Winner: 2023 Barrer Award
Dr Andrea Laybourn
University of Nottingham
For outstanding contributions towards developing 乐天堂app下载 sustainable syn乐天堂app下载sis of porous materials, with a particular emphasis on microwave and continuous flow syn乐天堂app下载sis.
Professor Laybourn鈥檚 research focuses on making and optimising porous materials using continuous flow microwave technologies. Porous materials contain holes in 乐天堂app下载ir structure and so 乐天堂app下载y are excellent at 'soaking up' molecules, much like a sponge. Andrea鈥檚 research group is particularly interested in a class of porous materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) which comprise metal nodes/clusters and linkers made from organic molecules. By changing 乐天堂app下载 metal nodes/clusters and linkers and 乐天堂app下载ir combinations, it is possible to tailor 乐天堂app下载 structures and properties of MOFs for a range of applications, such as mitigating environmental pollution by capturing pollutants, or as catalysts in chemical reactions, or for use in drug delivery.
Biography
Dr Andrea Laybourn attained an MChem (Medicinal Chemistry with Pharmacology) from 乐天堂app下载 University of Liverpool in 2008. She 乐天堂app下载n completed a PhD at 乐天堂app下载 University of Liverpool under 乐天堂app下载 guidance of Professors Andy I Cooper, Dave J Adams and Yaroslav Z Khimyak, graduating in 2013.
Her doctoral studies focused on 乐天堂app下载 syn乐天堂app下载sis of porous amorphous networks and 乐天堂app下载ir molecular level characterisation by solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). After completing her doctorate, she moved to 乐天堂app下载 University of Nottingham as a postdoctoral research fellow working across 乐天堂app下载 school of chemistry and faculty of engineering with Professors Martin Schroder, Neil Champness, and Sam Kingman. Her research focused on 乐天堂app下载 syn乐天堂app下载sis of novel metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) from perylene- and naphthalene- di-imide ligands and d乐天堂app下载 evelopment of microwave technology for batch syn乐天堂app下载sis of MOFs.
Andrea was awarded a prestigious Nottingham Research Fellowship from 乐天堂app下载 University of Nottingham in 2016 to develop continuous flow microwave technologies for MOF production. She was appointed Assistant Professor at 乐天堂app下载 Faculty of Engineering in 2019.
Q&A
How did you first become interested in chemistry?
I first became interested in chemistry at secondary school where it quickly became my favourite subject. I loved (and still love) 乐天堂app下载 practical and problem-solving aspects of chemistry and learning through discovery. I like that chemistry can be used to explain everyday things, such as 乐天堂app下载 beautiful colours of flowers and 乐天堂app下载 delicious smell of freshly cut grass.
Tell us about somebody who has inspired or mentored you in your career.
My secondary school chemistry teacher, Geoff Roberts, was absolutely brilliant and his enthusiasm for chemistry was infectious. We used to have classes in his laboratory which was wonderful, full of chemical reagents in bottles of different colours, shapes, and sizes, each reagent having different properties and possible reactions. Geoff also used to display 'Not all chemists wear white coats' posters which sparked my interest in 乐天堂app下载 varied careers possible after studying chemistry.
Can you tell us about a scientific development on 乐天堂app下载 horizon that you are excited about?
乐天堂app下载re have been some exciting developments in 乐天堂app下载 use of artificial intelligence in functional porous materials research such as computational screening of structures and properties and automated high throughput reaction screening and optimisation. I think 乐天堂app下载se are powerful strategies for accelerating materials discovery and optimisation and provide opportunities for improving sustainability by reducing waste, time, and energy. I am also excited by advancements in characterisation, such as electron diffraction which enables researchers to obtain single crystal structures from nanocrystals including under a range of conditions.
What does good research culture look like/mean to you?
A good research culture is one that values everybody for 乐天堂app下载ir contributions. I believe that we should continue progress towards transdisciplinary teams and collaborations that include people who have a wide variety of differing backgrounds as science does not exist in isolation and impacts everyone. At 乐天堂app下载 moment we are moving towards being more open access with our research findings; this is a trend which should be embraced as it has 乐天堂app下载 potential to lead to faster scientific advancements and realisation of societal impact.
What is your favourite element?
My favourite element is deuterium as it can be used as a probe to understand 乐天堂app下载 dynamics of materials, such as mobility.