My area of expertise is in nanoporous carbons and materials for energy storage; materials for hydrogen storage; development of electrochemical energy storage technologies (particularly supercapacitor and Li/O₂ battery); industrial energy management; and CO₂ sequestration/shale gas fracking. My research activities in these fields consist of four bodies of work: i) that concerned with the control of porosity in polymeric gels and carbons to produce functional materials for a wide variety of engineering applications including high performance energy storage devices by producing highly conductive nanoporous carbons for battery and supercapacitor electrodes; blood purification by electrosorption on surface modified porous carbons; and also removal of heavy metals from water. ii) that concerned with the structural design and preparation of nano-composite materials for hydrogen generation/storage iii) that concerned with industrial energy optimization through energy benchmarking and implementation of cogeneration systems iv) that concerned with CO₂ sequestration within geological formations, and environmental impact of shale gas fracking process. My work in these areas has led to more than 132 peer- reviewed publications, several industrial and government research funding through KTP/consultancy and research funding applications and also world-wide collaborations with other institutes. I have also presented my research in more than 80 international conferences in 34 different countries. I am a Visiting Professor at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

I am also Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Energies; the Chief Editor of MDPI topic on “Batteries, Supercapacitors, Fuel Cells and Combined Energy/Power Supply Systems” which includes the journals of Batteries, Nanomaterials, Energies, Coating, and Applied Sciences; Lead Editor of the Special Issue on “High Energy Supercapacitors” in the Journal of Energies (MDPI); and Lead Editor of the Special Issue on “Recent Advancements in Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) Technology and Its Processes” in the Journal of Energies (MDPI).

My research work on contrast matching - small angle neutron scattering (CM-SANS) study of our novel supercapacitor electrodes at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (a world-leading centre for research) in Oxford has just been published on the Science Highlights of the UKRI- STFC website.

http://blogs.rsc.org/ee/2011/04/08/power-sources-get-flexible/

https://fr-fr.facebook.com/UniWestofScotland/photos/congratulations-to-dr-mojtaba-mirzaeian-uws-lecturer-in-chemical-engineering-has/10153230853574515/

https://www.facebook.com/UniWestofScotland/photos/a.415859734514.205457.63806824514/10154892799249515/?type=3&comment_id=10154894053604515&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R0%22%7D

https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=EoYaLYUAAAAJ&hl=en

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mojtaba_Mirzaeian

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6602645608048152576/

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies/special_issues/High_Energy_Electrochemical_Capacitors

https://data.isis.stfc.ac.uk/doi/study/108697656

https://www.facebook.com/UniWestofScotland/posts/dr-mojtaba-mirzaeian-of-uws-school-of-computing-engineering-physical-sciences-an/10157918761849515/

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies/special_issues/carbon_capture_utilization_storage_technology

https://www.isis.stfc.ac.uk/Pages/SH21_New_supercapacitors.aspx

Carbon materials for different applications: Understaning and controlling porosity in polymeric gels and carbon materials to produce functional materials for a wide range of engineering applications.

One of the applications of this work is developing and engineering highly conductive carbon materials for supercapacitors and Li-ion batteries where control of porosity is critical for both devices. Li batteries and supercapacitors will play increasing important role in the future for automotive and grid applications. Aqueous based supercapacitors are being developed and are of interest due to their very high power density, low cost and ease of fabrication and assembling. My works in this area have been published in outstanding high rank journals. Our Paper "Energy storage in electrochemical capacitors: designing functional materials to improve performance" published in the Journal of Energy & Environmental Science (EES) with impact factor of 38.532 is listed between the most cited papers reaching the threshold of above 1000 citations and is recognized between "Top Papers in Energy Storage Research" in 2021.  My current research activity in this area is focused on the development of low cost aqueous electrolyte based supercapacitors for large scale energy storage applications.

