Dr Christopher Fellows
Adjunct Associate Professor , Physical Chemistry - School of Science and Technology
Email: cfellows@une.edu.au
Biography
Dr Chris Fellows earned a PhD in polymer chemistry under the supervision of A/Prof Ernest Senogles at James Cook University, held several fixed-term appointments in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the University of Sydney, then joined UNE as a Lecturer in 2004. He is now an Adjunct Associate Professor, having left UNE in 2020 to join the Saline Water Conversion Corporation's Desalination Technologies Research Institute in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dr Fellows’ research focus is the application of fundamental physical chemistry to solve problems in the water sector. Projects he is currently most invested in are control of evaporation from water storages, development of improved antiscalants for high temperature and high concentration applications, and production of bromine and magnesium salts from desalination brine. Dr Fellows has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and is an Associate Editor of the journal 'Desalination and Water Treatment'.
Qualifications
BSc (Hons I, JCU), PhD (JCU)
Primary Research Area/s
Radical polymerisation; Inorganic scale control; Evaporation controlResearch Interests
The fundamental kinetics and mechanism of free-radical polymerisation, the behaviour of polymers in solution and their interaction with small molecules and colloidal matter, and the application of the products of free-radical polymerisation to problems of biological interest. Some specific areas of interest are:
- Understanding the mechanism of polymeric scale inhibitors in controlling inorganic crystallisation
- Understanding the mechanism of bridging flocculation and optimising the selectivity and effectiveness of bridging flocculants
- Understanding the role of Lewis Acids in the production of alternating copolymers
Understanding the mechanism of monolayers and other chemical means of reducing evaporation from water storages
Publications
Selected publications
C. H. Chan, J.-T. Chen, W. S. Farrell, C. M. Fellows, D. J. Keddie, C. K. Luscombe, J. B. Matson, J. Merna, G. Moad, G. T. Russell, P. Théato, P. D. Topham and L. Sosa-Vargas, Reconsidering Terms for Mechanisms of Polymer Growth: The “Step-Growth” and “Chain-Growth” Dilemma, Polymer Chemistry, accepted March 15th 2022
B. Abu Sharkh, A. A. Al-Amoudi, M. F. Ayumanyakath, C. M. Fellows, S. Ihm, S. Lee, S. Li, N. Voutchkov, Seawater desalination concentrate – A new frontier for sustainable mining of valuable minerals, npj Clean Water, 5, 9, 2022
N. T. Alzuwaid, B. Laddomada, C. M. Fellows and M. J. Sissons, Supplementation of durum wheat spaghetti with wheat bran protein concentrate: impacts on phytochemical profile and starch digestion, Cereal Chemistry, 98(3), pp. 642-650, 2021
A. Bagheri, S. Boniface and C. M. Fellows, Reversible-Deactivation Radical Polymerisation: Chain polymerisation made simple, Chemistry Teacher International, 3(2), pp. 19-32, 2021
C. M. Fellows, T. C. Brown, A. Cooper and M. Parigi, Evolution of mobile phases in cometary interiors, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 37, e006, 2020.
S. J. Stace, J. Vanderspikken, S. Howard, G. Li, B. Muir, C. M. Fellows, D. Keddie and G. Moad, Ab initio RAFT emulsion polymerization mediated by small RAFT agents to form polymers with Low molar mass dispersity, Polymer Chemistry, 10, pp. 5044-5051, 2019.
S. J. Stace, C. M. Fellows, G. Moad, and D. J. Keddie, The effect of Z- and macro-R-group functionality on the thermal desulfurization of polymers synthesised with acid/base “switchable” dithiocarbamate RAFT agents Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 1800228, 2018.
C. H. Chan, C. M. Fellows, M. Hess, R. Hiorns, V. Hoven, G. P. Russell, C. dos Santos, A. Sturcova and P. Theato, The contribution of IUPAC to polymer science education, Journal of Chemical Education, 94(11), pp. 1618-1628, 2017.
S. J. Stace, G. Moad, C. M. Fellows and D. J. Keddie, The effect of Z-group modification on the RAFT polymerization of N-vinylpyrrolidone controlled by “switchable” N-pyridyl-functional dithiocarbamates, Polymer Chemistry, 6, pp. 7119-7126, 2015.
C. M. Fellows, P. A. Coop, D. W. Lamb, R. C. Bradbury, H. F. Schiretz and A. J. Woolley, Understanding the role of monolayers in retarding evaporation from water storage bodies, Chemical Physics Letters, 623, pp. 37-41, 2015.
A. A. Al-Hamzah, A. D. Wallace, C. P. East, W. O. S. Doherty, E. J. Smith and C. M. Fellows, Inhibition by Poly(Acrylic Acid) and Morphological Changes in Calcium Carbonate and Calcium Carbonate/Calcium Sulfate Crystallization on Silica Fibers, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 53(21), pp. 8793–8803, 2014.
N. Aravind, M. Sissons, C. M. Fellows, J. Blazek and E. P. Gilbert, Optimisation of resistant starch II and III levels in durum wheat pasta to reduce in vitro digestibility while maintaining processing and sensory characteristics, Food Chemistry, 36, pp. 1100-1109, 2013.
N. Aravind, M. J. Sissons, N. Egan, C. M. Fellows, Effect of insoluble dietary fibre addition on technological, sensory, and structural properties of durum wheat spaghetti, Food Chemistry, 130, pp. 299-309, 2012.
C. M. Fellows, R. D. Murison and G. T. Russell, Model Discrimination of Radical Desorption Kinetics in Emulsion Polymerisation, Macromolecular Theory and Simulations, 20(6), pp. 425-432, 2011.
C. P. East, A. D. Wallace, A. Al-Hamzah, W. O. S. Doherty and C. M. Fellows, Effect of Poly(acrylic acid) Molecular Mass and End-group Functionality on Calcium Oxalate Crystal Morphology and Growth , Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 115(4), pp. 2127-2135, 2010.
Memberships
Dr Fellows is actively involved in the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), being a member of the IUPAC Committee on Chemical Education and IUPAC Subcommittee on Polymer Education. He is a member of the International Desalination Association and the European Desalination Society.
