Formation, Organisation & Response of Materials
This year we are lucky enough to be joined by Hannah Blakiston and Sophie Ray to do their MSci research projects with the group.
Sophie will be working on isolation and characterisation of intermediate clusters in MOF synthesis, while Hannah will be investigating phase behaviour and compositional trends in hybrid perovskites.
Sam and Harry’s paper on MDABCO-based ABX3 perovskites is now out in CrystEngComm!
These materials are very promising candidates for ferroelectric applications, owing to their ease of synthesis, flexibility and properties that rival existing materials, such as BaTiO3. Sam and Harry discovered the single crystal structures of three new compositions, which help to define the design limits within which the ferroelectric pseudo-cubic perovskite phases form.
Congratulations Sam and Harry and thanks to all contributing authors!
Read the paper, which features in the 2022 New Talent Special Issue (Open Access) here.
Update: new cover art available too!
Today after a gourmet calzone group lunch at the Plough, Harborne, we bid farewell to our MSci project students this year, Matt Liddle and Sam Gale.
Matt investigated the phase behaviour of the BIRM-1 family of carboxyphosphonate MOFs, mapping out which phases formed under different synthetic conditions. He discovered at least one new material and showed that, like BIRM-1, it underwent structural collapse and then recrystallisation upon drying and resolvation. Matt goes on to PhD research in the group of Prof Ross Forgan at the University of Glasgow.
Sam investigated structural and compositional variations in the MDABCO-based halide perovskites. He found several new structures––some wonderfully unintended!––that pushed the limits of phase behaviour, broke the rules (that we wrote!) and showed that paraelectric–ferroelectric phase transitions are highly dependent on sample history. We’re currently writing up his work so watch this space for a paper in the near future… Sam is taking a year out and will be looking for PhD opportunities for 2023.
Farewell and good luck for your final exams, Matt and Sam!
A warm welcome to Suzie Hughes, who joins us this month to start her PhD looking into MOFs and hybrid perovskites for sensing. She got a 1st from Bath University and has experience from her Masters project on adsorption and release using flexible MOFs. We’re really excited for this science and to work with Suzie over the next few years!!
This month we are joined by Matthew Liddle and Samuel Gale, who will be carrying out their Masters research projects with the group. Matt’s project is looking at phase behaviour of a carboxyphosphonate MOF, BIRM-1, which has potential use in ion exchange and transport. Sam’s project is investigating relationships between the physical properties of hybrid perovskite ferroelectrics and their structural chemistry.
Both Sam and Matt also have a second co-supervisor, Prof Paul Anderson, as well as his PhD student Joe Barker, who joins us as an honorary group member involved in day-to-day supervision of the projects.
Welcome, Sam, Matt and Joe!
Yeung Research Group at UoB 