I recently performed small angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements on our electrode materials in ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, a world-leading centre for research at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford. These measurements are to assist in the development of new supercapacitor devices that can store and release energy very quickly making electrified transport more affordable by extending battery pack lifetime.
Neutron scattering techniques enable us to investigate process taking place in supercapacitors down to the nanoscale assisting in the development of new materials. The access to world class facilities enables us to compete with other globally leading research groups. The preliminary analysis of the results of our SANS measurements are both highly promising and exciting and will enable us to continue and expand our work in this area.

https://www.facebook.com/UniWestofScotland/posts/dr-mojtaba-mirzaeian-of-uws-school-of-computing-engineering-physical-sciences-an/10157918761849515/

https://data.isis.stfc.ac.uk/doi/study/108697656

For the medical application of my controlled nanoporous carbons, I have been working on a novel idea which utilizes the electrochemical transformation of endotoxins from blood on the surface of porous carbons and accelerates the rate of adsorption and improves adsorption capacity and biocompatibility of the selected carbons. This research is collaboration between UWS and N. Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Medicine in Russia. The outcome of this research has been published in high rank international journals such as the Journal of Electrochemical Society and also presented in the Electrochemical Society meeting in Chicago (ECS meeting 2015).

Hydrogen storage/generation: Following my research, in the area of solid-state hydrogen storage in collaboration with Alterg SA Company from France at the University of Strathclyde, I currently collaborate with PEAK Scientific Company on the development of hydrogen generation cells through KTP No 10117 awarded by Innovate UK (PI).

Shale gas fracking & CO2 sequestration in coal: My Fundamental work in this field in the past few years centred on the high-pressure interactions of coal with CO2, for its long-term disposal within coal seams. I am the first to study structural changes induced in coal by high pressure CO2 by small angle neutron scattering (SANS). The results of this work are presented in international conferences such as AIChE and published in international journals such as the Journal of Energy& Fuels, Materials Science, and Iranian Journal of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. My current research on the release of shale gas and environmental impact of the fracking process was recently presented as invited research alongside research works by international and global experts from USA, UK, Netherlands, Norway, France, Denmark and Brazil in “The International Produced Water Workshop 2016” in Aberdeen UK.

Industrial energy management: Increased industrial energy demands and resulting emission of greenhouse gases put an enormous pressure on industries to adopt effective methods of energy saving and lowering their greenhouse gases emissions. My recent work in this field focuses on the evaluation of energy saving potentials and energy efficiency improvement of industrial processes through energy benchmarking and implementation of different cogeneration technologies. This work has led so far to several research outcomes in the form of research papers; conference proceedings and presentation in national and international conferences. It has been recently awarded as the best research in the category of “Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development” in International Conference for Students on Applied Engineering (ICSAE 2016) held in the Great North Museum, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.

http://intranet.uws.ac.uk/Pages/UWS-PhD-student-wins-prize-at-the-International-Conference-for-Students-on-Applied-Engineering-2016.aspx

Teaching Activities:

  Undergraduate Level:

• Chemical Process Principles (L9 - Chem. Eng.)
• Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer (L9 - Chem. Eng.)
• Transport Processes (L9 - Chem. Eng.)
• Unit Operations 1 (L9 - Chem. Eng.)
• Process Design & Control  - Projects (L9 - Chem. Eng.)
• Chemical Process Principles - Laboratory (L9 - Chem. Eng.)
• Unit Operations 1 - Laboratory (L9 - Chem. Eng.)
• Unit Operations 2 (L10 - Chem. Eng.)
• Thermal Systems Analysis & Design (L10 - Chem. Eng.)
• Chem. Eng. Design Study Projects (L10 - Chem. Eng.)
• Unit Operations 2 - Laboratory (L10 - Chem. Eng.)
• Final year Mechanical Engineering - Projects (L10 - Mech. Eng.)

• Programme Leader for Chemical Engineering 
• Year Leader (Year 4 , MEng, and MSc Chemical Engineering Programme)

  Postgraduate Level:

• Advanced Heat Transfer (L11 - Chem & Mech. Eng.)
• Separation Processes (L11 - Chem. Eng.)
• Chem. Eng. MSc Dissertations (L11 - Chem. Eng.)
• Process Principles in Chemical Technology (L11 -  Waste & Resource Management MSc Program)
• Advanced Fluid Mechanics (L11 - Chem & Mech. Eng.)
• Methods of Scientific Research - MEng (L11- Chem Eng.)
• Coordinator of MSc Chem Eng. Dissertations
• Coordinator of MEng Chem Eng. Research Projects

Collaborative and interdisciplinary research to address key challenges in the field of “Energy” and “Environment”.  

Energy and Environment sectors...