Dr Stephen Cox

Royal Society University Research Fellow

Research Interests

The behavior of liquids and their interfaces underlies many important phenomena across the biological and physical sciences. I use molecular simulations and statistical mechanics to elicit the microscopic details of interfacial systems, with an emphasis on perhaps the most important of all liquids: water and its salt solutions.

Recent research has focused on improving simulations methods to give a better description of ions adsorbed to charged interfaces [1], which is important for tackling complex problems such as ice nucleation [2]. I also have a keen interest in understanding dielectric response in water [3,4] and its implications for aqueous ion solvation [5].

Dr Cox discusses his research

[1] T Sayer & SJ Cox, J. Chem. Phys. 153, 164709 (2020) [publisher,arXiv]

[2] T Sayer & SJ Cox, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 21, 14546 (2019) [publisher,arXiv]

[3] SJ Cox, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 117, 19746 (2020) [publisher,arXiv]

[4] SJ Cox & M Sprik, J. Chem. Phys. 151, 064506 (2019) [publisher,arXiv]

[5] SJ Cox, DG Thorpe, PR Shaffer & PL Geissler, Chem. Sci. 11, 11791 (2020) [publisher,arXiv]

Recruitment

Possible PhD projects involve improving simulation methodology to understand the structure and dynamics of charged interfaces in solution; using molecular simulations to understand how polar crystals grow; or pursuing theoretical approaches to improve our understanding of complex fluids.

If you are interested in joining the team, please get in touch to discuss opportunities.

Biography

2021-present: Royal Society University Research Fellow, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, UK
2017-2021: Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Research Fellow, visiting Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, UK
2018-present: College lecturer, Churchill College, University of Cambridge, UK
2020-2021: Undergraduate Tutor, Churchill College, University of Cambridge, UK
2015-2017: Postdoctoral research fellow, Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Ca. USA
2010-2014: PhD student, Department of Chemistry, University College London, UK

Awards

2020 Journal of Chemical Physics Best Paper by an Emerging Investigator

Publications

Microscopic Kinetics Pathway of Salt Crystallization in Graphene Nanocapillaries

L Wang, J Chen, SJ Cox, L Liu, GC Sosso, N Li, P Gao, A Michaelides, E Wang, X Bai

– Phys Rev Lett

(2021)

126,

136001

(doi: 10.1103/physrevlett.126.136001)

Macroscopic surface charges from microscopic simulations.

T Sayer, SJ Cox

– The Journal of Chemical Physics

(2020)

153,

164709

(doi: 10.1063/5.0022596)

Assessing long-range contributions to the charge asymmetry of ion adsorption at the air-water interface.

SJ Cox, DG Thorpe, PR Shaffer, PL Geissler

– Chemical science

(2020)

11,

11791

(doi: 10.1039/d0sc01947j)

Computing Surface Acidity Constants of Proton Hopping Groups from Density Functional Theory-Based Molecular Dynamics: Application to the SnO2(110)/H2O Interface

M Jia, C Zhang, SJ Cox, M Sprik, J Cheng

– J Chem Theory Comput

(2020)

16,

6520

(doi: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00021)

Dielectric response with short-ranged electrostatics.

SJ Cox

– Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

(2020)

117,

19746