Dr Saeideh Babaee, one for the SIMMET group research leaders, has been awarded the Friedel Sellschop Fellowship for 2024-2027 for her work on hydrogen storage solutions.
Her research is titled “Innovative approaches to hydrogen storage including gas hydrates and solid adsorption technologies”. Hydrogen is typically stored as a compressed gas, which requires high-pressure containers. This poses challenges in terms of designing and manufacturing safe and efficient storage systems. Gas hydrates have been proposed as a potential storage medium for hydrogen, due to their high gas storage capacity and ability to maintain the gas under moderate pressure and low temperatures.
Dr Babaee’s research addresses the current challenges in the application of gas hydrate in hydrogen storage by using various methods to promote hydrogen adsorption and stabilize the hydrate structure.
The fellowship, awarded in honour of Professor Friedel Sellschop (1930-2002), recognises exceptional early-stage researchers. Sellschop was the Dean of the Faculty of Science at Wits from 1979 to 1983, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, from 1984 to 1996. He was part of a research group that identified the first neutrino found in nature in one of South Africa’s gold mines. Dr Babaee joins four other fellows: Ashley Coates, Isaac Nape, and Matt Noakes.
Adapted from https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/2024/2024-01/meet-the-2024-friedel-sellschop-fellows.html