Loughborough University is a top-ten rated university in England for research intensity (REF2014) and an outstanding 66% of the work of Loughborough’s academic staff who were eligible to be submitted to the REF was judged as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, compared to a national average figure of 43%. In choosing Loughborough for your research, you’ll work alongside academics who are leaders in their field. You will benefit from comprehensive support and guidance from our Doctoral College, including tailored careers advice, to help you succeed in your research and future career. Our overall aims of this project are to draw together the nascent work on new catalysts for both anode and cathode, membranes, Membrane-Electrode-Assembly and fuel cell stacks development in LU and UCL in order to determine the feasibility of formulating low cost and high performance (active and durable) membrane electrode assemblies for direct alkaline fuel cells accessing a wider range of liquid oxygenate fuels (in particular the biofuels). A key aspect of the research will be fundamental (both theoretical/DFT modelling and experimental), mechanistic studies of both anode and cathode in order to formulate a theoretical model to aid in the identification of high performance and low cost catalyst breakthrough for liquid fuel/biofuel oxidation and oxygen reduction under alkaline conditions.