Dr Mohammed Ismail

School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering

Research Fellow

m.s.ismail@sheffield.ac.uk

Sir Frederick Mappin Building

Full contact details

Dr Mohammed Ismail
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Sir Frederick Mappin Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD

Profile

Dr Mohammed Ismail is a senior researcher and Theme Manager of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies at the Translational Energy Research Centre at the University of Sheffield. He is a chemical engineer by training. He is an expert in multiscale modelling, operation and integration of renewable and/or electrochemical energy units and systems. His PhD study, funded by the EPSRC and Shell UK, was on the characterisation and numerical modelling of the porous media used in the clean technology of the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell.

Equipped with strong expertise in multiscale modelling and experimental characterisation, he has been an instrumental member for various research projects which involve the use of renewable and/or electrochemical technologies such as fuel cells, solar collectors, batteries, electrolysers and photovoltaics. Dr Ismail has, as of June 2022, published more than 45 refereed journal articles, two patents and two book chapters in the past 10 years.

Research interests

Mohammed’s main research focus is to boost the efficiency of the low temperature hydrogen fuel cells through proposing new designs and materials. In addition to that, his research interests cover the following areas:

Innovation and characterisation of cheap and high-performance catalysts and porous media for polymer electrolyte fuel cells and electrolysers
Multiscale multiphysics modelling of polymer electrolyte fuel cells
Multiscale multiphysics modelling of membrane distillation desalination modules
Dynamic modelling of desalination systems driven by renewable energy sources
Multiscale multiphysics modelling of molten carbonate fuel cells used as a concentrator of CO

