top of page

People

 

 

Dr Timothy Easun

Royal Society University Research Fellow & Associate Professor

Tim moved institutions in 2022 to join the growing, vibrant academic community of the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham. Before this, he was appointed as a Cardiff University Research Fellow in 2015 and very shortly afterwards was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship to study flow confined on the nanoscale within metal-organic frameworks. His interests are all linked by a desire to understand and control the dynamic processes that happen on the nanoscale in the synthesis and properties of MOFs. The materials made within the group may have applications in water purification and at Cardiff Tim was an active part of the Cardiff University Water Research Institute. He is very enthusiastic about public engagement, believing that a love of science should be shared as widely as possible!

Prior to starting his own research group, Tim worked as Senior Research Officer for Prof. Martin Schröder (Nottingham) running a group of >30 researchers in the field of MOFs; was an Inorganic Teaching Fellow; developed solid-state spectroscopic characterisation methods to support the emerging field of photocrystallography as a PDRA for Prof. Mike George (Nottingham), and completed his PhD in the group of Prof. Mike Ward (Sheffield) on using solvatochromism to control the of direction of photoinduced energy and electron transfer in multinuclear complexes.

Timothy Easun

Tim's university webpage can be found here

Group members:

Present group members:

Jess Sanders

PhD student

Jess is a jointly supervised student with Zoe Pikramenou's group, working on functional nanoparticles with biological applications

Jess graduated with a MChem degree from the University of East Anglia.

stickmanb.jpg

Xiaochuan Liu

PhD student

Xiaochuan (David) is a jointly supervised student between Engineering and Chemistry, with Yueting Sun's group and ours. He works across a range of projects that revolve around understanding and control of nanoscale water intrusion into microporous and nanoporous solids.

David holds MSc degrees from the University of Leeds and a BSc from Durham University, and is is also an entrepreneur and a professional photographer.

XiaochuanLiu.avif

Ross McNaught

PhD student

Ross' PhD is a two-pronged project, in which he synthesises new photoswitching molecules while also designing, 3D printing and building novel characterisation equipment that enables us to test the new light-responsive solids he makes.

Ross graduated with an MChem degree from Loughborough University and aside from being a talented scientist is also a keen roller skater!

stickmanb.jpg

Emily Worobiej

PhD student

Emily modifies metal-organic frameworks with photoresponsive molecules and characterises both their photoresponse and their potential applications, particularly around water purification.

Emily graduated from University College London with an MSci degree in Chemistry with a European Language, having also completed a placement at ETH Zurich at the Paul Scherrer Institute.

EmilyWorobiej_edited.jpg

Past group members:

Dr Joel Cornelio

Former PDRA

Joel worked on photoresponsive MOF materials and innovative characterisation methods. His project was funded by a Royal Society grant.

Joel undertook his PhD at Massey University under the supervision of Prof. Shane Telfer, and studied MOFs containing one metal and three organic components. He investigated a new method of generating white light and investigated photoinduced energy and electron transfer processes in his MOFs on ultrafast timescales.

JoelCornelio.jpg

Daniel Cerasale

Former PhD student

Dan worked on making linkers for new photoresponsive frameworks. He used these linkers to make light-responsive porous materials that we study using photophysical and photochemical methods to better understand both framework and guest behaviour in MOFs.

Dan graduated with a MSci degree from the University of Nottingham.

DanCerasale.jpg

Dominic Ward

Former PhD student

Dom made new modifiers for photoresponsive frameworks and tested how modification affects MOF properties and function, with particular interest in water purification.

Dom graduated his undergraduate BSc degree from the University of Central Lancashire.

2019-06-10 16.11.43.jpg

Nimai Mehta

Former PhD student

Nimai worked on the challenges of growing polymers in metal-organic frameworks. His PhD project was jointly supervised by Dr Alison Paul, his lead-supervisor.

Nimai graduated with a M.S. in Nano Engineering from University of California, San Diego.

2019-06-10 16.11.30.jpg

Dr Luke Kidwell

Former PhD student

Luke made new linkers for photoresponsive frameworks, and studyied the separation and flow of guests through MOFs using microwave methods.

Luke graduated from the University of Southampton after completing his Masters' research project in the group of Darren Bradshaw. He successfully completed his PhD at Cardiff in 2021.

Dr Adam Nevin

Former PDRA

Adam worked on water desalination using photoresponsive materials. His project was funded by a Royal Society Challenge Grant.

Adam received his PhD on studies of new metal-organic frameworks from the University of Nottingham in 2015, from the group of Prof. Martin Schroder.

Adam Nevin

Dr Corey Jones

Former PhD Student

Corey made new linkers for photoresponsive frameworks and studying the formation processes of MOFs. She used a combination of traditional characterisation techniques and in-situ NMR and SAXS methods to investigate the early stages of solvothermal syntheses.

Winner of the Tocris Prize for best performance in the MChem degree, Corey graduated from Cardiff University in 2015 and joined the Easun group as one of the first PhD students in the group. She successfully completed her PhD in 2019.

Corey Jones

Dr Alex Tansell

Former PhD Student

Alex made and modified a range of MOFs to make them open and close their porosity using light. He also used synchrotron IR microspectroscopy to study the binding and dynamic behaviour of guests in framework single crystals.

Alex graduated from Leeds University and joined the Easun group in 2015 as one of the first PhD students in the group. He successfully completed his PhD in 2019.

2019-06-10 16.11.04.jpg

James Hancock

Former MPhil student

Jamie also worked on water desalination using photoresponsive materials. His project was funded by a Royal Society Grant.

Jamie graduated from the University of Sheffield after completing his undergraduate research project in the group of Dr Anthony Haynes. He completed his MPhil from Cardiff University in 2020.

2019-06-10 16.11.17.jpg
Mastodon
  • Twitter Social Icon
  • LinkedIn Social Icon
bottom of page