Researcher biography

My research is based on organic materials for uses including energy storage, solar cells, light emitting diodes and sensors. The way that they pack into thin films and the processes that occur at the interfaces between materials are the main areas of interest.

Examples of specific areas of research are:

  • Understanding structure in organic optoelectronic devices - Organic devices such as organic light emitting diodes, solar cells and sensors, are constructed using multiple layers of materials that perform different functions such as emitting light and charge transport. The morphology and interaction betweens these layers are very important and we study structure and diffusion in layers and at interfaces using such techniques as X-ray and neutron reflectometry, X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy.

  • Materials for energy storage - We are developing new materials for use as cathodes in high-energy rechargeable batteries, particularly lithium sulfur batteries, and supercapacitors. Materials developed so far show potential increases in energy density of 3-5x that of lithium ion batteries.