Dr Rachel Pepper
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Mech., Medical & Process Engineering
Biography
Dr Rachel Pepper is a research fellow in the School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering. Her research focuses on using fundamental chemistry to solve applied problems, with an emphasis on value-adding low-grade or waste materials and sustainable processes and technologies.She received her PhD from QUT in 2018, for research on synthesising iron oxide adsorbents from mining waste. She also holds an undergraduate degree in Applied Science, majoring in chemistry, with a second major in biochemistry.
Areas of expertise:
- Preparative chemistry and materials synthesis including development of high purity ceramics and adsorbent materials
- Water treatment and adsorption including experimental design, column studies, and modelling of adsorption data
- Analytical chemistry including preparation of samples for trace analysis and materials characterisation with techniques including X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, infrared spectroscopy, gas adsorption analysis, electron microscopy, thermal analysis, and optical emission spectroscopy
Personal details
Positions
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Mech., Medical & Process Engineering
Qualifications
- PhD (Queensland University of Technology)
Professional memberships and associations
- Member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (MRACI)
- Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)
Teaching
Dr Pepper has taught into a number of undergraduate courses across general science, chemistry, and engineering disciplines, including:
She has taken on unit coordination roles for SEB104, along with Engineering Honours units including EGH400, EGH408, BEB801 and BEB802.
- SEB104 - Grand Challenges in Science
- EGB361 - Minerals and Minerals Processing
- CVB202 - Analytical Chemistry
- CVB101 - General Chemistry
She has taken on unit coordination roles for SEB104, along with Engineering Honours units including EGH400, EGH408, BEB801 and BEB802.
Publications
- Rahimi Kord Sofla, M., Batchelor, W., Adamovska, J., Pepper, R., Brown, R. & Rainey, T. (2019). Cellulose nanofibres from bagasse using a high speed blender and acetylation as a pretreatment. Cellulose, 26(8), 4799–4814. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/128630
- Gupta, P., Couperthwaite, S., Santini, T., Pepper, R. & Millar, G. (2021). Experimental and geochemical modelling investigations on the weathering behaviour of bauxite residue: effect of pH. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 9(5). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/211759
- Pepper, R., Couperthwaite, S. & Millar, G. (2018). A novel akaganeite sorbent synthesised from waste red mud: Application for treatment of arsenate in aqueous solutions. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 6(5), 6308–6316. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/122577
- Pepper, R., Couperthwaite, S. & Millar, G. (2018). Re-use of waste red mud: Production of a functional iron oxide adsorbent for removal of phosphorous. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 25, 138–148. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/122578
- Pepper, R., Couperthwaite, S. & Millar, G. (2018). Value adding red mud waste: Impact of red mud composition upon fluoride removal performance of synthesised akaganeite sorbents. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 6(2), 2063–2074. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/122582
- Pepper, R., Couperthwaite, S. & Millar, G. (2017). Value adding red mud waste: High performance iron oxide adsorbent for removal of fluoride. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 5(3), 2200–2206. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/105934
- Pepper, R., Couperthwaite, S. & Millar, G. (2016). Comprehensive examination of acid leaching behaviour of mineral phases from red mud: Recovery of Fe, Al, Ti, and Si. Minerals Engineering, 99, 8–18. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/99676
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Rachel, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).