Geoff Thornton
Professor of Physical Chemistry – UCL
Geoff Thornton received his DPhil from Oxford University on metal oxide crystallography and electronic structure, supervised by Tony Orchard and Alan Jacobson. An 1851 Research Fellowship at UC Berkeley with David Shirley involved photoemission measurements at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory. He then took up a lectureship and subsequently a Professorship at Manchester University where he set up a laboratory to study the electronic structure of oxides using angle resolved photoemission, with complementary measurements at the newly opened Synchrotron Radiation Source at Daresbury Laboratory. Between 1988 and 1998 he was Assistant Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Surface Science at Liverpool and Manchester Universities, where he played a key role in setting up and operating scanning probe instruments as well as two purpose-built beamlines at Daresbury Lab. In 2003 he moved to the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Chemistry Department at UCL as Professor of Physical Chemistry. He has played a leading role in the development of metal oxide surface science, in particular through the application of scanning probe, diffraction and fs pump probe techniques. Research continues to focus on structure/property relations of metal oxide surfaces and nanostructures, although with a shift in emphasis towards solid/liquid interfaces and other systems relevant to light harvesting applications.
He has served on a number of editorial advisory boards, including Surface Science and Surface Science Reports. He chaired the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Diamond Light Source 2007-2009. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Physics. He has received a number of awards, most recently a 2010 ERC Advanced Grant, the 2011 Surface and Interfaces Award of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a 2012 Humboldt Prize, a 2013 Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award, the 2014 British Vacuum Council Senior Prize and John Yarwood Memorial Medal, and the 2015 Tabor Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics. He has over 350 publications; including the recent book ‘Defects on Oxide Surfaces’.
Outside work he enjoys hiking in Sussex and the Chilterns as well as taking advantage of the cultural and sporting opportunities that London offers.
Jiangdong Yu
PhD Student – Awaiting Thesis Sumission
Jiangdong obtained his MSci in chemistry from Xiamen University, where he worked with Associate Professor Lan Sun studying the application of TiO2 in photocatalytic water splitting and photocatalytic degradation. For his PhD he using scanning tunnelling microscopy to study the absorption behaviour of formate on rutile TiO2 and the reconstruction of mixed-phase of rutile/anatase TiO2.
Outside work, he enjoys playing badminton and swimming.
Jameel Imran
PhD Student – Awaiting Thesis Sumission
Jameel obtained his MSci in Chemistry from the University of Glasgow. In his 4th year, he worked with Dr Matthias Schwalbe at Humboldt Universität studying the synthesis photocatalytic organometallic homogenous catalysts for carbon dioxide reduction. Following this, he achieved an MRes in Molecular Modelling and Materials Science at UCL in 2019 in which he started his research with the Thornton group. In his PhD, he is using synchrotron based techniques surface X-ray diffraction and near ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to help cross the “pressure gap” when studying photocatalytic metal oxides used for water oxidation. Part of this work looks on how to incorporate electrochemistry into fundamental surface studies.
Outside of work he enjoys live music, learning new things to cook and cycling in the sun (or the rain).
Robin Kerr
PhD Student (co-supervised by Prof. Helen Fielding) – Awaiting Viva
Robin obtained an MEng in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Manchester, where he worked with Dr. Andrew Thomas to characterise and functionalise 2D materials for solar water splitting. For his PhD he is using scanning tunnelling microscopy and time-resolved photoemission measurements to investigate surface restructuring and recombination pathways, respectively, on hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite single crystals.
Outside work, he enjoys playing the tenor saxophone and running in London’s parks.
Max Trouton
4th Year PhD Student
Max graduated with a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Aberdeen where he developed an interest in solid state chemistry and surface science. His final year project involved the synthesis and characterisation of different smectic phases of liquid crystal dimers. An internship in his penultimate year working in R&D at Coherent Inc, Santa Clara, further cemented his ambition to leave the world of organic synthesis behind and pursue that of physical chemistry. Max’s project will be investigating the mechanism by which the surface plasmon resonance of gold nanostructures enhances solar light harvesting.
Outside the lab he enjoys watching live comedy, playing rugby and hiking whenever he can.
Jac Davies
3rd Year PhD Student (co-supervised by Prof. Helen Fielding)
Jac obtained his MSci physics degree at Imperial College London, an interest in experimental science led him to undertake a final project investigating shockwaves in supersonic and magnetised plasma flows at the MAGPIE facility under Prof. Sergey Lebedev.
The global need for sustainable energy led Jac to his PhD, where he will be using time resolved photo emission spectroscopy to investigate recombination and photo excitation in methylammonium lead halide perovskites and TiO2.
Outside the lab, he enjoyed climbing, museums, playing the guitar, and maintaining this website.