Professor Duke is focused on the development and implementation of innovative membrane technologies for water, foods and energy applications.
His specialisation is in the fundamental development of inorganic materials such as nanotubes, silica, titania, zeolites and polymer composites as well as in applications of membrane distillation, ceramic membranes and membrane assisted fermentation.
In 2004 he was a Research Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials at the University of Queensland. In 2006 he was promoted to Lecturer in partnership with the CRC for Coal in Sustainable Development.
From 2007 he was a Research Fellow at Arizona State University (USA) prior to commencing his current role as Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Sustainability and Innovation (ISI).
Mikel was awarded the Endeavour Executive Award to visit Fudan University, China (2009) and the Linkage International Fellowship: Australian Research Council (2007).
His research is sponsored by funding agencies including the Australian Research Council and the Smartwater Fund as well as several industry clients.
His research expertise is:
- Enhancing material functionality in advanced inorganic and polymer composite membrane systems
- Desalination energy reduction in reverse osmosis and membrane distillation
- Novel applications of membranes in biological fermentation processes
- Nanotube membrane films development and separation performance
- Application of membranes in established industrial and novel processes
- High temperature membrane gas separation for carbon-free energy
- Process modelling of membrane systems for optimal energy and cost arrangements
Areas of expertise
- Desalination
- Gas separation
- Membrane enhanced fermentation
- Membrane separations
- Novel inorganic and organic materials
- Process modelling
- Water treatment
