PhD - Digital Design of Low-Carbon Leather Composite Textiles from Fashion and Industrial Waste

About the Role

This project, primarily based at Imperial College London, is part of cohort 3 of the EPSRC CDT in Developing National Capability for Materials 4.0, with the Henry Royce Institute. Leather and fashion supply chains generate large volumes of waste, much of which is still downcycled, incinerated or sent to landfill. At the same time, leather is a remarkable natural material, with a complex fibrous structure that gives it strength, flexibility, durability and a distinctive feel. This PhD will explore how waste leather can be transformed into the next generation of low-carbon composite textiles using digital design, advanced characterisation and data-driven modelling.

The project will be carried out in collaboration with Gen Phoenix Ltd, a leader in leather waste upcycling, and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), with world-leading expertise in surface characterisation (Surface technology - NPL). Gen Phoenix already re-manufactures leather waste into new sheet materials, but designing products with the right balance of strength, flexibility, surface quality and durability still requires significant trial and error. This project will develop a smarter, more predictive approach, helping to understand how different waste streams and processing routes influence the final material performance.

The PhD candidate will investigate the structure and properties of recycled leather materials, build useful datasets, and use digital tools to guide the design of improved products. The aim is to create a framework that can suggest promising material formulations and processing conditions more quickly, reducing waste, accelerating product development and supporting more circular manufacturing.

About You

This project would suit a candidate interested in sustainable materials, composites, circular economy, digital manufacturing, materials characterisation and/or data science. The student will receive training in materials testing, imaging, data analysis, modelling and industrial translation, while working at the interface between academic research, national measurement capability and industrial innovation. Although waste leather is the main case study, the broader approach could be applied to many other recycled fibrous materials. The project therefore offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to low-carbon materials innovation and to help shape the future of sustainable composite manufacturing.

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