Dr Andrea Laybourn - 2023 Barrer Award winner

Dr Andrea Laybourn MRSC

Winner: 2023 Barrer Award

University of Nottingham

For outstanding contributions towards developing the sustainable synthesis of porous materials, with a particular emphasis on microwave and continuous flow synthesis.

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I like that chemistry can be used to explain everyday things, such as the beautiful colours of flowers and the delicious smell of freshly cut grass.

Dr Laybourn’s research focuses on making and optimising porous materials using continuous flow microwave technologies. Porous materials contain holes in their structure and so they are excellent at 'soaking up' molecules, much like a sponge. Andrea’s research group is particularly interested in a class of porous materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) which comprise metal nodes/clusters and linkers made from organic molecules. By changing the metal nodes/clusters and linkers and their combinations, it is possible to tailor the structures and properties of MOFs for a range of applications, such as mitigating environmental pollution by capturing pollutants, or as catalysts in chemical reactions, or for use in drug delivery.

Read winner biography

Dr Andrea Laybourn obtained an MChem (Medicinal Chemistry with Pharmacology) from the University of Liverpool in 2008. She then completed a PhD at the University of Liverpool under the guidance of Professors Andy I Cooper, Dave J Adams and Yaroslav Z Khimyak, graduating in 2013. Her doctoral studies focused on the synthesis of porous amorphous networks and their molecular level characterisation by solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

After completing her doctorate, she moved to the University of Nottingham as a postdoctoral research fellow working across the school of chemistry and faculty of engineering with Professors Martin Schroder, Neil Champness, and Sam Kingman. Her research focused on the synthesis of novel metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) from perylene- and naphthalene- di-imide ligands and dthe evelopment of microwave technology for batch synthesis of MOFs.

Andrea was awarded a prestigious Nottingham Research Fellowship from the University of Nottingham in 2016 to develop continuous flow microwave technologies for MOF production. She was appointed Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Engineering in 2019.

Q&A

How did you first become interested in chemistry?

I first became interested in chemistry at secondary school where it quickly became my favourite subject. I loved (and still love) the practical and problem-solving aspects of chemistry and learning through discovery. I like that chemistry can be used to explain everyday things, such as the beautiful colours of flowers and the delicious smell of freshly cut grass.

Tell us about somebody who has inspired or mentored you in your career.

My secondary school chemistry teacher, Geoff Roberts, was absolutely brilliant and his enthusiasm for chemistry was infectious. We used to have classes in his laboratory which was wonderful, full of chemical reagents in bottles of different colours, shapes, and sizes, each reagent having different properties and possible reactions. Geoff also used to display 'Not all chemists wear white coats' posters which sparked my interest in the varied careers possible after studying chemistry.

Can you tell us about a scientific development on the horizon that you are excited about?

There have been some exciting developments in the use of artificial intelligence in functional porous materials research such as computational screening of structures and properties and automated high throughput reaction screening and optimisation. I think these are powerful strategies for accelerating materials discovery and optimisation and provide opportunities for improving sustainability by reducing waste, time, and energy. I am also excited by advancements in characterisation, such as electron diffraction which enables researchers to obtain single crystal structures from nanocrystals including under a range of conditions.

What does good research culture look like/mean to you?

A good research culture is one that values everybody for their contributions. I believe that we should continue progress towards transdisciplinary teams and collaborations that include people who have a wide variety of differing backgrounds as science does not exist in isolation and impacts everyone. At the moment we are moving towards being more open access with our research findings; this is a trend which should be embraced as it has the potential to lead to faster scientific advancements and realisation of societal impact.

What is your favourite element?

My favourite element is deuterium as it can be used as a probe to understand the dynamics of materials, such as mobility.