Swelling of compacted bentonite in organic solvents: Correlation of rate and extent of swelling with solvent properties (2023)
Journal Article
Erdogan, A. R., Whitford, A. C., Underwood, T. R., Sellick, C., Patel, R., Skipper, N. T., & Greenwell, H. C. (2023). Swelling of compacted bentonite in organic solvents: Correlation of rate and extent of swelling with solvent properties. Applied Clay Science, 241, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2023.107000

The swelling of clay minerals within shale formations during oil and gas exploration, and within compacted bentonite barriers for radioactive waste containment, presents a number of challenges to operators. Whilst much work has been devoted to unders... Read More about Swelling of compacted bentonite in organic solvents: Correlation of rate and extent of swelling with solvent properties.

Spatial estimation of groundwater quality, hydrogeochemical investigation, and health impacts of shallow groundwater in Kabul city, Afghanistan (2022)
Journal Article
Hamidi, M. D., Kissane, S., Bogush, A. A., Karim, A. Q., Sagintayev, J., Towers, S., & Greenwell, H. C. (2023). Spatial estimation of groundwater quality, hydrogeochemical investigation, and health impacts of shallow groundwater in Kabul city, Afghanistan. Sustainable Water Resources Management, 9(1), Article 20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40899-022-00808-9

The management of groundwater in densely populated areas with no centralized water treatment is critical for the prevention of diseases and maintaining sanitation. Here, we determine the bacteriological and chemical characteristics of groundwater in... Read More about Spatial estimation of groundwater quality, hydrogeochemical investigation, and health impacts of shallow groundwater in Kabul city, Afghanistan.

Comparative Study of Lipid- and Polymer-Supported Membranes Obtained by Vesicle Fusion (2022)
Journal Article
Goodband, R. J., Bain, C. D., & Staykova, M. (2022). Comparative Study of Lipid- and Polymer-Supported Membranes Obtained by Vesicle Fusion. Langmuir, 38(18), 5674-5681. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c00266

We compare the fusion of giant lipid and block-copolymer vesicles on glass and poly(dimethylsiloxane) substrates. Both types of vesicles are similar in their ability to fuse to hydrophilic substrates and form patches with distinct heart or circular s... Read More about Comparative Study of Lipid- and Polymer-Supported Membranes Obtained by Vesicle Fusion.

Effect of Structural Fe Reduction on Water Sorption by Swelling and Non-Swelling Clay Minerals (2022)
Journal Article
Vasilopanagos, C., Carteret, C., Hillier, S., Neumann, A., Brooksbank, H. J., & Greenwell, H. C. (2022). Effect of Structural Fe Reduction on Water Sorption by Swelling and Non-Swelling Clay Minerals. Minerals, 12(4), Article 453. https://doi.org/10.3390/min12040453

Ferruginous clay minerals in saturated soils and within hydrocarbon deposits often exist in a reduced state. Upon introduction of dissolved oxygen, or other oxidants, the clay minerals oxidise and changes in mineral surface charge and sorption capaci... Read More about Effect of Structural Fe Reduction on Water Sorption by Swelling and Non-Swelling Clay Minerals.

Heterogeneous ketonic decarboxylation of dodecanoic acid: studying reaction parameters (2021)
Journal Article
Perera-Solis, D. D., Zholobenko, V. L., Whiting, A., & Greenwell, H. C. (2021). Heterogeneous ketonic decarboxylation of dodecanoic acid: studying reaction parameters. RSC Advances, 11(56), https://doi.org/10.1039/d1ra06871g

Ketonic decarboxylation has gained significant attention in recent years as a pathway to reduce the oxygen content within biomass-derived oils, and to produce sustainable ketones. The reaction is base catalysed, with MgO an economic, accessible and h... Read More about Heterogeneous ketonic decarboxylation of dodecanoic acid: studying reaction parameters.

