Our objectives are to discover, elucidate, understand and exploit surface phenomena, especially in relation to reactivity and molecular mechanisms, self-assembled systems, nanoscopically structured materials, heterogeneous catalysis, environmental protection and sustainable chemistry. Current research includes investigation of chiral surfaces, enantioselective heterogeneous catalysis, biomimetic systems, photo-catalysis, fuel cells, sensors, and surface-tethered molecular rotors, which are studied by state of the art methods including scanned probe microscopies, electron spectroscopy and synchrotron radiation techniques. It involves determination of the orientation and electronic structure of adsorbed and reacting surface species as a function of reaction variables; real time mapping of the distribution, mobility and chemical state of reactants, products and promoters; experiments carried out over a very wide range of conditions ranging from ultra high vacuum to 50 bar pressure and also at the solid/liquid interface; synthesis and use of novel nanoparticles; studies with single crystals and composite systems. Projects are driven by academic curiosity, though the nature of our subject is such that the problems addressed quite often have direct and immediate relevance to important technological applications. As a result, we have excellent connections with a variety UK, European and US companies. Please visit http://www-rml.ch.cam.ac.uk/.
Angewandte Chemie Intl. Ed. (2006) 45 3779. A chemically switchable molecular pinwheel
Journal of the American Chemical Society (2007) Efficient visible light-activated B-doped and B,N-codoped TiO2 photocatalysts 129 13790.
Angewandte Chemie Intl. Ed. (2008) 47 2422. Switching on the dipole: a new principle for self-assembly.
Nature (2008) 454 981. Size matters: gold nanoparticles derived from 55-atom clusters efficiently catalyze selective oxidation by O2 alone
ChemPhysChem (2008) 9 1390. Molecular mechanism of tropospheric nitrous acid production on mineral aerosol surfaces
Journal of the American Chemical Society (2009) 131 1910. Deprotection, tethering and activation of a catalytically active metalloporphyrin to a chemically active metal surface: [SAc]4P-Mn(III)Cl on Ag(100)
Journal of the American Chemical Society (2009) 131 14584. Heterogeneous asymmetric hydrogenation of C=C bonds directed by surface-tethered chiral modifiers.
Journal of the American Chemical Society (2009) 131 17286. Tilt the molecule and change the chemistry: chemoselective catalytic hydrogenation of acrolein on Ag(111).