Dr Lewis Blackburn

School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering

Lecturer in Nuclear Materials

Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow

Royce Technology Platform Lead

Lewis Blackburn
Profile picture of Lewis Blackburn
Lewis.Blackburn@sheffield.ac.uk

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Dr Lewis Blackburn
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
91Ö±²¥
S1 3JD
Profile

I completed my PhD at the University of 91Ö±²¥ in 2021 within the Immobilisation Science Laboratory (ISL), after which I was awarded an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship. I then undertook a PDRA position funded by Nuclear Waste Services to develop advanced zirconolite and pyrochlore-structured ceramics for the immobilisation of separated actinides. I was subsequently awarded a Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship to develop Pu ceramic capability. My research interests involve long-term evolution of candidate ceramic wasteforms for the immobilisation of separated Pu, including radiation damage processes, chemical durability and process optimisation. In 2023 I was appointed to Lecturer in Nuclear Materials.

Research interests

Implementing a safe disposal strategy for the UK's radioactive waste inventory is a substantial technical challenge and requires a robust scientific underpinning. A feasible approach to placing this material beyond reach is conversion into a passively safe wasteform material, such that it can be placed within a geological disposal facility (GDF). The aim of our research is to understand the properties of radioactive wasteforms, in particular ceramic phases capable of acting as dedicated wasteform for separated Pu and other actinides. 

Key research interests:

  • Materials for radioactive waste immobilisation
  • Development of advanced titanate, zirconate and high-entropy oxide ceramic wasteform materials for the immobilisation of radioactive wastes
  • Solid state chemistry of actinides (Pu, U, Th, Am) and related surrogates (Ce, Ln)
  • Advanced processing methods for waste consolidation and disposal
  • Application of X-ray spectroscopy in support of nuclear waste management
  • Radiation damage effects in candidate Pu wasteforms
Publications

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All publications

Journal articles

  • Cole MR, Blackburn LR, Haigh LT, Bailey DJ, Townsend LT, Kvashnina KO, Hyatt NC & Corkhill CL (2024) . Materials Advances. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Errandonea D, Turnbull R, Sánchez-Martín J, Oliva R, Muñoz A, Radescu S, Mujica A, Blackburn L, Hyatt NC, Popescu C & Ibáñez-Insa J (2024) . Results in Physics, 61, 107704-107704. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ai Q, Sun S-K, Hao P-W, Chen Y-B, Zhao Y, Tan S-H, Bao W-C, Guo W-M, Lin H-T & Blackburn LR (2024) . Ceramics International. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Chen Y-B, Wu J-Y, Huang K-H, Sun S-K, Ai Q, Bao W-C, Blackburn LR, Tan S-H, Guo W-M & Lin H-T (2023) . Ceramics International, 49(19), 31517-31523. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Yudintsev SV, Nickolsky MS, Ojovan MI, Stefanovsky OI, Malkovsky VI, Ulanova AS & Blackburn LR (2023) . Ceramics, 6(3), 1573-1622. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Blackburn LR, Townsend LT, Dixon Wilkins MC, Ina T, Kuman M, Sun S-K, Mason AR, Gardner LJ, Stennett MC, Corkhill CL & Hyatt NC (2023) . Scientific Reports, 13(1). RIS download Bibtex download
  • Blackburn L, Crawford R, Walling S, Gardner L, Cole M, Sun S, Gausse C, Mason A, Stennett M, Maddrell E , Hyatt N et al (2021) . npj Materials Degradation, 5. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Blackburn LR, Sun S, Gardner LJ, Maddrell ER, Stennett MC, Corkhill CL & Hyatt NC (2021) . Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 104(7), 2937-2951. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Blackburn LR, Corkhill CL & Hyatt NC () . Ceramics, 6(3), 1330-1347. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Dimosthenous S, Handley CM, Blackburn LR, Freeman CL & Hyatt NC () . RSC Advances, 11(41), 25179-25186. RIS download Bibtex download
Teaching activities

Module: MAT3910