Johnson Group
Meet the Group
Andrew Brookes
CSCT PhD Student
Andy studied at the University of Warwick and completed his MChem in 2017. In his final year he studied under the supervision of Professor Patrick Unwin’s research group. During this time, he studied the fabrication of carbon nanoelectrodes and Au electrodeposition onto carbon substrates. His interests include travelling, playing music and gaming.
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Thesis title: Semiconductor materials for sustainable energy technologies
Max Robson
CDT PhD Student
Max received his MChem (hons) degree in Chemistry from the University of Bath in 2018. During his undergraduate degree, he undertook two research projects, the first concerning photothermal materials for water desalination at the Future Industries Institute, Adelaide, and the second on precursors for nickel(II) oxide ALD within the Johnson group. He re-joins the group to conduct his doctorate in conjunction with the CDT in Aerosol Science. Away from the lab, Max plays cricket, loves to scuba dive and relishes the cold side of the pillow.
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Thesis Title: Aerosol Assisted Chemical vapour deposition of inorganic semiconductors
Ciaran Llewelyn
AAPS PhD Student
Ciaran, originally from Carmarthenshire, Wales, graduated with an MChem from Cardiff University in Chemistry. His final year project involved working under the supervision of Dr Ben Ward looking at the Potential Silica Coating of 3D Lead Halide Perovskites. He has recently joined the new Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS) CDT and will be conducting research on new materials for automotive tribo-chemistry. Outside of university, avid football and cricket fan.
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Thesis Title: Development of Novel Group VI Precursors for Thin Film Lubricious Coatings
Aidan Ryan
PhD Student
Aidan, originally from Reading, graduated from the University of Bath in 2020, having completed his Master's project in the group. As part of his degree, he completed a placement with Imerys Minerals Ltd in Cornwall, working on the effects of different calcium carbonate fillers on PVC’s mechanical properties. He re-joined the Johnson Group for his PhD, working in collaboration with Infineum developing precursors for tribologically active materials. Away from his studies, he likes to play pool and go running, and is an eager fan of rugby union.
Thom Harris-Lee
CSCT PhD Student
Thom studied at the University of Bath and graduated with an MSci in Natural Sciences in 2020. For his final year project, he investigated photoelectrochemical chloride oxidation using doped TiO2 nanorod arrays, supervised by Professor Frank Marken. His main interests are rugby, running, board games and music by Taylor Swift.
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Thesis Title: Atomic Layer Deposited Heterojunctions for Light-Driven Water Splitting in Tandem Cells
Ellie Vokes
CDT PhD Student
Ellie graduated from the University of Bath in 2020 with a Masters in Chemistry with Industrial Training. During her undergraduate degree she completed a year in industry at De La Rue, working on the development of photolithographic processes for micro-optic security features. In her final year she worked in the Johnson group researching chalcogenide precursors for thermoelectric materials. She has joined the Aerosol Science CDT to start her doctorate journey. In her free time she enjoys yoga, playing the piano and painting.
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Thesis Title: Aerosol jet printed p- and n-type semiconducting materials- practical routes to printable electronics
Charlie Brown
PhD Student
Charlie received his BSc in Chemistry from the University of Nottingham in 2019. He then went on to complete an MRes in Green Chemistry at Imperial College London the following year. For his master’s project, he worked in collaboration with the agri-tech startup, ZELP, developing non-noble metal-based catalysts for low-temperature methane combustion. His main interests outside of Chemistry are golf, football, and running.
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Thesis Title: New platforms for photoelectrochemical water splitting
Dan Mason
AAPS PhD Student
Dan graduated from the University of Bath in 2021 with an MChem in Chemistry. As part of this, he undertook a placement year at Shell Global Solutions UK, as part of their Fuels R&D team. During his final year project, he focused on producing catalysts for the dehydrogenation of liquid organic hydrogen carriers, supervised by Simon Freakley. He has since joined the Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (AAPS) CDT and will be researching precursors for next generation battery materials. Away from research, Dan enjoys going to the gym, cooking and enjoys following and playing both football and rugby.
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Thesis Title: Chemical Vapour Deposition for advanced lithium ion batteries and supercapacitors
Ollie Clark
PhD Student
Ollie graduated from the University of Bath with an MChem (hons) degree in chemistry in 2023. His final year project was conducted with the Johnson group, investigating the synthesis and reactivity of novel low oxidation state group 14 compounds. Now completing a PhD with the group, he will be researching precursors suitable for the Atomic Layer Deposition of p-type metal oxides. Outside of the lab, Ollie enjoys going to the gym, climbing, and cycling.
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Thesis Title: New Reactive Main Group Molecular Compounds
Macsen Laming
PhD Student
Macsen graduated from the University of Bath in 2023 with a BSc (Hons) Natural Sciences degree in chemistry and physics. During his undergraduate degree, he completed a placement year at the Central Laser Facility and completed his final year project on semiconductor precursors within the Johnson Group. His main interests include reading and scuba diving.
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Thesis Title: Reactive main group precursor compounds for p-type oxides
Johnson Group Alumni
Former PDRAs
Dr James Parish, 2018-2021
Dr Jeff Hamilton, 2011 - 2017
Dr Sam Cosham, 2010 - 2013
Dr Steven Richards, 2009 - 2011
Dr Yoli Pérez, 2006 - 2007
Former PhD Students
Dr Andrew Straiton, 2022
Dr Kerry Flanagan, 2022
Dr Matthew Surman, 2022
Dr Emily Taylor, 2021
Dr Hannah Sullivan, 2021
Dr Jerome Innocent, 2020
Dr Miriam Regue-Grino, 2020
Dr Peter Kubiak, 2019
Dr James Parish, 2018
Dr Prem Thongchai, 2018
Dr Amanda Catherall, 2017
Dr Andrew Rushworth, 2017
Dr Joseph Thompson, 2016
Dr Ibbi Ahmet, 2016
Dr David Stanton, 2015
Dr Thomas Wildsmith, 2014
Dr Daniel Minett, 2014
Dr William Jamieson, 2014
Dr Thomas Pugh, 2013
Dr Thomas Robinson, 2013
Dr Nathan Hollingsworth, 2012
Dr Alexander Wilcox, 2012
Dr Charlotte James, 2011
Dr Neil Poulter, 2010
Dr Sam Cosham, 2010
Dr Hazel Davis, 2009
Dr Theresa Savarese, 2008
Joshua Buckingham
CDT PhD Student
Josh completed his MChem (hons) degree in chemistry at the University of Bath in 2022. He undertook an industrial placement at Domino Printing Sciences during his degree, where he developed environmentally benign printing inks. He worked in the Johnson lab for his final year project investigating group 14 metallene complexes. Now enrolled in the Aerosol Science CDT, he plans to study Aerosol Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition when returning to Bath in 2023. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking and bouldering and is a fan of Formula 1.
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Thesis Title: Field Effected Aerosol Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition (FE-AACVD) of Thin Film Materials
Tom Menlove
Project Student
Tom is in his final year of the MChem in Chemistry with Industrial Placement at the University of Bath. Last year, he completed a 12-month internship with Dyson, working in the research department on two projects related to novel air treatment and energy storage. In his free time, Tom enjoys staying active in the gym or braving the freeze of open water swimming. He also looks forward to travelling to Latin America after his degree, any travel tips are welcome.
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Project Title: Single source AA-CVD precursors for lithium sulfide cathode materials