Profile

Prof Alexei LAPKIN

Principal Investigator

Prof Alexei Lapkin is a Professor of Sustainable Reaction Engineering at University of Cambridge. He is also a PI on three projects within Cambridge CARES. He studied chemistry at Novosibirsk State University (Russia), then obtained his PhD in chemical engineering at University of Bath (UK) under the supervision of Prof. W. J. Thomas and then was appointed as a Lecturer in Chemical Engineering at University of Bath in 2000. In 2009 he was appointed as Professor of Engineering at University of Warwick and since 2013 he has been in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at Cambridge. His work is mainly on methods of process intensification for chemical manufacturing, including machine learning and artificial intelligence, and methods of environmental assessment of new chemical processes, including life cycle assessment.

Prof Lapkin is a PI for the C4T programme, additionally running several projects under the Pharma Innovation Programme Singapore (PIPS), an industry-led platform which aims to strategically bring together public sector research capabilities and domain expertise to enhance productivity and operational efficiency within the pharmaceutical sector through leveraging novel manufacturing technologies and data analytics. He is also a PI for the AMPLE project which aims to work together with industrial partners in the pharmaceutical, energy, and functional coatings sector to rapidly scale new material technologies for high quality and low cost. He was a PI on the now-complete eCO₂EP project.

Read: Cambridge and Berkeley team up in Singapore
Read: Cambridge and Berekeley unravel the complex reaction pathways in zero carbon fuel synthesis

Cambridge

Researchers

C4T extended projects

Research Interest

Prof Alexei Lapkin's research group is developing cleaner manufacturing processes within chemical and chemistry-using industries, mainly focusing on liquid-phase catalytic and biochemical processes. The group has pursued projects on developing functional materials for catalysts, adsorbents and reactors, design of multi-functional intensive reactor concepts, modelling of reaction kinetics, integrated processes, CFD and LCA, integration of reactions and separation especially in bio-chemical processes.

Key Publications

Google Scholar Link

Jose, N. A., Kovalev, M., Bradford, E., Schweidtmann, A. M., Chun Zeng, H., & Lapkin, A. A. (2021). Pushing nanomaterials up to the kilogram scale—An accelerated approach for synthesizing antimicrobial ZnO with high shear reactors, machine learning and high-throughput analysis. Chemical Engineering Journal. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2021.131345

Cao, L., Russo, D., & Lapkin, A. A. (2021). Automated robotic platforms in design and development of formulations. AIChE Journal. https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.17248

Barecka, M. H., Ager, J. W., & Lapkin, A. A. (2021). Economically viable CO 2 electroreduction embedded within ethylene oxide manufacturing. Energy & Environmental Science, 14(3), 1530–1543. https://doi.org/10.1039/D0EE03310C

Mohan, O., Shambhawi, S., Rong, X., Lapkin, A. A., & Mushrif, S. H. (2021). Investigating CO2 methanation on Ni and Ru: DFT assisted microkinetic analysis. ChemCatChem, cctc.202100073. https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.202100073

Y. Amar, A.M. Schweidtmann, P. Deutsch, L. Cao, A. Lapkin, Machine learning and molecular descriptors enable rational solvent selection in asymmetric catalysis, Chem. Sci., 10 (2019) 6697-6706, DOI: 10.1039/c9sc01844a

N. Jose, H.C. Zeng, A.A. Lapkin, Hydrodynamic assembly of two-dimensional layered double hydroxide nanostructures, Nature Commun., 9 (2018) 4913. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07395-4.

D. Helmdach, P. Yaseneva, P.K. Heer, A. Schweidtmann, A. Lapkin, A multi-objective optimisation including results of life cycle assessment in developing bio-renewable-based processes, ChemSusChem 10:18 (2017) 3632-3643. DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201700927

J. Zakrzhewski, A.P. Smalley, M. Kabeshov, A. Lapkin, M. Gaunt, Continuous flow synthesis and derivatization of aziridines via palladium-catalyzed C(sp3)-H activation, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 55 (2016) 8878-8883.

