At the beginning of Spring this year, we celebrate the graduation of Faul Research Group members Dr John Woth, Dr Safa Al Siyabi, and Dr Ulzhalgas (Ulia) Karatayeva, who recently returned to Bristol from a distance to attend the graduation ceremony!
Warmest congratudations to all of them from the group!
Great to start the year in Bristol on a high note – two days of exciting soft robotics research and discussions at the “Transforming Healthcare with Soft Robotics 2026”! Great opportunity to engage with scientists, engineers and clinicians!
The University of Bristol has just announced new research scholarships as part of its Think Big scholarship scheme. The new Think Big for Researchers scheme is for international students studying a master’s by research degree.
Think Big about Research will include a scholarship towards your first year’s tuition fees as well as a place on the Think Big Development Programme.
For students starting in September 2026, there are 10 awards available: 5 awards of £13,000 for the first year of study and 5 awards of £6,500 for the first year of study. Please check the eligibility criteria carefully! You can apply if you have applied to any full-time master’s by research programme delivered in person at the University of Bristol and are classed as an overseas student for fee-paying purposes.
If you are interested to join the Faul Research Group and keen to apply for one of these scholarships, then please contact Prof. Faul by email. Please include two academic letters of references and a one-page CV with your email to be considered.
Dr Geraldine Echue, former PhD student from FRG, now Deputy Editor at Advanced Materials, Advanced Portfolio, and Wiley In Research, gave a wonderful overview of publishing, with a focus on Advanced Portfolio journals. Great to have top tips, and the latest on the use of AI in scientific publishing, also afterwards over coffee.
Geri also generously spent time with members of the FRG and gave members an opportunity to share some of their latest results.
Great to have Geraldine Echue back in Bristol! Thank you for a wonderful visit! #BristolAlumni!
Another research paper authored by John Worth, James C. Griffith, Valeska P. Ting, and Charl F.J. Faul, entitled “Enhancing hydrogen storage through processable porous composite membranes,” was recently published Open Access in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy!
This study highlights the development of composite membranes that combines a polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM) and a PTPA-based CMP for hydrogen storage applications. The established casting methods address the processability challenges of CMP materials, while significantly enhancing the intrinsic microporosity, hydrogen adsorption capacity, and adsorption kinetics of the PIM polymer. These mechanically and chemically stable composites are presented as attractive candidates for lightweight H2 storage applications.
Check the paper for more details!
A new paper titled “A Solvent Selection Framework for Porous Organic Polymers” authored by Xue Fang, Ulzhalgas Karatayeva, John Worth, Merve Gumussoy Girgin, Safa Ali Al Siyabi, Dauren Mukhanov, Ella M. Gale, Charl Faul, and Natalie Fey, is now available online Open Access in Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling!
This work introduces MLoc, a solvent selection toolkit that enables the rapid determination of Hansen solubility parameters (HSPs) to support the design of novel functional porous organic polymers. With a HSP database for 17 different porous organic polymers, the MLoc-guided case study demonstrated a 220% improvement in CO₂ uptake, along with effective morphology tuning through solvent optimization.
Check the paper for more details!
Charl recently attended the International Conference on Advanced Fibres and Polymer Materials (ICAFPM2025) in Shanghai, organised by former group member Prof Yaozu Liao (Executive Dean of the College of Materials Science & Engineering at Donghua University) and the State Key Laboratory for Advanced Fibers (lead by Prof Meifang Zhu).
It was an opportunity to meet with many researchers and senior colleagues from across the world to share results from the FRG and to discuss how we can help to provide solutions to global grand challenges. Thank you to the organisers (for the kind invitation to contribute – and what a privilege to say a few words of welcome to the 3000 attendees!).
Charl stopped in Hong Kong at the end of last week (on his way to Shanghai) and visited Hong Kong PolyU. He gave a seminar about recent results from the FRG, and also met with various colleagues from the Faculty of Science and their Global Engagement Division!
Thank you to Prof. Benedict Lo for his kind hosting!
A new paper titled “Charge-Induced Morphing Gels for Bioinspired Actuation” authored by Ciqun Xu (former joint PhD student with Bristol Robotic Laboratory), Saba Firouznia, Charl Faul, Majid Taghavi, and Jonathan Rossiter, is now available online Open Access in Advanced Functional Materials!
This study continued from the electric field-driven soft morphing matter, previously published in both Advanced Materials and Advanced Functional Materials. A novel electroactive homeomorphic isochoric gel (HIG) actuation mechanism is reported that exhibits substantial and reversible shape-changing while preserving topological and isochoric (volumetric) equivalence, resembling the behavior of muscle deformation. HIGs are capable of mimicing the movements of muscle-driven organelles in nature, including cilia-like beating and the chromophore-like muscular expansion.
Check the paper for more details!
The biggest and warmest congratulations to FRG member Dr. John Worth (CoSEM CDT, joint with Prof. Valeska Ting) on successfully defending his viva on Oct 22nd!
A fantastic achievement with his thesis “Polytriphenylamine Conjugated Microporous Polymers and Polymer of Intrinsic Microporosity Composites as Platforms for Hydrogen Storage”, along with outstanding research outputs already published in Small (Wiley), and the Int. J. Hydrogen Energy!
Thank you to external examiner Dr. Andrea Laybourn, University of Leeds, and internal examiner, Dr. Sebastien Rochat!
Faul Research Group 