Chemistry

I was appointed as lecturer in Physical Chemistry in a joint position with the School of Pharmacy in September 2006. Prior to that I was the Senior Research Fellow responsible for the ToF-SIMS instrument of the University of Nottingham, under profs. Martyn Davies and David Briggs, and worked as Postdoctoral Research Associate in the groups of Prof. Mike Chesters at the University of Nottingham and Prof. Richard Lambert at the University of Cambridge. I gained my Masters degree in 1991 from Leiden University, The Netherlands, where I also obtained a PhD in surface chemistry in 1999. My thesis, titled "Adsorption and Reaction of CO and NO on a PtRh Alloy Surface - A study of the interactions of automotive pollutants with a model three-way catalyst", was supervised by Profs. Vladimir Ponec and Ben Nieuwenhuys (Leiden University) and Prof. Mike Chesters (University of Nottingham, UK).

Member of the committee of the Surface Science of Biologically Important Interfaces (SSBII) group and responsible for this organisation’s webpages: www.ssbii.org.uk.

I am currently organizing the 2009 SSBII meeting will take place in Keele Hall in October – see: www.ssbii.org.uk/ssbii11.html

My diverse research projects all revolve around the detailed chemical characterisation of surfaces (presence as well as distribution of constituents) through advanced analytical techniques including Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and an exciting new technique developed together with colleagues from Nottingham and Heriot-Watt universities termed PADI-MS (plasma-assisted desorption-ionisation mass spectrometry). As stand-alone techniques both can be very powerful, but more often than not the application of other, complementary techniques is crucial to fully elucidate complex surface chemical issues. I therefore complement surface mass spectrometry with vibrational spectroscopy (IR and Raman) as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The chemical properties of surfaces are crucial in a wide range of processes. Some key applications, in collaboration with a range of research groups, are highlighted below.

I have always been very interested in archaeology and combine this with my knowledge of materials chemical characterization in collaboration with Professors Julian Henderson and David Briggs from The University of Nottingham – see publication list below. The aim of this work is to use the very powerful analytical techniques developed for surface analysis to answer key archaeological questions such as how and where certain objects were made and what materials were used. This in turn can give very valuable information not otherwise available, which will helps us to better understand ancient societies and their often surprisingly sophisticated manufacturing technologies.

A very exciting research project with Dr Peter Licence from the University of Nottingham has led to the selection of a paper as “Hot Topic” in Angewandte Chemie International Edition and was reported on by Nature (as a Research Highlight), Chemical and Engineering News (American Chemical Society) and Chemistry World (Royal Society of Chemistry). Research on this topic is ongoing.

• PHA10002: Calculations for Pharmacy
• PHA10010: Pharmaceutical Chemistry
• Foundation year: Physical Chemistry
• Science Additional Specialism Programme: Physical Chemistry
• CHE30032: Advanced Chemical Analysis
• PHA20006: Pharmaceutical Analytical Methods
• Pharmacy Option Topics