Professor Kevin Roberts
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Brotherton Professor of Chemical Engineering Tel: +44 (0) 113 343 2408 |
Click here for Biographical Summary
Click here for Academic Profile
Crystallisation Science and Engineering
My research centres around the formation and subsequent processing of crystalline particulate solids spanning fundamental understanding, technological innovation and engineering practice, including training. Projects within my research group are varies including studies of the crystallisation and product properties of pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, oil/gas products, personal products, confectionery and agrochemicals which can be examined across the spatial and temporal scales using both modelling and experimental techniques.
Research Interests
The key themes associated with my research involve the following topic areas:
- Crystallisation fundamentals through multi-scale molecular modelling (molecule, dimers, clusters, nano-crystals, surface chemistry and interfacial behaviour, structure and polymorphism), morphological prediction and characterisation.
- Experimental crystallisation science including solvent selection, solubility and PKa speciation assessment, nucleation kinetics via temperature-programmed and isothermal methods, crystal growth rate assessment as a function of supersaturation, seed preparation and seeding strategy development.
- Chemical process R&D notably the inter-relationship between synthesis impurities and product form quality attributes (perfection, purity, morphology and polymorphic form).
- Process analytical technology (PAT) for crystallisation monitoring using ultrasonics, ATR FTIR, UVviz, NIR and slurry XRD techniques including chemometrics together with the development of closed-loop control of crystallisers using PAT techniques (click here for details of the Chemicals Behaving Badly (CBB2) industrial consortium).
- Synchrotron radiation techniques for characterising the structure, perfection, morphology and interfacial properties of macro- and micro-crystals and changes to them associated with the impact of processing conditions.
- Crystallisation engineering including process modelling (heat transfer, hydrodynamics and process balances) including CFD together with crystallisation scale-up from laboratory to manufacturing scale.
Research Laboratory and Facilities
My research group’s laboratories are well equipped with fully automated reactors from 0.1ml through to 50 litres supported by excellent analytical facilities: XRD, FTIR, NIR, UVvis, turbidimetry, laser light scattering, particle shape analysis, optical microscopy/image analysis, DSC, TGA-MS, GC, iGC, HPLC, automated shape analysis, etc.
Click here for details of the group’s experimental research facilities.
Complementary multi-scale modelling facilities involve: molecular and crystallographic modelling, heat transfer and process balances, and CFD.
The group is a major stakeholder in the Institute for Process R&D, a cross faculty initiative with the School of Chemistry, where extensive batch and continuous facilities for product synthesis, characterisation and scale-up are available. Other facilities such as AFM, process tomography, RAMAN, SEM/ESEM, TEM/EELS are also available within the university and the group has strong research links with national synchrotron radiation facilities notably the DIAMOND Light Source for in-process studies of crystallisation.
Research Funding and Industrial Links
My group’s research work has attracted more than £30M funding and is highly topical to industry as evidenced by more than a third of funding from commercial companies, the latter working with > 20 industrial companies, most notably recently through his leadership of the EPSRC/DTI Chemicals Behaving Badly (CBB) consortium. It also has a strong international dimension through a number of collaborations with international research groups.
Research Outcomes and Knowledge Transfer
I have been involved in the supervision and development of > 100 early career researchers and 59 PhD programmes, of which 13 are still in progress.
I have published 373 papers including 241 papers in journals, 100 papers in conference proceedings, 6 monographs, 5 edited special issue journal volumes and 21 others. These have attracted > 2,200 career citations (H-index 25).
Conference attendance is highly regarded in my group and this includes the presentation of 123 invited conference papers (47% international) including 11 plenary/keynotes lectures, 362 contributed papers (70% international), 64 invited seminars (40% international) given to academic institutions, 99 invited seminars (47% international) given to industry
In addition, consultancy and expert witness work has been delivered to 28 companies and international exchanges have involved my taking part in 33 extended research visits overseas together with hosting >20 visiting scientists.
Options for Postgraduate study
Post-graduate research forms the core part of my group's research activities and students undertake a wide range of PhD and MPhil research projects which are often sponsored by industry. The group's staff members have complementary research experiences and specialisations and advisory teams of between 2 and 4 supervisors are provided to support the research students studies.
