UT Researchers Awarded Veni Funding for Projects on Stray Currents, CO₂ Capture and Smart Membranes

UT Researchers Awarded Veni Funding for Projects on Stray Currents, CO₂ Capture and Smart Membranes

(IN BRIEF) Three University of Twente researchers have received Veni grants from the Dutch Research Council, with each grant worth up to €320,000. The funding will allow Dr Tom Hartman, Dr Abhishek Purandare and Dr Chongnan Ye to develop their own research projects over the next three years. Hartman will study complex electromagnetic environments and stray currents, including their impact on dairy farms. Purandare will investigate how CO₂ can be frozen directly from flue gases to improve cryogenic carbon capture. Ye will develop ultrathin polymer membranes with adaptive channels and self-repairing properties to make industrial separations more energy efficient. The grants are part of the NWO Talent Programme, which supports promising researchers as they move towards scientific independence.

(PRESS RELEASE) ENSCHEDE, 16-Jul-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — Three researchers from the University of Twente have been awarded Veni grants from the Dutch Research Council, enabling them to further develop independent research projects over the next three years.

The grants, worth up to €320,000 each, have been awarded to Dr Tom Hartman, Dr Abhishek Purandare and Dr Chongnan Ye under the NWO Talent Programme in the Domain Applied and Engineering Sciences.

Their projects address a diverse set of scientific and engineering challenges, ranging from electromagnetic interference in modern environments to cryogenic carbon capture and self-repairing polymer membranes.

Dr Tom Hartman, from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, will investigate the increasingly complex electromagnetic environments created by technologies such as electric vehicles, heat pumps and solar panels.

As everyday homes, vehicles and farms contain more electronic systems, electromagnetic interactions are becoming more difficult to understand and manage. On dairy farms, for example, stray currents can affect cows, causing stress and behavioural changes.

Existing measurement techniques can detect interference problems, but they offer only a limited view of how entire electromagnetic environments behave. Hartman’s project will develop a sensing system capable of measuring at multiple locations at the same time, such as in a barn or home.

The research aims to identify where electromagnetic interference begins, how it spreads and how it could eventually be prevented.

Dr Abhishek Purandare, from the Faculty of Engineering Technology, will focus on cryogenic carbon capture by studying how carbon dioxide can be frozen directly from flue gases.

Power plants and heavy industries such as steel and cement production emit large quantities of CO₂. Freezing CO₂ at very low temperatures is a promising capture method because it does not require chemical solvents or solid filters and can produce relatively pure CO₂ for reuse or storage.

However, the physical process of CO₂ freezing on a cold surface is still not fully understood. Purandare will use advanced imaging techniques to record this process and develop computer models that describe it.

The project is expected to improve understanding of how solid CO₂ layers form and how this knowledge can support the design of more efficient carbon capture systems.

Dr Chongnan Ye, from the Faculty of Science and Technology, will develop ultrathin polymer membranes that can adapt and repair themselves.

Many industrial processes depend on separating one substance from another, including in oil refineries. These separations are often carried out using heating, which accounts for an estimated 10% to 15% of global energy use.

Membranes offer a more energy-efficient alternative, acting as ultrafine sieves. However, a major limitation is that each gas mixture typically requires a different membrane.

Ye’s research will focus on ultrathin membranes made from bonds that can break and re-form. These dynamic bonds allow channels inside the membrane to adjust to the molecule that needs to pass through. The same material can also repair its own damage, helping extend the membrane’s lifetime.

The NWO Talent Programme is designed to give adventurous, talented and pioneering researchers the freedom to pursue research ideas of their own choosing, develop an independent research line and strengthen their scientific careers.

The Veni grant is aimed at researchers who are moving towards independence and whose academic qualities clearly exceed what is usually expected at their career stage. The funding supports scientifically innovative research and helps recipients develop as independent researchers.

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SOURCE: University of Twente