The Surface Science and Precision Engineering Centre brings together scientific and engineering disciplines, integrating materials characterisation, design, and manufacture, to enable sustained and inclusive economic growth, social development, and environmental protection.

At the heart of this agenda is a multidisciplinary effort of developing advanced smart systems and functional materials, to enable progress in four transformation pathways:

  • Clean and affordable energy;
  • Responsible consumption and production;
  • Good health and wellbeing;
  • Climate safeguarding.

Materials and coatings for extreme environments

The Centre houses the National High Temperature Surface Engineering Centre, an associate partner of the Henry Royce Institute, leading state-of-the-art research in materials and coatings for extreme environments.

Our aim is to offer a complete package of expertise on coating systems from conceptual design and manufacture to performance evaluation in extreme environments. The work has a multitude of benefits, including reducing inspection times, increasing component life, selection of better materials/coatings, and informing designers for improved design.

These contribute positively to reducing environmental damage through reduced wastage (increased component life), increasing engine efficiency (burning less fuel), and using more sustainable alloy and coating systems. Due to the diversity of the work, we specialise in key areas:

  • Advanced coating technologies;
  • Materials performance in extreme environments

Novel materials and processing techniques for applications in sustainability

Example areas of research include the development of microscale devices, novel catalytic processes, advanced functional materials, low-dimensional nanomaterials, engineering of surfaces and interfaces, and design of functional ultrathin films and coatings and sustainable alternatives to replace existing rare materials used in renewable energy technologies.

Current research avenues:

  • Renewable energy – evaluating, extending and strengthening materials systems for the hydrogen economy (e.g. containment, power generation for transport), work in photovoltaics and Li-free batteries, sustainable catalysts for green hydrogen generation, sustainable electrodes and electrolytes for electrochemical energy storage;
  • Climate mitigation – exploring thermo-electrocatalytic power to engineer difficult chemical reactions (e.g. mitigation CO2), environmentally acceptable corrosion and scale inhibitors for open cooling water systems;
  • Medical – activities toward low-cost and low-risk medical imaging, including research toward personalised medicine and point of care capability (biosensing);
  • Defence – sensor research such as compact, portable multi-modal radiation imaging;
  • Production – smart coating research such as multimodal coatings, life prediction and activities toward high value, large and small, ultraprecision components manufacture. An example is enabling integration of new quantum technologies, supporting UK national space strategy.

Recent publications

Examples of recent journal publications within the centre (research students and staff)

  • Araguás-Rodríguez S, Ferran-Marqués M, Pilgrim CC, Kamnis S, Feist JP, .... (2025). Thermal History Coatings: Influence of Atmospheric Plasma Spray Parameters on Performance. Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 147(1)
  • Chevallier J, Isern L, Almandoz Forcen K, Chalk C & Nicholls JR. (2021). Modelling evaporation in electron-beam physical vapour deposition of thermal barrier coatings. Emergent Materials, 4(6)
  • Demirhan A, Chianella I, Patil SB & Khalid A. (2024). A low-cost miniature immunosensor for haemoglobin as a device for the future detection of gastrointestinal bleeding. The Analyst, 149(4)
  • Duarte Martinez F, Syed A, Dawson K, Tatlock GJ, Morar NI, .... (2023). Effect of NaCl and SO 2 on the stress corrosion cracking of CMSX-4 at 550°C. Materials at High Temperatures, 40(4)
  • Fanicchia F & Karlsdottir SN. (2023). Research and Development on Coatings and Paints for Geothermal Environments: A Review. Advanced Materials Technologies, 8(18)
  • Gao Z, Zhang X, Chen Y, Chalk C, Nicholls J, .... (2024). Strain tolerance evolution of EB-PVD TBCs after thermal exposure or CMAS attack. Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 44(1)
  • Gucci F, Grasso M, Shaw C, Leighton G, Marchante Rodriguez V, .... (2023). PEO-based polymer blend electrolyte for composite structural battery. Polymer-Plastics Technology and Materials, 62(8)
  • Hakim Khalili M, Zhang R, Wilson S, Goel S, Impey SA, .... (2023). Additive Manufacturing and Physicomechanical Characteristics of PEGDA Hydrogels: Recent Advances and Perspective for Tissue Engineering. Polymers, 15(10)
  • Isern L, Impey S, Milosevic D, Clouser SJ & Endrino JL. (2024). Wear-resistant nickel-matrix composite coatings incorporating hard chromium carbide particles. Frontiers in Coatings, Dyes and Interface Engineering, 1
  • Lou C, Tinsley L, Duarte Martinez F, Gray S & Honarvar Shakibaei Asli B. (2024). Optimized AI Methods for Rapid Crack Detection in Microscopy Images. Electronics, 13(23)
  • Luo W, Syed AU, Nicholls JR & Gray S. (2023). An SVM-Based Health Classifier for Offline Li-Ion Batteries by Using EIS Technology. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 170(3)
  • Micallef C, Zhuk Y & Aria AI. (2022). Surface finishing and tool wear in single point diamond turning of chemical vapour deposited tungsten carbide hard coatings. Surface and Coatings Technology, 447(October)
  • Nofrizal N, Wulandari M, Impey S, Georgarakis K, Papanikolaou M, .... (2024). An experimental and simulation screening of X-65 steel weldment corrosion in high flow rate conditions. Materials Today Communications, 39
  • Sarti C, Falcon L, Cincinelli A, Martellini T & Chianella I. (2025). Development of molecularly imprinted polymer-based electrochemical sensors for the detection of UV filters in aquatic ecosystems. Talanta, 285
  • Waeytens M, Syed AU, Roberts T, Martinez FD, Gray S, .... (2023). A microscopy study of nickel-based superalloys performance in type I hot corrosion conditions. Materials at High Temperatures, 40(4)

Books

  • Nicholls JR, Chalk CD & Isern Arrom L. (2025). Aerospace coatings - surface engineering for operation in extreme environments In Beake B & Liskiewicz T (eds), Nanomechanics for Coatings and Engineering Surfaces. Elsevier.
  • Simms NJ, Encinas-Oropesa A & Nicholls JR. (2023). Hot corrosion of coated and uncoated single crystal gas turbine materials* In Protective Systems for High Temperature Applications EFC 57. CRC Press.
  • Mishra RK, Thomas SA, singh DS, Cherusseri J, Chianella I, .... (2024). Heterogeneous Integration of 2D Materials with Silicon Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (Si-CMOS) Devices In Springer Tracts in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. Springer Nature Singapore.
  • Chianella I. (2023). QCM Strategies for Fundamental and Applied Measurements on Particles and Formulations In Springer Series on Chemical Sensors and Biosensors (18). Springer International Publishing.
  • Zhang X, Thakur VK, Aria AI & Yazdani Nezhad H. (2022). Tailoring thermo-mechanical properties of hybrid composite-metal bonded joint In Composites Assembly for High Performance Fastener-less Structures. Institution of Engineering and Technology.