Meet the Researcher: Pablo Lopez-Porfiri

Spotlight on Pablo Lopez-Porfiri

Tell us about your current research area:

My work explores the stability and performance of supported liquid membranes (SLMs) for biogas upgrading.

Biomethane is produced by the breakdown of organic waste, but straight out of production, it contains only about 50–80% methane and a lot of unwanted gases – mainly CO₂, along with water vapour, hydrogen sulphide, nitrogen, oxygen, and other trace compounds. These impurities reduce fuel quality and can damage engines and pipelines.

Upgrading is the step where:

✔ CO₂ is removed

✔ Water and other contaminants are taken out

✔ Methane concentration is increased to ~95% or more

Once upgraded, biomethane can be used just like natural gas – for heating, electricity generation, or even vehicle fuel.

An SLM (Supported Liquid Membrane) is a type of membrane made by filling the tiny pores of a solid porous material with a liquid that acts as a filter. SLMs can be especially effective at separating gases like CO₂ from methane, because you can choose liquids that absorb one gas much better than the other. They can also operate at lower energy and use less chemicals than other purification methods.

My research examines how transmembrane pressure and moisture affect SLM performance during biogas upgrading.

Transmembrane pressure is the force pushing gas across the membrane from the feed side to the permeate side. Higher pressure increases gas flow, but too much pressure can push the liquid out of the membrane and prevent it from working properly.

Moisture can improve separation (by reducing viscosity and increasing selectivity), but too much can make the membranes less stable and more likely to fail.

So, the challenge is to get the right balance of pressure and moisture to ensure that SLMs remain effective at improving biogas upgrading in real-world conditions.

How can your research be used in the real world?

My research can help develop more efficient and cleaner chemical industries by integrating green extraction media and innovative membrane separation technologies.

What specialist equipment do you use in your research?

The core equipment in this research is the Mixed Gas Plant, a custom-built rig composed of a membrane module, mass flow controllers, an autosampler, and a gas chromatograph. It enables accurate quantification of feed and permeate to assess the performance of the developed membrane material under realistic conditions. Software packages for quantum-chemical COSMO-RS computation (COSMOThermX) and DFT modelling (TmoleX) are also used to estimate the system’s molecular and thermodynamic properties.

What has been your proudest research moment so far?

The recognition by the ACS Green Chemistry Institute, USA, for my research contributions to green chemistry and engineering through the Joseph Breen Memorial Fellowship.

Have any collaborations or mentors significantly shaped your work?

I had the pleasure of working with several investigators and colleagues who, in their own ways, inspired my career. Everyone has taught me something that is reflected in my work, from detailed scientific rigour to everyday pragmatism.

What do you wish more people understood about working in STEM/research?

Research is not just about solving a given problem. It also involves curiosity about what remains to be known in your field. Answering the small questions could lead to significant breakthroughs.

If you weren’t a researcher, what do you think you’d be doing?

Beyond my enthusiasm for science, I enjoy photography, particularly nature and landscape photography. So, I would be out there roaming with my camera.

Pablo recently won the Judges’ Winner Award in the Images of Research competition “Research Environments” at the Research Staff Conference 2026: Building Positive Research Communities, Manchester. 

Pablo’s work, The hydrophilic nature trade-off of supported ionic liquid membranes on CO2/CH4 separation performance, in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, the Polytechnic University of Madrid, and the University of Zaragoza, was published in the RSC Journal of Materials Chemistry A.