Professor Rachel Smith (she/her)
BEng (Hons), PhD
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Professor of Particulate Manufacturing
School Research Impact Lead


+44 114 222 8255
Full contact details
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Room F55
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
- Profile
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I am Professor of Particulate Manufacturing in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield, where I lead a large, active manufacturing research group.
My research spans manufacture of lithium-ion battery electrodes, pharmaceuticals, agrichemicals and foods, and uses a wide range of modelling tools and experimental techniques.
My research strength is studying and quantifying dynamic inter-particle and particle-fluid interactions, and using this knowledge to develop insight, computational models, design tools and new processes for advanced manufacture of formulated products.
- Research interests
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I have active research projects spanning a wide range of industrial applications: wet and dry electrode manufacture for lithium-ion batteries, thin and thick film manufacture, physical systems pharmaceutical manufacturing, wet granulation, drying processes and food manufacturing.
Key research interests:
- New methods for dry electrode manufacture
- Measuring and controlling electrode microstructure generation
- Manufacturing processes for: lithium-ion electrodes, pharmaceutical manufacture, food processing and consumer products
- Particle and powder characterisation
- Experimental and computational techniques
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Quality by digital design to accelerate sustainable medicines development. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 125625-125625.
- Spherical agglomeration for local control of electrode microstructure: Generation of structured agglomerates. Powder Technology, 120688-120688.
- Corrigendum to “Mechanistic modeling of twin screw wet granulation for pharmaceutical formulations: Calibration, sensitivity analysis, and model-driven workflow” [Int. J. Pharm. 659 (2024) 124246]. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 124624-124624.
- Spherical agglomeration kinetics: A mechanistic approach. Powder Technology, 445, 120082-120082.
- Mechanistic modeling of twin screw wet granulation for pharmaceutical formulations: Calibration, sensitivity analysis, and model-driven workflow. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 124246-124246.
- Integrated continuous process design for crystallisation, spherical agglomeration, and filtration of lovastatin. Journal of Pharmaceutical Innovation, 19. View this article in WRRO
- Effect of carbon blacks on electrical conduction and conductive binder domain of next-generation lithium-ion batteries. Journal of Power Sources, 592, 233916-233916.
- True bridging liquid-solid ratio (TBSR): Redefining a critical process parameter in spherical agglomeration. Powder Technology, 430. View this article in WRRO
- Discrete element method and electrochemical modelling of lithium ion cathode structures characterised by X-ray computed tomography. Chemical Engineering Journal, 465, 142749-142749.
- Numerical Design of Microporous Carbon Binder Domains Phase in Composite Cathodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 15(23), 27809-27820.
- Mechanistic modelling of spherical agglomeration processes. Powder Technology, 417.
- A novel oblique impact model for unified particle breakage master curve. Chemical Engineering Science, 268, 118397-118397.
- Carbon binder domain networks and electrical conductivity in lithium-ion battery electrodes: A critical review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 166, 112624.
- Discrete element method (DEM) analysis of lithium ion battery electrode structures from X-ray tomography-the effect of calendering conditions. Powder Technology, 403.
- High-shear granulation: An investigation into granule breakage rates. Advanced Powder Technology.
- Characterisation of aluminium black dross before and after stepwise salt-phase dissolution in non-aqueous solvents. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 401. View this article in WRRO
- Formation and internal microstructure of granules from wetting and non-wetting efavirenz/iron oxide blends. Chemical Engineering Science, 227.
- Gas permeability, wettability and morphology of gas diffusion layers before and after performing a realistic ex-situ compression test. Renewable Energy, 151, 1082-1091.
- A new mathematical model for nucleation of spherical agglomerates by the immersion mechanism. Chemical Engineering Science: X, 4. View this article in WRRO
- WITHDRAWN: A new mathematical model for nucleation of spherical agglomerates by the immersion mechanism [withdrawn]. Chemical Engineering Science. View this article in WRRO
- High shear granulation: an investigation into the granule consolidation mechanism. Powder Technology, 355, 514-525. View this article in WRRO
- A novel method for the analysis of particle coating behaviour via contact spreading in a tumbling drum: Effect of coating liquid viscosity. Powder Technology. View this article in WRRO
- Kinetics of immersion nucleation driven by surface tension. Powder Technology, 335, 62-69. View this article in WRRO
- Particle design via spherical agglomeration: A critical review of controlling parameters, rate processes and modelling. Powder Technology, 326, 327-343. View this article in WRRO
- A review of pulsed flow fluidisation; the effects of intermittent gas flow on fluidised gas–solid bed behaviour. Powder Technology, 292, 108-121.
- Influence of Particle Size Distribution on the Performance of Ionic Liquid-based Electrochemical Double Layer Capacitors. Scientific Reports, 6(1), 22062-22062. View this article in WRRO
- Influence of Surface Wettability on Microbubble Formation. Langmuir, 32(5), 1269-1278.
- Distribution nucleation: Quantifying liquid distribution on the particle surface using the dimensionless particle coating number. Chemical Engineering Science, 92, 134-145.
- Examining the failure modes of wet granular materials using dynamic diametrical compression. Powder Technology, 224, 189-195.
- Breakage of drop nucleated granules in a breakage only high shear mixer. CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE, 65(21), 5651-5657.
- Wet granule breakage in a breakage only high-hear mixer: Effect of formulation properties on breakage behaviour. POWDER TECHNOLOGY, 189(2), 158-164.
- Nucleation regime map for liquid bound granules. AICHE JOURNAL, 49(2), 350-361.
- High-Resolution X-ray Mapping of Fluorinated Binders in Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C.
- Editorial: Dry powder coating in manufacturing processes. Frontiers in Chemical Engineering, 6, 1420110.
- Co, Ni-Free Ultrathick Free-Standing Dry Electrodes for Sustainable Lithium-Ion Batteries. ACS Applied Energy Materials.
- Microstructure of Conductive Binder Domain for Electrical Conduction in Next‐Generation Lithium‐ion Batteries. Energy Technology.
- Status and outlook for lithium-ion battery cathode material synthesis and the application of mechanistic modelling. Journal of Physics: Energy.
- Controlling simonkolleite crystallisation via metallic Zn oxidation in a betaine hydrochloride solution. Nanoscale Advances.
- Roadmap on Li-ion battery manufacturing research. Journal of Physics: Energy.
Chapters
- Granulation and Tabletting, Particle Technology Series (pp. 107-136). Springer International Publishing
- Production, Handling and Characterization of Particulate Materials Springer International Publishing
- Wet Granulation and Mixing, Pharmaceutical Blending and Mixing (pp. 153-182). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Conference proceedings papers
- View this article in WRRO
Presentations
Preprints
- Quality by digital design to accelerate sustainable medicines development. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 125625-125625.
- Teaching interests
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I endeavour to provide research lead teaching, and am keen to continue to include our cutting edge research in our course content.
- Teaching activities
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I currently teach the Chemical Engineering Design Project, the Chemcial Engineering Research project, and the 4th year Particle Design and Processing module.
- Professional activities and memberships
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- AIChE Member and Area Chair, Particle Technology Forum
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA)
- Editorial Board Member, European/African Board of KONA Powder and Particle Journal