Daniel Molloy (He/Him)

 

Current research project

Laser Driven proton-Boron Fusion for Future Ultra-clean Energy Production

proton-Boron (pB11) fusion is the fusion of a proton and Boron-11 nucleus and generates three alpha particles and releases energy. pB11 fusion is an appealing candidate for fusion energy production as there is no direct production of neutrons, which are indirectly ionising and difficult to shield against.
 
The reactivity of pB11 fusion increases with temperature. However, at high equilibrium plasma temperatures, energy losses are too great. Instead, the reaction is driven by high intensity lasers, which accelerate the fuel ions to high energies, which collide and initiate a fusion reaction.
 
My PhD focuses on improving the energy yield, however fusion generated alpha particles have a range of applications, such as in medicine. pB11 generated alpha particles could be used to enhance the biological effect of proton therapy on cancer cells or for radioisotope production which are used in medical imaging. Therefore, better understanding pB11 fusion will also advance research in other fields.

Biography

I completed my undergraduate MSci degree in Physics at Queen's University Belfast. During my degree I took part in several summer internships involving; the development of an outreach project at Queen's, performing data analysis at CCEA and working in the R&D department at Andor Technology. Through this, I gained lots of useful skills which will help throughout the next three years.

I started my PhD focusing on Laser-Driven pB11 fusion in October 2021 which is funded by HB11 Energy with additional support from the Dunville Scholarship.

Outside of academia, I really enjoy running, in particular, trail and XC running.

Research interest

• Proton-Boron fusion
• Laser-driven ion acceleration

Pure page

https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/daniel-molloy