Publications

Journal articles

Ercelik M, Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2023) Efficient X-ray CT-based numerical computations of structural and mass transport properties of nickel foam-based GDLs for PEFCs. Energy, 262, 125531-125531.
Zeiny A, Al-Baghdadi MAR, Arear WF & Ismail MS (2022) Al2O3–H2O nanofluids for cooling PEM fuel cells: A critical assessment. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy.
Okereke IC, Ismail MS, Ingham D, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2022) The effects of GDL anisotropic transport properties on the PEFC performance. International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow. View this article in WRRO
Calili-Cankir F, Ismail MS, Berber MR, Alrowaili ZA, Ingham DB, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2022) Dynamic models for air-breathing and conventional polymer electrolyte fuel cells : a comparative study. Renewable Energy, 195, 1001-1014.
Lee FC, Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Hughes KJ, Ma L, Lyth SM & Pourkashanian M (2022) Alternative architectures and materials for PEMFC gas diffusion layers: a review and outlook. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 166.
Fernihough O, Ismail MS & El-kharouf A (2022) Intermediate temperature PEFC’s with Nafion® 211 membrane electrolytes: an experimental and numerical study. Membranes, 12(4).
Calili-Cankir F, Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2022) Air-breathing versus conventional polymer electrolyte fuel cells: A parametric numerical study. Energy, 250, 123827-123827.
Ismail MS, Mohamed AM, Poggio D & Pourkashanian M (2022) Corrigendum to “Direct contact membrane distillation: A sensitivity analysis and an outlook on membrane effective thermal conductivity” [J. Membr. Sci. 624 (2021) 119035]. Journal of Membrane Science, 644, 120152-120152.
Ismail MS, Mohamed AM, Poggio D, Walker M & Pourkashanian M (2022) Modelling mass transport within the membrane of direct contact membrane distillation modules used for desalination and wastewater treatment : scrutinising assumptions. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 45.
Ismail MS, Berber MR, Alrowaili ZA & Pourkashanian M (2021) Fully-developed laminar flow in trapezoidal ducts with rounded corners : a numerical solution and case study. International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow.
Neehall ND, Ismail MS, Hughes KJ & Pourkashanian M (2021) Effect of composition and structure of gas diffusion layer and microporous layer on the through-plane gas permeability of PEFC porous media. International Journal of Energy Research, 45(15), 20988-21005.
Calili F, Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2021) A dynamic model of air-breathing polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC): A parametric study. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 46(33), 17343-17357. View this article in WRRO
Aldakheel F, Ismail MS, Hughes KJ, Ingham DB, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2021) Effects of compression on mechanical integrity, gas permeability and thermal stability of gas diffusion layers with/without sealing gaskets. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy.
Ismail MS, Mohamed AM, Poggio D & Pourkashanian M (2021) Direct contact membrane distillation : a sensitivity analysis and an outlook on membrane effective thermal conductivity. Journal of Membrane Science.
Xia D, Xu Y, Mannering J, Ma X, Ismail MS, Borman D, Baker DL, Pourkashanian M & Menzel R (2021) Correction to Tuning the Electrical and Solar Thermal Heating Efficiencies of Nanocarbon Aerogels. Chemistry of Materials, 33(3), 1082-1082.
Xia D, Xu Y, Mannering J, Ma X, Ismail MS, Borman D, Baker DL, Pourkashanian M & Menzel R (2020) Tuning the electrical and solar thermal heating efficiencies of nanocarbon aerogels. Chemistry of Materials.
Lee FC, Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Hughes KJ, Ma L, Lyth SM & Pourkashanian M (2020) An Assessment of Novel Graphene Foam and Graphene-Based Microporous Layers for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells: Fabrication and Characterisation.. ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2020-02(33), 2116-2116.
Carcadea E, Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Patularu L, Schitea D, Marinoiu A, Ion-Ebrasu D, Mocanu D & Varlam M (2020) Effects of geometrical dimensions of flow channels of a large-active-area PEM fuel cell: A CFD study. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy.
Aldakheel F, Ismail MS, Hughes KJ, Ingham DB, Ma L, Pourkashanian M, Cumming D & Smith R (2020) Gas permeability, wettability and morphology of gas diffusion layers before and after performing a realistic ex-situ compression test. Renewable Energy, 151, 1082-1091.
Mufundirwa A, Harrington GF, Ismail MS, Šmid B, Cunning BV, Shundo Y, Pourkashanian M, Sasaki K, Hayashi A & Lyth SM (2020) Gram-scale synthesis of alkoxide-derived nitrogen-doped carbon foam as a support for Fe-N-C electrocatalysts. Nanotechnology. View this article in WRRO
Azarafza A, Ismail MS, Rezakazemi M & Pourkashanian M (2019) Comparative study of conventional and unconventional designs of cathode flow fields in PEM fuel cell. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 116. View this article in WRRO
Carcadea E, Varlam M, Ismail M, Ingham DB, Marinoiu A, Raceanu M, Jianu C, Patularu L & Ion-Ebrasu D (2019) PEM fuel cell performance improvement through numerical optimization of the parameters of the porous layers. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. View this article in WRRO
Chen ZX, Ingham D, Ismail MS, Ma L, Hughes K & Pourkashanian M (2019) Effects of hydrogen relative humidity on the performance of an air-breathing PEM fuel cell : a numerical study. International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat and Fluid Flow. View this article in WRRO
Alborzi E, Gadsby P, Ismail MS, Sheikhansari A, Dwyer M, Meijer AJHM, Blakey S & Pourkashanian M (2019) Comparative Study of the Effect of Fuel Deoxygenation and Polar Species Removal on Jet Fuel Surface Deposition. Energy & Fuels. View this article in WRRO
Carcadea E, Varlam M, Marinoiu A, Raceanu M, Ismail MS & Ingham DB (2019) Influence of catalyst structure on PEM fuel cell performance – A numerical investigation. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 44(25), 12829-12841. View this article in WRRO
Chen ZX, Ingham DB, Ismail MS, Ma L, Hughes KJ & Pourkashanian M (2018) Dynamics of liquid water in the anode flow channels of PEM fuel cells: a numerical parametric study. Journal of the Energy Institute. View this article in WRRO