P. Yaseneva, P. Hodgson, J. Zakrzewski, S. Falss, R.E. Meadows, A.A. Lapkin, Continuous flow Buchwald-Hartwig amination of a pharmaceutical intermediate, React. Chem. Eng., 1 (2016) 229-238.

P. Yaseneva, D. Plaza, X. Fan, K. Loponov, A. Lapkin, Synthesis of the antimalarial API artemether in a flow reactor, Catal. Today, 239 (2015) 90-96.

N. Peremezhney, E. Hines, A. Lapkin, C. Connaughton, Combining Gaussian processes, mutual information and a generic algorithm for multi-targeted optimisation of expensive-to-evaluate functions, Engineering Optimisation, 46 (2014) 1593-1607.

P. Yaseneva, C.F. Marti, E. Palomares, X. Fan, T. Morgan, P.S. Perez, M. Ronning, F. Huang, T. Yuranova, L. Kiwi-Minsker, S. Derrouiche, A.A. Lapkin, Efficient reduction of bromates using carbon nanofibre supported catalysts: experimental and a comparative life cycle assessment study, Chem. Eng. J., 248 (2014) 230-241

K.N. Loponov, J. Lopes, M. Barlog, E.V. Astrova, A.V. Malkov, A.A. Lapkin, Optimization of a Scalable Photochemical Reactor for Reactions with Singlet Oxygen, Org. Process Res. Dev., 18 (2014) 1443-1454.

X. Fan, V. Sans, P. Yaseneva, D. Plaza, J.M.J. Williams, A.A. Lapkin, Facile Stoichiometric Reductions in Flow: an Example of Artemisinin, Org. Process Res. Dev., 16 (2012) 1039-1042.

M.V. Sotenko, M. Rebros, V.S. Sans, K.N. Loponov, M.G. Davidson, G. Stephens, A.A. Lapkin, Tandem transformation of glycerol to esters, J. Biotechnol., 162 (2012) 390-397.

A.A. Lapkin, A. Voutchkova, P. Anastas, A conceptual framework for description of complexity in intensive chemical processes, Chem. Eng. Processing. Process intensification, 50 (2011) 1027-1034.

Lapkin, A., Peters, M., Greiner, L., Chemat, S., Leonhard, K., Liauw, M. A. and Leitner, W., Screening of new solvents for artemisinin extraction process using ab-initio methodology, Green Chem., 12 (2010) 241-251.

Lapkin, A. A. and Plucinski, P. K., Engineering factors for efficient flow processes in chemical industries, in Chemical reactions and processes under flow conditions, pp. 1- 43, Eds: Luis, S. V. and Garcia-Verdugo, E., Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, 2010.

Iwan, A., Stephenson, H., Ketchie, W. C. and Lapkin, A. A., High temperature sequestration of CO2 using lithium zirconates, Chem. Eng. J., 146 (2009) 249-258.

Constable, D. J. C., Jimenez-Gonzalez, C. and Lapkin A., 'Process metrics', in Green chemistry metrics: measuring and monitoring sustainable processes, pp. 228- 247, Eds.: Lapkin, A. and Constable, D. J. C., Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, 2008.

L.Torrente-Murciano, A.Lapkin, D.V. Bavykin, F.C. Walsh, K. Wilson, Highly selective Pd/titanate nanotubes catalysts for the double bond migration reaction, J. Catal., 245 (2007) 270-276.

A. Lapkin, P. Plucinski, Comparative assessment of technologies for extraction of artemisinin, J. Natural Prod., 69 (2006) 1653-1664.

D.V. Bavykin, A.A. Lapkin, S.T. Kolaczkowski, P.K. Plucinski, Selective oxidation of alcohols in a continuous multifunctional reactor: ruthenium oxide catalysed oxidation of benzyl alcohol, Applied Catal. A: General, 288 (2005) 165-174.

Achievements