The objective of this PhD studentship is the development of new chemical methodologies to engineer the microstructure and surface chemistry of aerogel catalysts and the integration of these novel catalyst systems into modern chemical flow processes. The project will explore the synthesis of nanocarbon aerogels and their chemical functionalisation with nanoparticles and molecular entities. The project will then integrate the materials into chemical flow reactor to investigate structure-function relationships of the functionalised aerogels as porous, heterogeneous catalysts within electrochemical reactions, with focus on fine-chemical and CO2 reduction reactions. The benefits of the project include the development of innovative new catalysts systems that can be integrated with advanced chemical processing and manufacturing technologies with the aim to enhance efficiency in commercially- and environmentally-important reactions, such as CO2 utilisation and pharma-relevant fine-chemical synthesis. The studentship will also provide highly specialised training for the PhD student in advanced materials science and process engineering techniques. The student will also benefit from Leeds-intern facility access, e.g. through the Bragg Centre for Materials Research and the Institute for Process Research and Development. The PhD project has synergies with the current EPSRC research grant "Catch and Release: Recycling of Homogenous Metal Catalysts Using Aromatic Tags and Electroactive Nanocarbon Foams" (EP/T012153/1), led by the PhD supervisor. In this context, opportunities might arise at the later stages of the studentship for collaboration with UK chemical manufacturing partners to explore scale-up, knowledge transfer and commercial exploitation of the PhD research. The proposed research has a strong interdisciplinary theme and falls within various EPSRC research themes and areas, including advanced materials, catalysis, functional ceramics and inorganics, manufacturing the future, and graphene and carbon nanotechnology.