functional map of fuel cell performance, Chemphyschem [P], vol 11, issue 13, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, Germany, pp. 2714-2731.

Ladewig, B.P., Lapicque, F., 2009, Analysis of the ripple current in a 5 kW polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell stack, Fuel Cells [P], vol 9, issue 2, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, Germany, pp. 157-163.

Uhlmann, D., Liu, S., Ladewig, B.P., Diniz da Costa, J.C., 2009, Cobalt-doped silica membranes for gas separation, Journal of Membrane Science, vol 326, Elsevier Science BV, Netherlands, pp. 316-321.

Battersby, S., Smart, S., Ladewig, B.P., Liu, S., Duke, M.C., Rudolph, V., Diniz de Costa, J.C., 2009, Hydrothermal stability of cobalt silica membranes in a water gas shift membrane reactor, Separation and Purification Technology [P], vol 66, issue 2, Elsevier Science BV, Netherlands, pp. 299-305.

Hartono, S.B., Qiao, S.Z., Jack, K., Ladewig, B.P., Hao, Z., Lu, G.Q.M., 2009, Improving adsorbent properties of cage-like ordered amine functionalized mesoporous silica with very large pores for bioadsorption, Langmuir [P], vol 25, issue 11, Amer Chemical Soc., USA, pp. 6413-6424.

Battersby, S., Tasaki, T., Smart, S., Ladewig, B.P., Liu, S., Duke, M., Rudolph, V., Diniz da Costa, J.C., 2009, Performance of cobalt silica membranes in gas mixture separation, Journal of Membranes Science [P], vol 329, issue 1-2, Elsevier Science BV, Netherlands, pp. 91-98.

Jin, Y., Qiao, S., Diniz da Costa, J.C., Wood, B.J., Ladewig, B.P., Lu, G., 2007, Hydrolytically Stable Phosphorylated Hybrid Silicas for Proton Conduction, Advanced Functional Materials [P], vol 17, issue 16, Wiley-V C H Verlag GMBH, Germany, pp. 3304-3311.

Ramdutt, D., Charles, C., Hudspeth, J., Ladewig, B.P., Gengenbach, T.R., Boswell, R., Dicks, A., Brault, P., 2007, Low energy plasma treatment of Nafion(R) membranes for PEM fuel cells, Journal of Power Sources, vol 165, Elsevier Science BV, Netherlands, pp. 41-48.

Ladewig, B.P., Knott, R.B., Martin, D.J., Diniz da Costa, J.C., Lu, G., 2007, Nafion-MPMDMS nanocomposite membranes with low methanol permeability, Electrochemistry Communications, vol 9, issue 4, Elsevier Science Inc., United States, pp. 781-786.

Ladewig, B.P., Robert, K.B., Hill, A., White, J.W., Martin, D.J., Diniz da Costa, J.C., Lu, M., 2007, Physical and electrochemical characterization of nanocomposite membranes of nafion and functionalized silicon oxide, Chemistry of Materials, vol 19, American Chemical Society, Washington DC, USA, pp. 2372-2381.

Other

Ladewig, B., Martin, D., Diniz da Costa, J., Lu, G., 2011, Nafion(R) Nanocomposite Membranes for the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell, Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, vol encyclopedia, American Scientific Publishers, USA, pp. 503-515.

Zhu, B., Duke, M., Ladewig, B.P., Diniz de Costa, J.C., Lin, Y.S., 2010, Ceramic Membranes for Molecular Level Separations in Gas and Liquid Processing, Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing, vol encyclopedia, Taylor & Francis Group, UK, pp. 1-16.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Supervisors:
Shen, W (Main), Ladewig, B (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Cation exchange coated electrodes for use in membrane capacitive deionisation (MCDI).
Supervisors:
Ladewig, B (Main).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Design and demonstration of carbon capture systems utilising light-responsive CO2 systems.
Supervisors:
Ladewig, B (Main).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Detailed modelling and simulation of the direct ethanol fuel cell.
Supervisors:
Ladewig, B (Main).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Electrocatalysts for low temperature fuel cells.
Supervisors:
Ladewig, B (Main).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Evaluation of Victorian Brown Coal as Fuel for Direct Carbon Fuel Cells (DCFC).
Supervisors:
Bhattacharya, S (Joint), Ladewig, B (Joint-co).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Investigation of nanocomposite desalination membranes using anti-fouling and anti-bacterials.
Supervisors:
Ladewig, B (Main).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Light responsive adsorbents for carbon capture.
Supervisors:
Ladewig, B (Main).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Monovalent selective composite membranes for bioelectrochemical wastewater treatment systems.
Supervisors:
Ladewig, B (Main).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Novel polymer composite membranes for the direct methanol fuel cell.
Supervisors:
Ladewig, B (Main).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Responsive metal-organic framework membranes for gas separation applications.
Supervisors:
Ladewig, B (Main).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Zeolite-polymer nanocomposite membranes for gas separation.
Supervisors:
Wang, H (Main), Ladewig, B (Associate).