Professor Cher Hon Lau

I am an EPSRC Fellow and Chair in Circular Chemical Engineering at the School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh. My research background is in materials science, with particular focus on separation applications. I have been active in research on separation science since 2008. I am a graduate of Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore, Flinders University, Australia, and The National University of Singapore in various courses ranging from Electronics and Computer Engineering to Nanotechnology to Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. I have published more than 70 scientific research papers on the use of microporous materials as membranes, adsorbents and nanocomposites for resource recovery, carbon capture, desalination, organic solvent nanofiltration, and pervaporation. My research has been cited more than 7500 times, resulting in a h-index of 47. Since joining the University of Edinburgh, I have also worked on scaling up the production of novel materials via 3D printing and flow synthesis.

• Bachelor of Science in Nanotechnology (2nd Upper Class)
• Ph. D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Course Organiser for Polymer Science and Engineering 5 (2019 - 2026)

Course Organiser for Polymers, Sustainability and Manufacturing 3 (2026 - present)

My group is interested in using materials science to achieve solutions that find applications in chemical engineering, particularly in separations.

We specialize in the design and synthesis of porous frameworks using cost-effective commercial materials. These nanomaterials are used for applications including metal recovery, hydrocarbon purification, energy storage, alcohol recovery and dehydration, and water purification. These materials can be deployed as adsorbents or as additives in polymer membranes.

Moving into a new era of membranes, we also use nanotechnology and additive manufacturing to fabricate elegant membrane structures to achieve ultrafast molecular separations that require minimal driving forces during operation.

Our aim is to see deployment of our research in the real-world. The research underpinning this thrust is scale-up production of materials including polymers and additives. We devise new techniques that are suitable for producing cutting-edge materials from the University of Edinburgh and our international collaborators.

• Polymer membrane separations
• Resource recovery and utilisation
• Scale-up production and application of porous frameworks
• Sustainable Chemical Separations