Nicholas Sammy

About Me

I was born and raised in the beautiful twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago. At heart, I am an synthetic inorganic chemist with a deep interest in catalysis. How can we make the chemical products that we take for granted daily in a more efficient and sustainable manner? How can innovations at the frontiers of chemistry, physics and materials science help us to achieve energy security and net zero emissions? As a PhD candidate in the Wheatley labs at the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, I am exploring the synthesis of alloyed copper bimetallic nanoparticles with morphologies that boast very high surface areas and applying them to the CO₂ Reduction Reaction. 

Academic Background

I read for a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry at Imperial College London, which further developed an already burgeoning interest in inorganic chemistry. My research project done under the guidance of Dr Seb Pike (now at the University of Warwick) in the labs of Professor Charlotte Williams (now at University of Oxford) looked at the redox activity of copper nanoparticles with regard to their application in methanol synthesis from CO₂. I then spent a year working on heterogeneous catalyst development for the oxidation of methane in the lab of Dr Michael Forde (UWI St Augustine).

Later on, I began studying the Elite Master's of Synthesis and Catalysis at the University of Regensburg, with short projects in the labs of Professor Manfred Scheer (synthesis of divalent germanium compounds) and Professor Robert Wolf (photoelectrocatalytic synthesis of tertiary phosphines). As part of the study programme, I visited LHFA at Universite Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (CNRS 5069) and worked under the guidance of Dr Ghenwa Bouhadir and Professor Didier Bourissou on exploring the double borylation of aromatic sp² centres. My Master's research project was done as an Erasmus visiting student in the Wheatley labs on stabilising copper nanoparticles against oxidation for use in plasmonic antenna-reactor catalytic systems.

Currently, I am working in the Wheatley labs with synthesis of CuPd bimetallic nanoparticles. In collaboration with the Reisner group, we are evaluating these nanoparticles as high surface area electrocatalysts for CO₂ reduction, aiming to improve selectivity towards ethanol.

Research Interests

Nanoparticle synthesis

Plasmonic catalysis

CO₂ Reduction Reaction

Energy and Sustainable chemistry

Teaching

I am as deeply passionate about education as I am about learning. In total, I have spent 3 years working full time at secondary schools as a Science teacher (Biology, Chemistry and Physics). I have also tutored numerous students at the middle and upper school levels. To help with teaching, I designed 3 practical lab workbooks, 7 course workbooks and 3 Student's summary notes covering the full range of Chemistry syllabuses offered by the Caribbean Examinations Council which are still being used in the respective secondary schools. I have also worked on teams that have written review quiz questions and examination style questions covering the AQA AS and A2 syllabuses with the fantastic online education company Uplearn.

More recently, I've been involved in supervising a range of undergrad courses, demonstration in teaching labs and mentoring Part III students in the Wheatley labs.

Supervisions

Part IA Courses 

• Shapes and Structures of Molecules

• Reactions and Mechanisms in Organic Chemistry

• Kinetics of Chemical Reactions

• Energetics and Equilibria

• Inorganic and Materials Chemistry

Part IB Courses

• Structure, Bonding and Reactivity of Transition Metal Complexes

• Structure, Bonding and the p-block Elements

Part II Courses

• A1: Inorganic I - Heavier Transition Metals and the Lanthanoids and Actinoids

• B0: Electron Deficient Compounds

• B1: Inorganic II - Organometallic Catalysis

Demonstration in Teaching Labs

• Part IA Teaching Labs

• Part IB Organic & Inorganic Teaching Labs