This PhD studentship is an exciting opportunity to develop new approaches to solid-state NMR spectroscopy to address the challenge of the characterising disordered inorganic materials. The work will use an "NMR Crystallography" approach, which combines innovative synthetic methods that exploit isotopic enrichment, advanced solid-state NMR methodology and the use of first-principles calculations to explore the feasibility of a range of potential structural models. In particular, the latter step will explore novel approaches for efficiently generating a suite of chemically and energetically relevant models for a particular system and comparing the spectra predicted to those from experiment. Possible systems to be studied include microporous materials (zeolites, MOFs and phosphate frameworks), the storage of water in high-pressure minerals, cation disorder in ceramics and novel anode materials for batteries. In some cases we will utilise 17O NMR, which has a large chemical shift range giving excellent discrimination between bulk and defect sites. Despite the prevalence of oxygen in many industrially relevant materials, the low natural abundance (0.037%) of 17O, the only NMR-active isotope of oxygen, presents a major challenge to fully exploiting solid-state NMR as a characterisation tool. This lack of sensitivity can be overcome by 17O isotopic enrichment of the material before the NMR experiment is carried out. The Ashbrook group has world-class expertise in methods for 17O enrichment, including pioneering work in the field of aluminosilicate microporous solids.
This PhD studentship is currently available at St Andrew’s University. During the project external research facilities, such as the UK High-Field Solid-State NMR Facility, will be utilised.The successful applicant will join a collaborative, international and multidisciplinary research team.
Please see: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/chemistry/prospective/pgr/ for the application procedure or e-mail [Email Address Removed] for more information regarding PhD opportunities at St Andrews. We encourage applications for the EaSiCAT Centre for Doctoral training (http://www.criticat.co.uk) and from Chinese nationals through the St Andrews CSC Scheme (https://csc.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/). There are opportunities for self-funded PhD students to make use of the St Andrews Handsel Scheme to fund the difference between home and international fees.
Continue with Facebook
