I lead a multi-disciplinary materials chemistry research group, exploring novel functional materials for sustainable energy applications.

There is a strong focus on the design, synthesis and application of functional (supramolecular) polymeric systems.  Specifically, redox-active conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) are developed for CO₂ capture and conversion to fuels and feedstocks. The production of functional polymer systems for biocompatible artificial soft actuators is a new an emerging area of research.

Research activity:

• Preparation of porous conjugated materials for CO₂ capture and conversion and related environmental and energy applications [Adv. Mater. 2023, Mater. Chem. Front. 2023, Chem. Electrochem. 2023,  ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 2023, Polym. Chem., 2021, Nano Energy 2021, J. Mater. Chem A 2020, Chem. Mater. 2020, Angew. Chem. 2019]

• Design, preparation and characterisation of hierarchical functional supramolecular materials [Nat. Commun. 2022, J. Mater. Chem. C 2022, Chem. Eur. J. 2022, Macromolecules 2021, ACS Macro Letters 2020, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2020, Chem. Soc. Rev. 2019]
• Development of novel functional materials for 3D printing flexible actuators and devices [Soft Robotics 2023, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2023, Adv. Mater. Tech. 2019, Sci. Rep. 2017]

Local and International Activities:

I am currently University Enterprise Fellow, enabling me to pursue commercialisation of research from my laboratories. I am also Faculty International Director (since April 2021), and have responsibility for all international activities, partnerships and interactions for the Faculty of Science. 

I am co-PI of the Bristol Centre for Functional Nanomaterials (BCFN), a £12M EPSRC-sponsored centre for doctoral training (CDT), and member of the management team of the Technology Enhanced Chemical Synthesis CDT. I was Head of Inorganic and Materials Chemistry at the School of Chemistry for 5 years (August 2018 - July 2023).

I am a member of the International Advisory Board for the State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers & Polymer Materials' at Donghua University, Shanghai, China (since 2018). I held an adjunct professorship at Tsinghua University (Beijing, China, since 2013), and have held visiting professorships at Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University, 2005 - 2010), Chinese Academy of Sciences' National Centre for Nanoscience and Technology (2012), and the University of Rennes1 (2018).