Dr Sebastian Pike
No more applications being accepted
Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
Nanoscale (~1-2 nm) molecules sit at the interface between molecular and materials chemistry. As ultra-small nano-structures they are challenging to investigate by material characterisation techniques such as microscopy, but may also stretch the capabilities of small-molecule characterisation techniques such as single crystal X-ray crystallography. Therefore this PhD project will explore the use of a range of characterisation techniques to fully understand this size domain, utilising the wide range of facilities available at the University of Warwick under the Spectroscopy and X-ray Research Technology Platforms
The project will investigate metal-oxo cluster molecules, which exhibit photoactive properties. These have the potential to act as visible light driven photocatalysts with tuneable properties. Furthermore, they are interesting well-defined analogues of bulk metal oxide materials and allow study of detailed (photo)reaction mechanisms which can be difficult to study at the bulk scale. Particular challenges will be to understand the electronic properties both in terms of HOMO-LUMO gap and also the relative energy positions of the frontier orbitals – key information for designing new photocatalysts.
Specialist characterisation techniques that will be used in this project include:
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
Small angle X-ray scattering
X-ray crystallography
Mass spectrometry
SQUID magnetometry
NMR and EPR spectroscopies
UV and photoluminescence spectroscopies
Funding Notes
The project is fully funded for 4 years with all fees paid and a yearly stipend of at least £15000 from 2020/21
The position is part of the new Warwick Analytical Science CDT and will also offer training in 60 CATS of MSc modules during the first year of the PhD (leading to a certificate).
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