The focus of the Physical Chemistry Research Interest group is the description and understanding of the properties of molecular systems in terms of physical principles, knowledge that impacts other branches of chemistry and underlies many technological applications in rapidly developing areas such as nanotechnology and molecular medicine. Much of the research in the interest group is interdisciplinary, and the topics of study range from biomolecular systems to the atmosphere. Theoretical techniques, including molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory, are used in combination with an array of experimental approaches: optical and nuclear magnetic spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, and microelectromechanical systems and sensors.
Quantitative measurement and analysis approaches are central to the research in the interest group. New technologies used to study chemical systems often enable transformational advances in the understanding of such systems, and many of the developments in recent years in single molecule measurement technologies and sensor platforms have originated from work within the interest group.
Discoveries in the research interest group have resulted in a number of practical applications in areas as such as rapid DNA sequencing, high performance memory devices, accurate crystal structure prediction.
Sensors (Elliott, Jones (R.), Klenerman, Knowles, Ostanin)
Atmospheric science (Cox, Jones (R.), Kalberer, Pyle)
Surface science (Clarke (S.), Jenkins)
Biophysics (Best, Klenerman, Knowles, Taraskin)
Spectroscopy (Grey, Keeler, Klenerman)
Physical Chemistry of Materials (Day, Elliott, Friscic, Grey, Jefferson, Jenkins, Jones (B.))