Electrolysis powered by renewable energy is a promising technology for producing green hydrogen, which is urgently needed for the transition to a sustainable society. However, bubbles get in the way as they make the process less efficient when they form at the electrode. My research aims to control or entirely avoid these bubbles paving the way for more efficient electrolysers and ultimately lower costs for green hydrogen.

This project investigates how lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for mRNA delivery self-assemble—the technology behind groundbreaking therapies like COVID-19 vaccines. Using real-time imaging of energy transfer between fluorescent molecules (FRET) in a precisely controlled microfluidic system, we will visualize the interactions between mRNA and lipids during LNP formation. This will reveal, for the first time, the timeline, sequence, and conditions of the process. With this knowledge, LNPs can be designed more effectively, accelerating the development of safer, personalized mRNA-based therapies. This opens new possibilities for treating diseases such as cancer and genetic disorders.

"Earth’s climate is shaped by complex physical phenomena, including sea ice melting and the role of clouds in regulating solar radiation and Earth’s energy balance. These critical processes remain poorly understood, creating uncertainties in climate models. Our project addresses these knowledge gaps by investigating the fundamental physics of these flow phenomena through high-fidelity simulations. By isolating key geophysical processes in controlled simulations, we explore the basic physical phenomena important in sea ice melting and cloud dynamics. This approach provides detailed insights into geophysical flows, advancing our understanding of climate systems and relevant to improving the accuracy of climate models.

Surface nanobubbles are nanoscopic gaseous domains on immersed substrates, which can survive for days.They are not only interesting from a fundamental point of view, as the flow and the mass transfer on a nanoscale have macroscopic consequences, but they also have major application potential, e.g., in flotation, for transport in nanofluidic devices, in (photo) catalysis, and in nanomaterial engineering. The presence of surface nanobubbles and nanodroplets has implications for various interfacial properties and phenomena and thus is relevant for all applications where these properties matter. We have divided this project into two parts: (i) Interaction between multiple nanobubbles on chemical heterogeneous surface (ii) Dissolution of surface nanodrops in another liquid.

Turbulent multiphase flows play a crucial role in various processes throughout nature and industry. In this project we shall study a collection of such flows motivated by geophysical scenarios where the melting of ice in water drives convection at a continuously evolving ice surface. We will also extend our previous work on particles in turbulence [1–3] to investigate the potential for complex-shaped particles to control the properties of a turbulent flow.