About Us
Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron science facility. By accelerating electrons to near light-speed, Diamond generates brilliant beams of light from infra-red to X-rays which are used for academic and industry research and development across a range of scientific disciplines including structural biology, physics, chemistry, materials science, engineering, earth and environmental sciences.
The Project
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are an important new class of materials, with applications in energy storage, sensing, sustainability and healthcare. Recently, MOFs with hierarchical structure–on multiple length scales–have been created that give rise to unprecedented control over properties and emergent phenomena, such as photonic colour.
Formation of hierarchical MOFs is poorly understood. This limits the functionality and diversity of new materials, as well as control over their properties. The challenge lies in characterisation over the wide range of length scales (Ångström–microns) that are involved, as well as the multiple timescales (ms–hr) of the processes that contribute to the formation mechanism. Synchrotron X-ray scattering is well-suited to this challenge but rarely performed in practice across the entire length scale of interest. This project will develop the necessary protocols and expertise to perform tandem in-situ experiments across beamlines I22 and I15-1 at Diamond, to probe hierarchical MOF formation across the key timescales (ms–hr) and length scales (Angstrom–micron).
The project will investigate two important MOFs classes––zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) and the University of Oslo (UiO) family––and lead to new understanding of the formation mechanisms and effects of synthesis conditions on the assembly and quality of hierarchical MOF structures for sensing.
The studentship will involve a mixture of synthetic chemistry, materials characterisation and synchrotron X-ray analysis, in particular X-ray pair distribution function and small-angle scattering. As such, a suitable candidate would have a degree in Chemistry, or similar discipline, and a solid foundation in X-ray diffraction. The student will receive additional training in Python at Diamond, as well as transferable skills such as scientific writing and presentations at the University of Birmingham.
Further Information
Diamond Light Source Ltd holds an Athena SWAN Bronze Award, demonstrating their commitment to provide equal opportunities and to advance the representation of women in STEM/M subjects: science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.
Diamond jointly funds around 15-20 studentships every year with a variety of collaborators from both academic institutions to industry partners. Students accepted onto these projects will be part of our yearly cohort intake and are supported by both their academic and Diamond supervisors, as well as a dedicated Student Engagement team based at Diamond.
Diamond studentships are typically 50% funded by Diamond and 50% by the partnering university institution (or 25% funded by Diamond if there is a third party collaborator). Students are therefore required to spend 50% of their studentship at Diamond, with most students relocating to the local area for this period. Support on suggested accomodation options are provided by Diamond.
Benefits of Diamond's jointly funded studentships
Further Information
If you have further questions please contact the Student Engagement team on diamond.students@diamond.ac.uk.
Further guidance for students can be found here as well as more information about life at Diamond found here.
Applications are now closed.
Take a look at the project on the following site/s for more information:
You will need to apply via the University portal. Click the link below and search for the project (e.g. Department: 'School of Chemistry' and Supervisor: 'Dr H Yeung'. The project will then appear in the results and you can apply from there:
Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
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OX11 0DE
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