Click here for details of current and past post-graduate research projects in the crystallization science and engineering research area
Selected Publications
Click here for Publication List
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An Examination of the Kinetics of the Solution-Mediated Polymorphic Phase Transformation between α- and β- forms of L-Glutamic Acid as Determined using In-situ Powder X-ray Diffraction, S Dharmayat, Robert B Hammond, X Lai, C Ma, E Purba, K J Roberts, Z Chen, E Martin, J Morris and R Bytheway, Crystal Growth and Design 8 (2008) 2205 - 2216
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Particle shape characterisation via image analysis: From laboratory studies to an evaluation of the utility of in-process measurements using an In-Situ Particle Viewer (ISPV) system, R Li, R Penchev, V Ramachandran, K J Roberts, X Z Wang, R Tweedie, A Prior, J Gerritsen and F Hugen, Industrial Organic Process Research and Development, 12 (2008) 837-849
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Comparison of the crystal chemistry, the process conditions for crystallization and the relative structural stability of two polymorphic forms of NG-monomethyl-L-Arginine hydrochloride, S Dharmayat, R B Hammond, C Kilner, X Lai, R A Palmer, B S Potter, C M Rayner and K J Roberts, Industrial Organic Process Research and Development, 12 (2008), 860–868
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In-situ measurement of solution concentration in batch cooling crystallisation of L-glutamic acid using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy coupled with chemometrics, A Borissova, S Khan, T Mahmud, K J Roberts, J Andrews, P Dallin, Z P Chen, E Martin and J Morris, Crystal Growth and Design 9 (2009) 692-706
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Scalable cocrystallisation: case of carbamazapine-nicotinamide, A Sheikh, S Abd Rahmin, R B Hammond and K J Roberts, CrystEngComm 11 (2009) 501–509
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An examination of the influence of divalent cationic defects on the bulk and surface properties of Ba(NO3)2 associated with crystallisation, R B Hammond, M J Orley, K J Roberts, R A Jackson and M J Quayle, Crystal Growth and Design 9 (2009) 2588-2594
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An instrument for combining X-ray multiple diffraction and X-ray topographic imaging for examining crystal micro-crystallography and perfection, X Lai, C Y Ma, K J Roberts, L Cardoso, A dos Santos, D Bogg and M Miller, Review of Scientific Instruments 80 (2009) 033705 (1-6)
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An evaluation of the application of molecular grid-based search methods for predicting interparticle interactions in pharmaceutical formulations: case example of acetylsalilcylic acid and ascorbic acid, R B Hammond, S Jeck, C Ma, K Pencheva, K J Roberts and T Auffret, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 98 (2009) 4589-4602
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Polymorph-directing seeding of Entacapone crystallisation in aqueous/acetone solution using a self-assembled molecular layer on Au (100), A Kwokal, T H Nguyen and K J Roberts, Crystal Growth and Design 9 (2009) 4324-4334
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Experimental evidence for the influence of Mn3+ impurity concentration on the habit modification mechanism of potassium dihydrogen phosphate, C Remedios, A dos Santos, X Lai, K J Roberts, M Sanclayton, M Marcus, A de Menezes, F Rouxinol, L Cardoso, Crystal Growth and Design 10 (2010) 1053-1058
Recent Conference Lectures
PDFs of recent conference lectures are available below for downloading:
BACG Annual Lecture presented to the 42nd Annual BACG Conference, University College London, 2011
Plenary paper (with Robert Docherty) presented at Materials by Design organised by the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (APS) & BCA Industrial Group, Nottingham, 2011
Plenary paper presented at UK-China Particle Technology Forum III, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, 2011
Invited paper presented at Workshop on Particle Size Reduction organised by the International Fine Particles Research Institute (IFPRI), Sheraton Hotel, Schipol Airport, Netherlands, 2011.
Invited lecture presented to Molecules Make Crystals Make Products Workshop organised by the EPSRC Grand Challenge Network on Directed Assembly, Pfizer, Sandwich, UK, 2011.
Invited paper presented at 17th Larson Workshop hosted by Bristol-Myers Squibb on the Campus of Rutgers University, NJ, USA, 2010.
Invited paper presented to the 16th International Conference on Crystal Growth, Bejing, China, 2010.
Keynote lecture presented to ISPE Milan Congress on Science and Risk Assessment for Business Success, ATA Hotel Expo Fiera, Milan, Italy, 2010.
Invited paper presented at IQPC Conference on Polymorphism and Crystallisation 2010, Hilton Olympia, London, 2010.
Invited CPD session presented at the PGR Training Programme on the A-Z of Publication (University of Leeds, Faculty of Engineering), 2010.
Invited lectures at the International School of Crystallisation: Food, Drugs and Agrochemicals (ISC2009), Hotel San Anton, Granada, Spain, 2009.
- Crystal morphology: Description, prediction and control
- Application of synchrotron radiation techniques to the in-situ characterisation of crystallisation processes: food, drugs, petrochemical & speciality materials