Alice Merryweather (c2018) is the lead author on a paper published in the journal Nature, reporting an a new optical technique called interferometric scattering microscopy (iScat) that allows looking inside lithium-ion batteries and follow lithium ions moving in real time as the batteries charge and discharge, something which has not been possible until now. This […]
Demelza Wright (c2016) and co-authors use plasmonic nano-junctions to learn about catalysis. Climate change is a constant, yet multifaceted, threat. One of the issues we face is the release of CO2 into the atmosphere by burning fuels, where it acts like a blanket absorbing heat then slowly releasing it over time. One strategy to mitigate […]
Taylor Uekert (c2016) and co-authors highlight key steps for taking a solar waste-to-hydrogen technology from the lab to the real world. With 70% of global municipal solid waste lost to landfills or the environment each year, methods for managing and reclaiming the value in waste are urgently needed. One potential option is photoreforming: a simple, […]
Electronic states with high amounts of spin are central to the understanding of novel physical phenomena such as energy collection in organic photovoltaics and unconventional high-spin superconductivity. Identifying arrangement of spins is also paramount for the accurate readout of quantum information stored in silicon quantum dots—‘artificial atoms’ where electrons can be collected on-demand—which are particularly […]
There is currently a lot of interest in the integration of photosynthetic enzymes into electrodes for solar electricity and fuel generation, to drive novel reactions and to study complex enzyme functions in solar energy conversion. The enzyme responsible for solar-driven water oxidation, a bottleneck in artificial photosynthesis, is Photosystem II (PSII), but its efficient wiring to […]
Hydrogels are best known for their ability to hold a large volume of liquid in a seemingly solid, crosslinked gel. Their uses range from super-absorbent materials and 3D cell scaffolds to contact lenses. Recent interest has been on developing “smart” hydrogels capable of responding to light, chemical and temperature, allowing for potential future applications in […]
Angelo di Bernardo (c2012) is the lead author on a recent study published in Nature Communications† where a special type of superconductivity was observed in graphene, confirming for the first time the existence of superconducting states in the material. The work was led by the Robinson Group in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. […]
Carmen Palacios-Berraquero (c2013) was a key part of a team that designed a method for creating arrays of hundreds of quantum emitters. Carmen is the lead author on a Nature Communications paper published by the team in May 2017†. Carmen is now the CEO of a spinout company nuQuantum which is commercialising some of this technology. Previously […]