Paper on the Future of Nanofertilisers in Highest-Impact Journal
Remote PhD student Tu Le, along with Professor Volker Hessel and co-authors have recently published a review on microfluidic encapsulation and its use for nanofertilisers – which are among the grand challenges of future engineering.
Microfluidics are flows directed through the tiniest ('micro') channels with unprecedented control of making formulations and emulsions. They generate droplets of the smallest uniform size – down to the nanometer size, the so-called nanoemulsions.
Such products are already found in our daily life. For example, healthy nutrient drinks ('fortified beverages') are developed through microfuidic processes.
This review, titled Microfluidic encapsulation for controlled release and its potential for nanofertilisers, overviews the microfluidic technology to make droplets for micro- and nanoemulsions and reports on the use for the making and formulation of nanofertilisers, which are often ranked in the top-ten innovations in engineering.
Importantly, Chemical Society Reviews is among the highest rated journals, scoring an impressive impact factor of 55. Highly cited papers are crucial to improving the rank and recognition of a School or University in global rankings. If a paper or review has been highly cited, it demonstrates that the work has been read and referenced by peers and colleagues, and paves the way for future research in this area.
About the researchers
Tu Le is currently a PhD student at the University of Adelaide in the School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, under the supervision of Professor Volker Hessel. His research interests include catalytic processes, colloid chemical approaches to nanotechnology, and nanomaterials for environmental applications. His PhD topic is focusing on the potential of microfluidic technology in the preparation of smart-fertiliser for precision agriculture. This is Tu's first paper, and we hope to welcome him soon in Australia.
Professor Volker Hessel is the Deputy Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences as well as Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering & Advanced Materials. He is (co-)author of > 540 peer-reviewed (h-index: 77). He received the AIChE Award “Excellence in Process Development Research” in 2007, the ERC Advanced, Proof of Concept and Synergy Grants between 2010 and 2018, the IUPAC ThalesNano Prize in Flow Chemistry in 2016, the FET OPEN Grant in 2016. He is CI in two current LIEF grants. He was authority in the 35-man teamed Parliament Enquete Commission "Future of the Chemical Industry" in Nordrhine-Westfalia.
Other researchers involved with the paper include Nam Nghiep Tran, Marc Escribà-Gelonchm, Christophe A. Serra, Ian Fisk and David Julian McClements.