Opening the Egg Box: NMR spectroscopic analysis of the interactions between s-block cations and kelp monosaccharides (2021)
Journal Article
Rowbotham, J., Greenwell, C., & Dyer, P. W. (2021). Opening the Egg Box: NMR spectroscopic analysis of the interactions between s-block cations and kelp monosaccharides. Dalton Transactions, 50(38), 13246-13255. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0dt04375c

The best-known theory accounting for metal-alginate complexation is the so-called “Egg Box” model. In order to gain greater insight into the metal-saccharide interactions that underpin this model, the coordination chemistry of the corresponding monom... Read More about Opening the Egg Box: NMR spectroscopic analysis of the interactions between s-block cations and kelp monosaccharides.

Atomistic Insight into the Behavior of Ions at an Oil-Bearing Hydrated Calcite Surface: Implication to Ion-Engineered Waterflooding (2021)
Journal Article
Badizad, M. H., Koleini, M. M., Greenwell, H. C., Ayatollahi, S., & Ghazanfari, M. H. (2021). Atomistic Insight into the Behavior of Ions at an Oil-Bearing Hydrated Calcite Surface: Implication to Ion-Engineered Waterflooding. Energy and Fuels, 35(16), 13039-13054. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.1c01357

This research provides an atomistic picture of the role of ions in modulating the microstructural features of an oil-contaminated calcite surface. This is of crucial importance for the rational design of ion-engineered waterflooding, a promising tech... Read More about Atomistic Insight into the Behavior of Ions at an Oil-Bearing Hydrated Calcite Surface: Implication to Ion-Engineered Waterflooding.

DynDen: Assessing convergence of molecular dynamics simulations of interfaces (2021)
Journal Article
Degiacomi, M. T., Tian, S., Greenwell, H. C., & Erastova, V. (2021). DynDen: Assessing convergence of molecular dynamics simulations of interfaces. Computer Physics Communications, 269, Article 108126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpc.2021.108126

Molecular dynamics is a simulation technique used to predict the physical properties of systems based on their chemical structure and evolution of their atomic constituents. For these predictions to be reliable, it is critical that the simulation has... Read More about DynDen: Assessing convergence of molecular dynamics simulations of interfaces.

A method for automatic shale porosity quantification using an Edge-Threshold Automatic Processing (ETAP) technique (2021)
Journal Article
Tian, S., Bowen, L., Liu, B., Zeng, F., Xue, H., Erastova, V., …Liu, J. (2021). A method for automatic shale porosity quantification using an Edge-Threshold Automatic Processing (ETAP) technique. Fuel, 304, Article 121319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2021.121319

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is one of the most prevalent methods used to image and quantify the pore size distribution of shale rock, critical in understanding unconventional petroleum systems and production. Generally, digital greyscale SEM i... Read More about A method for automatic shale porosity quantification using an Edge-Threshold Automatic Processing (ETAP) technique.

Calculation and controlled factors of hydrocarbon expulsion efficiency using corrected pyrolysis parameters: A Songliao case study (2021)
Journal Article
Xue, H., Dong, Z., Tian, S., Lu, S., Greenwell, H. C., Luo, P., …Wang, Y. (2022). Calculation and controlled factors of hydrocarbon expulsion efficiency using corrected pyrolysis parameters: A Songliao case study. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 208, Article 109026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2021.109026

In recent years, rock pyrolysis parameters combined with a mass balance method have been used to calculate the hydrocarbon expulsion efficiency. However, due to the experimental procedure of rock pyrolysis, the residual hydrocarbon amount (S1) is und... Read More about Calculation and controlled factors of hydrocarbon expulsion efficiency using corrected pyrolysis parameters: A Songliao case study.