Carcadea E, Varlam M, Ingham DB, Ismail MS, Patularu L, Marinoiu A & Schitea D (2018) The effects of cathode flow channel size and operating conditions on PEM fuel performance: A CFD modelling study and experimental demonstration. International Journal of Energy Research. View this article in WRRO
Aslam RM, Ingham DB, Ismail MS, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2018) Simultaneous thermal and visual imaging of liquid water of the PEM fuel cell flow channels. Journal of the Energy Institute. View this article in WRRO
Orogbemi OM, Ingham DB, Ismail MS, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2017) On the gas permeability of the microporous layer used in polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Journal of the Energy Institute. View this article in WRRO
Aslam RM, Ingham DB, Ismail MS, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2017) Simultaneous direct visualisation of liquid water in the cathode and anode serpentine flow channels of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Journal of the Energy Institute. View this article in WRRO
Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Ma L, Hughes KJ & Pourkashanian M (2017) Effects of catalyst agglomerate shape in polymer electrolyte fuel cells investigated by a multi-scale modelling framework. Energy, 122, 420-430. View this article in WRRO
Orogbemi OM, Ingham DB, Ismail MS, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2017) Through-plane gas permeability of gas diffusion layers and microporous layer: Effects of carbon loading and sintering. Journal of the Energy Institute. View this article in WRRO
Orogbemi OM, Ingham DB, Ismail MS, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2016) The effects of the composition of microporous layers on the permeability of gas diffusion layers used in polymer electrolyte fuel cells. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 41(46), 21345-21351. View this article in WRRO
Liu J, Yu S, Daio T, Ismail MS, Sasaki K & Lyth SM (2016) Metal-Free Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Foam Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Acid Solution. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 163(9), F1049-F1054. View this article in WRRO
Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Hughes , Ma & Pourkashanian (2016) The effects of shape on the performance of cathode catalyst agglomerates in polymer electrolyte fuel cells: A micro-scale FEM study. International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat and Fluid Flow, 26(3/4), 1145-1156. View this article in WRRO
Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2015) Effective diffusivity of polymer electrolyte fuel cell gas diffusion layers: An overview and numerical study. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 40(34), 10994-11010.
Alhazmi N, Ingham DB, Ismail MS, Hughes K, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2014) The through-plane thermal conductivity and the contact resistance of the components of the membrane electrode assembly and gas diffusion layer in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources, 270, 59-67.
Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2014) An efficient mathematical model for air-breathing PEM fuel cells. Applied Energy, 135, 490-503.
Barge LM, Kee TP, Doloboff IJ, Hampton JMP, Ismail M, Pourkashanian M, Zeytounian J, Baum MM, Moss JA, Lin C-K , Kidd RD et al (2014) The Fuel Cell Model of Abiogenesis: A New Approach to Origin-of-Life Simulations. Astrobiology, 14(3), 254-270.
Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2013) Thermal modelling of the cathode in air-breathing PEM fuel cells. Applied Energy, 111, 529-537.
Ismail MS, Hughes KJ, Ingham DB, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2013) Effect of PTFE loading of gas diffusion layers on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells running at high-efficiency operating conditions. International Journal of Energy Research, 37(13), 1592-1599.
Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2013) The contact resistance between gas diffusion layers and bipolar plates as they are assembled in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Renewable Energy, 52, 40-45.
Alhazmi N, Ingham DB, Ismail MS, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2013) Effect of the anisotropic thermal conductivity of GDL on the performance of PEM fuel cells. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 38(1), 603-611.
Alhazmi N, Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2013) The in-plane thermal conductivity and the contact resistance of the components of the membrane electrode assembly in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources, 241, 136-145.
Ismail MS, Hughes KJ, Ingham DB, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2012) Effects of anisotropic permeability and electrical conductivity of gas diffusion layers on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Applied Energy, 95, 50-63.
Ismail MS, Hassanpour A, Ingham DB, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2012) On the Compressibility of Gas Diffusion Layers in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells. Fuel Cells, 12(3), 391-397.
Ismail MS, Borman D, Hughes KJ, Ingham DB, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2011) On the through-plane permeability of microporous layer-coated gas diffusion layers used in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 36(16).
Ismail MS, Damjanovic T, Hughes K, Ingham DB, Ma L, Pourkashanian M & Rosli M (2010) Through-Plane Permeability for Untreated and PTFE-Treated Gas Diffusion Layers in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells. Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology, 7(5).
Ismail MS, Damjanovic T, Ingham DB, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2010) Effect of polytetrafluoroethylene-treatment and microporous layer-coating on the in-plane permeability of gas diffusion layers used in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources, 195(19), 6619-6628.
Ismail MS, Damjanovic T, Ingham DB, Pourkashanian M & Westwood A (2010) Effect of polytetrafluoroethylene-treatment and microporous layer-coating on the electrical conductivity of gas diffusion layers used in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources, 195(9), 2700-2708.
Rosli MI, Borman DJ, Ingham DB, Ismail MS, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2010) Transparent PEM Fuel Cells for Direct Visualization Experiments. Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology, 7(6).
Berber MR, Ismail MS, Pourkashanian M, Zakaria Hegazy MB & Apfel U-P () Promising Membrane for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells Shows Remarkable Proton Conduction over Wide Temperature and Humidity Ranges. ACS Applied Polymer Materials.

