Prof Jason Riley

Biography

• Nanoparticles
• Nanomaterials synthesis
• Semiconductors
• Planetcare

Research Interests

Underpinning the majority of my research is electrochemistry and in particular the photoelectrochemistry of semiconductors. Over the past decade my research activity has primarily focused on the use of electrochemistry to fabricate and characetrise nanomaterials. Templated electrodeposition, in both track etched polyer membranes and anodic alumina membranes, have allowed us to prepare nanorods of various materials. Electron microscopy (TEM and SEM) and XRD have been employed to characetrise the as-prepared materials. Use of the as-prepared materials in solar energy harvesting, photocatalysis and display applications is on-going. We also have a strong activity in the area of semiconductor Q-dot modified electrodes. II-VI Q-dots are fabricated in-house and deposited onto electrodes; using self-assembly, chemical anchoring and electrophoretic deposition. The as-prepared electrodes are characterised using photoelectrochemistry. The potential of Q-dot modified electrodes in solar cell applications is under consideration.

Facilities in Research Group

• Dry Box
• Photoelectrochemical Apparatus

Other Activities
Dr Riley lectures on a number of advanced courses:

• The Spring School in Colloid Science at the University of Bristol
• The Winter School in Electrochemistry at the University of Bath
• The Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Course at the University of Bath
• In addition Dr Riley participates in Outreach activity. Working as a double act with Professor Julian Eastoe of the University of Bristol to deliver a lecture for School Children (15-18) on “The Secret Chemistry of the Mobile Phone”

Awards

• CREST Fellowship, Japanese Government, 2004
• Membership of Professional Bodies
• Royal Society of Chemistry, Member CChem
• International Society of Electrochemistry, Member
• The Electrochemical Society, Member

Links with Other Academic Bodies

• Visiting Fellow, University of Bristol, 2006-2007
• Visiting Professor, University of Genoa, 2000-2006

Biography

• 2006- Present: Senior Lecturer (Department of Materials, Imperial college, London)
• 1997-2006 Lecturer, Senior Lecturer (School of Chemistry, University of Bristol)
• 1993-1997 PDRA. (Department of Chemistry, University of Bath)
• 1989-1992 Ph.D. (Oriel College, University of Oxford)

Dr Riley joined the Department of Materials at Imperial College London in October 2006. He moved to Imperial from the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol where, for almost a decade, he had run a successful research group investigating the formation and assembly of nanoparticles on electrode surfaces, a bottom-up approach to nanoparticle modified electrodes. Prior to his appointment as a lecturer at Bristol he worked as a PDRA in the group of Professor Laurie Peter at the University of Bath. Here he undertook investigations of the formation and characterisation of porous silicon, a nanoparticle modified electrode prepared by a top-down approach. Dr Riley was awarded a MA and DPhil from Oriel College, University of Oxford; his doctoral research activity was supervised by Professor Richard Compton.

Recent Publications
The effect of perchlorate ions on a pyridine-based microgel
J.P. Cook, D.J. Riley*
Adv. Coll. Interf. Sci. 2009, 147-48, 67-73

Hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanorods aligned parallel to the substrate surface
Y. Sun, N.A. Fox, D.J. Riley, M.N.R. Ashfold
J. Phys. Chem. C, 2008, 112, 9234-9239.

Profiting from Nature: Macroporous Copper with Superior Mechanical Properties
M Lai, A.N. Kulak, D. Law, Z. Zhang, F.C. Meldrum, D.J. Riley*
Chemical Communications, 2007, 3547-3549.

An Electrochemical Quartz Crystal Microbalance in a Channel Flow Cell: A Study of Copper Dissolution
C.M. Galvani, A. Graydon, D.J. Riley* and D. York
J. Phys. Chem. C, 2007, 111, 3669-3674.

Preparation of tin dioxide nanotubes via electrosynthesis in a template
M. Lai, JAG Martinez, M Gratzel and D.J. Riley*
Journal Of Materials Chemistry 2006, 16, 2843-2845.

Consultancies

• Bristol Colloid Centre, Director

Research topic/technique/area

I. Research Areas
Biomedicine
Biophysics
Carbon Nanostructures
Device engineering
Liquid/disorder + Nanofluids
Magnetism and Spintronics
Nanomechanics
Nanoparticles
Nuclear materials
Organic & Molecular electronics
Photonics
Semiconductors
Superconductors
Sustainable energy
Thin films, surfaces, and interfaces

II. Techniques
Theoretical and Computational Techniques
Analytic Theory
Classical Simulations
Density Functional Theory (DFT)

Experimental Techniques
Electrical transport
Nanolithography
Nanomaterials synthesis
Nanofluidics
Optics
Optoelectronics
Scanning Probes
STM
AFM
SNOM
Spin Resonance
Surface Analysis
TEM
Thin Film Growth
Tissue Engineering
X-ray and Neutron Scattering

III. Applications
Healthcare
IT
Planetcare

This image shows a porous copper sample prepared by growing copper in a sea urchin shell. The triply periodic minimal surface of the sea urchin means that the sample has exceptional mechanical strength for its density.

CdSe quatum dot particles, each suspension contains monodisperse (size distribution <5%) particles. The suspensions displayed are in the size range 2 nm to 5 nm. The as-prepared particles are all CdSe with the same crystal structure. Owing to quantum confinement of charge carriers by the crystal lattice the different sized dots emit at different wavelengths.

A Biomimetic Material - copper deposited in a template formed from a sea urchin shell, a triply periodic minimal area surface (see Chem Commun 2007 above).