Professor Claire Carmalt - Tilden Prize for Chemistry winner

Professor Claire Carmalt CChem F麻豆AV

Winner: 2024 Tilden Prize for Chemistry

University College London

For contributions to the development of functional thin films as transparent conducting oxides, photocatalysts and heterojunction photoanodes for photoelectrochemical applications.

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As you move into research, you find that, by teamwork and collaboration your initial isolated project can expand out in all sorts of directions which you perhaps hadn't considered at the start.

Professor Claire Carmalt’s research group focuses on the creation of innovative, industrially important inorganic materials and their deposition into thin films. This has involved investigating superhydrophobic (super water repellent) materials, TCOs (transparent conducting oxides, materials that are transparent and able to conduct electricity), photocatalysts, and photoelectrochemical materials for use in various applications. Superhydrophobic materials can demonstrate a physical self-cleaning capability, where water droplets can roll off the surface, whilst photocatalytic materials can exhibit self-cleaning capabilities, where dirt particles can break down into simple molecules through a chemical reaction involving light.

The group is investigating the development of a scalable synthetic route to these materials, many of which are used in a range of applications. This strategy offers a viable route to the large-scale production of high-performance materials for use in commercial window coatings, water-splitting devices and other self-cleaning surfaces.

Read winner biography

Claire Carmalt graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne with a first-class honours degree in chemistry in 1992. She remained at Newcastle to do her PhD with Professor Nick Norman on 'Synthetic and structural studies involving the heavier elements of groups 13 and 15'. She then spent just over two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Science and Technology Center, University of Texas, Austin, under the supervision of Professors Alan Cowley FRS and Mike White. Her postdoctoral work, which involved the synthesis of novel precursors for thin film growth, stimulated her interest in materials chemistry.

In 1997, Claire was awarded a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, and moved to University College London (UCL). She started a lectureship at UCL in 2001 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2002, Reader in 2004 and Professor in 2009. She was Head of Inorganic & Materials Chemistry Section (2010–2016) and Vice Dean (Education) for the Mathematical & Physical Science faculty (2014–2016). In 2016, she became the first female Head of Department of Chemistry at UCL. In 2021, Claire received a One UCL Leadership Award for Outstanding Contribution. She was awarded the 麻豆AV Meldola Medal Prize in 2000 and the 麻豆AV Applied Inorganic Chemistry Award in 2019 for her work in materials chemistry.

Claire’s research group develops materials and routes for a number of industrial applications involving superhydrophobic materials, transparent conducting oxides, photocatalysts and photoelectrochemical applications.

Q&A

How did you first become interested in chemistry?

I ended up choosing to do a degree in chemistry as I went to a lecture demonstration at a nearby university during my sixth form. Lots of flashes and bangs made me realise how exciting chemistry could be. My full interest developed during my undergraduate degree when I got the opportunity to do a summer research project. I knew at the end of that project that I wanted to do a PhD and go into academia.

What motivates you?

There are two areas that really motivate me. First, it's around people, whether they are part of my research group, students I teach or members of the department. Here, it motivates me to feel that I am stimulating, supporting and mentoring people in a way that helps them with their own personal and professional development. Second, it's the research, particularly designing new materials, understanding their properties and potentially one day seeing them incorporated into a real-world application.

Why do you think collaboration and teamwork are important in science?

I've always found chemistry to be a very sociable subject. As an undergraduate student, it helped enormously to discuss the experiments with peers. As you move into research, you find that, by teamwork and collaboration your initial isolated project can expand out in all sorts of directions which you perhaps hadn't considered at the start. This also helps to bring varied expertise to a project, such as experimental researchers collaborating with computational researchers, where you can gain an understanding of the properties of a material or perhaps predict what material needs to be synthesised.

What is your favourite element?

My favourite element is Bismuth. I even had a hamster called Bismuth at one point! I did a lot of research on bismuth compounds in my PhD and could always seem to grow beautiful crystals when making new compounds. Bismuth can adopt a range of coordination numbers as well as different bonding modes which made the research really interesting. More recently, I am enjoying seeing how it is being investigated in new materials in a range of applications.