Dr Sebastian Pike - 2023 Dalton early career Prize: Sir Edward Frankland Prize winner

Dr Sebastian Pike MRSC

Winner: 2023 Dalton early career Prize: Sir Edward Frankland Prize

University of Warwick

For studies on the synthesis and photochemistry of metal-oxo cluster molecules and for their use as precursors to functional materials.

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I sometimes wonder if the novel molecules we make have ever been made before on this planet or elsewhere, whether by accident or design.

Metal oxide materials are used in a multitude of modern applications, from sun creams and paints, to state-of-the-art self-cleaning windows and antibacterial surfaces for next-generation medical devices. Many of these applications stem from the ability of metal oxides to absorb light and use this energy to direct chemical reactions.

Dr Pike’s research investigates molecular versions of metal oxide materials and studies how their properties may be optimised by carefully tuning their size, composition, and surface chemistry. These molecules act as tiny reactive centres that absorb light and can catalyse reactions. Their precise, atomically defined structures, makes them easier to study and understand than larger metal oxide materials that have a more complicated surface. The ability to precisely tune properties (for instance, to absorb the maximum amount of visible light whilst still driving the required chemical transformation), will be essential for the design of next-generation materials that can efficiently use solar energy to produce fuels and useful chemicals.

Read winner biography

Dr Sebastian Pike completed his undergraduate degree at Magdalen College, Oxford, continuing to a doctoral degree at Balliol College, Oxford. During his postgraduate studies, under the guidance of Professor Andrew Weller, Seb investigated the coordination chemistry and catalytic properties of rhodium complexes, including the elusive interaction of an alkane with a rhodium complex in the crystalline phase.

Seb’s first postdoctoral position was at Oxford as an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Award researcher. He then moved to Imperial College London, where he worked with Professors Charlotte Williams and Milo Shaffer, synthesising catalytically active Cu and ZnO nanoparticles for the reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol.

In 2016, he was awarded a Herchel Smith Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Cambridge to begin his own independent research in the area of metal-oxo clusters. After three years at Cambridge, Seb was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at the University of Warwick, where he and his research group study photoactive inorganic molecules and materials.

Q&A

How did you first become interested in chemistry?

In my very first chemistry class at secondary school, we watched the reaction of sugar and concentrated sulphuric acid, and I was totally hooked!

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

Professor Andrew Weller was a huge inspiration for me during my postgraduate studies and beyond. His ability to inject unbounded enthusiasm into science was a great motivation, and it was so much fun to be part of his research group.

What motivates you?

Discovering new things and solving problems! I sometimes wonder if the novel molecules we make have ever been made before on this planet or elsewhere, whether by accident or design. I also hope that our science will contribute, in some way, to the much wider scientific effort to make the world a better place.

What has been a highlight for you (either personally or in your career)?

Starting my own research group, exploring my own ideas and sharing them with enthusiastic and talented students.

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

Research should be fun, and if people enjoy doing it they are more likely to want to invest their time and effort. Work efficiently but don’t work all the time! I always have my best ideas after a holiday. Good research culture should encourage all to contribute and challenge ideas in a constructive and friendly atmosphere.

Why do you think teamwork is important in science?

The more you learn the more you realise you don’t know! So, it’s incredibly important to work with other brilliant people to collectively achieve great things. Teamwork is especially important in a laboratory setting, helping to make an efficient and enjoyable workplace.

What is your favourite element?

As an inorganic chemist it’s hard to choose, we like to play with lots of them! Phosphorus is such a useful NMR spectroscopy handle, but our group have been having lots of fun with titanium compounds in recent years.