Preliminary Experimental Study of Methane Adsorption Capacity in Shale After Brittle Deformation Under Uniaxial Compression (2021)
Journal Article
Liang, M., Wang, Z., Zheng, G., Zhang, X., Greenwell, H. C., Zhang, K., …Li, H. (2021). Preliminary Experimental Study of Methane Adsorption Capacity in Shale After Brittle Deformation Under Uniaxial Compression. Frontiers in Earth Science, 9, Article 542912. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.542912

This paper presents a preliminary experimental study on methane adsorption capacity in shales before and after artificial deformation. The experimental results are based on uniaxial compression and methane isothermal adsorption tests on different sha... Read More about Preliminary Experimental Study of Methane Adsorption Capacity in Shale After Brittle Deformation Under Uniaxial Compression.

Occurrence and influence of residual gas released by crush methods on pore structure in Longmaxi shale in Yangtze Plate, Southern China (2020)
Journal Article
Liang, M., Wang, Z., Zheng, G., Christopher Greenwell, H., Li, H., Zhang, L., …Zhang, K. (2020). Occurrence and influence of residual gas released by crush methods on pore structure in Longmaxi shale in Yangtze Plate, Southern China. China geology, 3(4), https://doi.org/10.31035/cg2020070

The composition of gas released under vacuum by crushing from the gas shale of Longmaxi Formation in Upper Yangtze Plate, Southern China was systematically investigated in this study. The effect of residual gas release on pore structures was checked... Read More about Occurrence and influence of residual gas released by crush methods on pore structure in Longmaxi shale in Yangtze Plate, Southern China.

Ion-specific Interactions at Calcite-Brine Interfaces: A Nano-Scale Study of the Surface Charge Development and Preferential Binding of Polar Hydrocarbons (2020)
Journal Article
Badizad, M. H., Koleini, M. M., Greenwell, C., Ayatollahi, S., Ghazanfari, M. H., & Mohammadi, M. (2020). Ion-specific Interactions at Calcite-Brine Interfaces: A Nano-Scale Study of the Surface Charge Development and Preferential Binding of Polar Hydrocarbons. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 22(48), 27999-28011. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0cp04828c

This research provides an atomic-level insight into the synergic contribution of mono- and divalent ions to interfacial characteristics of calcite surface exposed to electrolyte solution containing organic compounds. The emphasis was placed on the io... Read More about Ion-specific Interactions at Calcite-Brine Interfaces: A Nano-Scale Study of the Surface Charge Development and Preferential Binding of Polar Hydrocarbons.

Thermal Evolution of Natural Layered Double Hydroxides: Insight from Quintinite, Hydrotalcite, Stichtite, and Iowaite as Reference Samples for CO3- and Cl-Members of the Hydrotalcite Supergroup (2020)
Journal Article
Zhitova, E., Greenwell, H., Krzhizhanovskaya, M., Apperley, D., Pekov, I., & Yakovenchuk, V. (2020). Thermal Evolution of Natural Layered Double Hydroxides: Insight from Quintinite, Hydrotalcite, Stichtite, and Iowaite as Reference Samples for CO3- and Cl-Members of the Hydrotalcite Supergroup. Minerals, 10(11), Article 961. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10110961

In Situ high-temperature powder X-ray diffraction experiments were undertaken for the coarse crystalline natural layered double hydroxides (LDHs) quintinite, hydrotalcite, stichtite, and iowaite in the temperature range 25–1000 °C, with thermal analy... Read More about Thermal Evolution of Natural Layered Double Hydroxides: Insight from Quintinite, Hydrotalcite, Stichtite, and Iowaite as Reference Samples for CO3- and Cl-Members of the Hydrotalcite Supergroup.