Chapters

Behjani MA, Ismail MS, Ahmed W, Pourkashanian M & Hassanpour A (2021) Mathematical modeling of sustainable energy production using nanotechnology, Emerging Nanotechnologies for Renewable Energy (pp. 559-590). Elsevier
Ismail MS, Ingham DB & Pourkashanian M (2018) Modeling of portable fuel cells, Portable Hydrogen Energy Systems (pp. 51-66). Elsevier
Alonso-Vante N, Antonia Folgado M, Chaparro AM, Citalán-Cigarroa S, Conde JJ, Díaz-Bernabé JL, Ferreira-Aparicio P, Fernández-Sotillo AM, Galarza MA, Gautier G , Gkanas EI et al (2018) Contributors, Portable Hydrogen Energy Systems (pp. ix-x). Elsevier

Conference proceedings papers

Orogbemi O, Ingham DB, Ismail MS, Hughes K, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2015) The effects of the composition of microporous layers on the permeability of gas diffusion layers. Proceedings of the 6th European Fuel Cell - Piero Lunghi Conference, EFC 2015 (pp 275-276)
Alhazmi N, Ismail MS, Ingham DB, Hughes KJ, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2013) The through-plane thermal conductivity and the contact resistance of the components of the membrane electrode assembly in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. EFC 2013 - Proceedings of the 5th European Fuel Cell Piero Lunghi Conference (pp 113-114)
Ismail MS, Borman D, Damjanovic T, Ingham DB & Pourkashanian M (2011) On the through-plane permeability of microporous layer-coated gas diffusion layers used in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 36(16) (pp 10392-10402)
Alhazmi N, Hughes K, Ingham D, Ismail M, Ma L & Pourkashanian M (2011) The effect of anisotropic GDL on the performance of PEM fuel cell. EFC 2011 - Proceedings of the 4th European Fuel Cell Piero Lunghi Conference and Exhibition (pp 407-408)
Ismail M, Damjanovic T, Ingham D & Pourkashanian M (2009) Effect of MPL-coating on through-plane permeability of gas diffusion layers. EFC 2009 - Piero Lunghi Conference, Proceedings of the 3rd European Fuel Cell Technology and Applications Conference (pp 255-256)
Ismail M, Hughes K, Ingham D, Ma L, Pourkashanian M & Rosli M (2009) Through-Plane Permeability for Untreated and PTFE-Treated Gas Diffusion Layers in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells. ASME 2009 7th International Conference on Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology, 8 June 2009 - 10 June 2009.
Rosli MI, Pourkashanian M, Ingham DB, Ma L, Borman D & Ismail MS (2009) Transparent PEM Fuel Cells for Direct Visualisation Experiments. ASME 2009 7th International Conference on Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology, 8 June 2009 - 10 June 2009.
Vural Y, Ma L, Ingham DB, Pourkashanian M & Ismail M (2009) On the multicomponent mass transport in an anode-supported solid oxide fuel cell. EFC 2009 - Piero Lunghi Conference, Proceedings of the 3rd European Fuel Cell Technology and Applications Conference (pp 185-186)

Grants

Fully-funded PhD studentship on production of green hydrogen using electrolysers, EPSRC, Oct 2022 – Sep 2026, ~ £150,000 including industrial support (£36,000) (PI)
Platinum-free catalysts and alternative electrolyte for hydrogen fuel cells, DAIWA Anglo-Japanese Foundation, Sep 2021 – Dec 2023, £12,000 (PI)
Fully-funded PhD studentship on carbon foam based catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells, EPSRC-DTP, Oct 2021 – Sep 2025, ~ £135,000 (Co-I)
Development of efficient fuel cells for hybrid vehicles, Ministry of Education (Saudi Arabia), Feb 2021 - Jan 2022, ~ £20,000 (PI)
Development and evaluation of integrated systems for the provision of drinking water, electricity and fuel to rural communities, QR GCRF, Feb 2020 - Dec 2021, ~ £90,000 (Co-I)
Evaluation of different CCUS systems based on the MCFC technology for decarbonising the power generation sector, Dec 2020 – Nov 2021, UKCCSRC, ~ £30,000 (Co-I)
Fundamental Insights into Advanced Functional Carbon-based Materials as Fe-N-C Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction, Royal Society-JSPS International Exchange Grant, Apr 2018 - Aug 2020, ~ 40,000 (PI)
A novel and highly efficient fuel cell system used to power small electronic devices. An EPSRC Proof of Concept project (via the funding of the University Knowledge Transfer Scheme), Jan 2013 – Dec 2013, £50,000, (Co-I)

Patents

Novel Current Collectors for Air-breathing PEM Fuel Cells. Publication Number WO/2014/080174.
Novel Numerical Model for Air-breathing PEM Fuel Cells. Publication Number WO/2013/088122.v