About the project
In this project you will explore the fabrication of advanced materials for both catalysis and optical metamaterial applications.
The 3D nanostructuring of materials such as metals has been established as a versatile route to new functional materials with enhanced electronic, optical and catalytic activity. In particular lipid-cubic-phase templating (LCP) is a powerful method to produce ordered and well-interconnected 3D nanomaterials that can access symmetries and length scales not accessible via other routes using a green and environmentally friendly one-pot synthesis.
In this PhD project you will fabricate novel 3D nanostructured metals and alloys with a gyroid symmetry that will open up a whole new world to explore exciting new behaviour and applications as these materials can exist in left-or right-handed giving rise to chirality. In catalysis, catalytically active metals such as platinum (Pt) with chiral nanostructures could potentially act as asymmetric catalysts. In optical metamaterials, a chiral nanostructure with a deep-subwavelength lattice parameter would give rise to greatly enhanced chiroptical interactions leading to superchirality.
Funding for this project is offered by the Centre for Doctoral Training in Complex Integrated Systems for Defence & Security (CISDnS), which will recruit motivated and inquisitive candidates across the themes of digital, physical and biological systems to provide a diverse and interconnected cohort training environment.