Experimental investigation on gas permeability in bedding shale with brittle and semi-brittle deformations under triaxial compression (2020)
Journal Article
Liang, M., Wang, Z., Zhang, Y., Greenwell, C. H., Li, H., Yu, Y., & Liu, S. (2021). Experimental investigation on gas permeability in bedding shale with brittle and semi-brittle deformations under triaxial compression. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 196, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2020.108049

Solution-state behaviour of algal mono-uronates evaluated by pure shift and compressive sampling NMR techniques (2020)
Journal Article
Rowbotham, J. S., Aguilar, J. A., Kenwright, A. M., Greenwell, H. C., & Dyer, P. W. (2020). Solution-state behaviour of algal mono-uronates evaluated by pure shift and compressive sampling NMR techniques. Carbohydrate Research, 495, Article 108087. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carres.2020.108087

Sodium salts of the algal uronic-acids, d-mannuronic acid (HManA) and l-guluronic acid (HGulA) have been isolated and characterised in solution by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. A suite of recently-described NMR experiments (including... Read More about Solution-state behaviour of algal mono-uronates evaluated by pure shift and compressive sampling NMR techniques.

Adsorption of phosphate by halloysite (7Å) nanotubes (HNTs) (2020)
Journal Article
Gray-Wannell, N., Holliman, P., Greenwell, H., Delbos, E., & Hillier, S. (2020). Adsorption of phosphate by halloysite (7Å) nanotubes (HNTs). Clay Minerals, 55(2), 184-193. https://doi.org/10.1180/clm.2020.24

The adsorption and retention of phosphates in soil systems is of wide environmental importance, and understanding the surface chemistry of halloysite (a common soil clay mineral) is also of prime importance in many emerging technological applications... Read More about Adsorption of phosphate by halloysite (7Å) nanotubes (HNTs).

A Deep Look into Dynamics of Saltwater Imbibition in a Calcite Nano-Channel: Temperature Impacts Capillarity Regimes (2020)
Journal Article
Badizad, M. H., Koleini, M. M., Greenwell, H. C., Ayatollahi, S., & Ghazanfari, M. H. (2020). A Deep Look into Dynamics of Saltwater Imbibition in a Calcite Nano-Channel: Temperature Impacts Capillarity Regimes. Langmuir, 36(31), 9035-9046. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c00437

This research concerns fundamentals of spontaneous transport of saltwater (1 mol.dm-3 NaCl solution) in nano-pores of calcium carbonates. A fully atomistic model was adopted to scrutinize temperature-dependence of flow regimes during solution transpo... Read More about A Deep Look into Dynamics of Saltwater Imbibition in a Calcite Nano-Channel: Temperature Impacts Capillarity Regimes.

A New Framework to Quantifying the Wetting Behaviour of Carbonate Rock Surfaces Based on the Relationship between Zeta Potential and Contact Angle (2020)
Journal Article
Rezaei Gomari, S., Amrouche, F., Santos, R. G., Greenwell, H. C., & Cubillas, P. (2020). A New Framework to Quantifying the Wetting Behaviour of Carbonate Rock Surfaces Based on the Relationship between Zeta Potential and Contact Angle. Energies, 13(4), Article 993. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13040993

This study introduces a new framework to quantify the wettability of powdered carbonate rock from existing correlations between zeta potential and contact angle. The new framework has the potential to be faster and cheaper than conventional approache... Read More about A New Framework to Quantifying the Wetting Behaviour of Carbonate Rock Surfaces Based on the Relationship between Zeta Potential and Contact Angle.

Adding Value to Waste Minerals in a Circular Economy Framework: Ochre-Derived Layered Double Hydroxide Catalysts in Fatty Acid Ketonisation (2019)
Journal Article
Perera-Solis, D. D., Pimlott, M., Fidment, E., Whiting, A., & Greenwell, H. C. (2019). Adding Value to Waste Minerals in a Circular Economy Framework: Ochre-Derived Layered Double Hydroxide Catalysts in Fatty Acid Ketonisation. Minerals, 9(11), Article 681. https://doi.org/10.3390/min9110681

Mineral carbonation is known to be among the most efficient ways to reduce the anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide. Serpentine minerals (Mg3Si2O5(OH)4), have shown great potential for carbonation. A way to improve yield is to thermally activate... Read More about Adding Value to Waste Minerals in a Circular Economy Framework: Ochre-Derived Layered Double Hydroxide Catalysts in Fatty Acid Ketonisation.