From left: Kenneth Kwok, Alex Ferguson, Ryan Silk, Joseph Vella, Rosanna Rov, Timothy Christopher, Huihua Zhou, Tilo Söhnel, Sneh Patel, Martin Spasovski, Andrew Chan, Samuel Yick, Marco Vás (not pictured: Natalija Vyborna, Mark Appletree)
Professor Tilo Söhnel
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• Principal investigator of the Söhnel research group where he provides supervision and guidance to the students and group members seen below.
• Associate investigator of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology.
• His academic and publication history can be found on this site along with current research that the group is undertaking.
Post Doctoral
Researching:
• Investigating underlying mechanisms of skyrmion formation in Cu2OSeO3 type structures through short-angle neutron scattering and AC magnetic susceptibility measurements.
• Research an development of cuprate-manganite based layered superconductors.
Mohammed Abdelbassit
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Researching:
• Synthesis, characterisation and properties of novel oxoindate and oxostannate cluster compounds of the transition metals.
• Investigating the potential applications of these materials as catalysts for water splitting and CO2 conversion.
PhD
Researching:
• The bi-layered Fe4Si2Sn7O16 using Density Functional Theory calculations. This structure displays geometrically frustrated magnetism coupled with interesting long-range ordering that could have potential applications in spintronics.
• Development computational tools for the group such as simulated X-ray absorption spectroscopy.
Mark Appletree
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Researching:
• Novel coupling at the interface of cuprate-manganite ‘superconducting sandwiches’ under the supervision of Prof. Cather Simpson and Dr. Ben Mallett.
Researching:
• Synthesis and modification of magnesium-ion battery cathode materials.
Marco Vás
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Researching:
• Modifying Skyrmion host Cu2OSeO3 through selective doping/substition to see how this affects the temperature stability range.
Masters
Lanyi Chi
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Researching:
•Modification of Zinc Antimonates.
Co-Supervised PhD
Nishat Sultana
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Researching:
• Issues around the stability of interfaces in organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells under the supervision of A/Prof. Nicola Gaston in the University of Auckland Department of Physics.
Collaborators
Dr. Saifang Huang, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, The University of Auckland
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• Materials chemistry researcher at University of Auckland Newmarket Campus, working with Timothy on solid-state ion conduction.
Dr. Ransi Devendra, Uroxsys Limited, Auckland
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•Science and Technology Manager at Uroxsys Ltd.; Involved with development work on catalysts for urethane pre-polymers; Theoretical and experimental studies to improve the control of the catalysis of the urethane reaction obtained through an increased understanding of the catalysis mechanisms involved.
Past Members
Martin Spasovski
Researched:
• Synthesis and structural investigations of novel, doped Bixbyites originating from the supposed Cu9Sb4O19 as potential solid mixed electrolytes. Particular focus on disordered structures and peculiar mixed oxidation states of cationic species within structures thought to be well defined.
• Modelling of Neutron and X-ray scattering experiments under ambient and non-ambient conditions.
Sneh Patel
Researched:
• Novel transition metal antimonates of the general formula MSb2O6, focusing on Cu1-xNixSb2O6 and ZnSb2-xSnxO6 series. It is hypothesised that oxygen deficiencies are being created within the lattice of both structures through their doping, making for potential candidates as solid-state ionic conductors.
Timothy Christopher
Researched:
• Novel lithium conducting garnet materials as a potential candidate for solid-state electrolytes.
• Oxygen storage capacity of various 114 type materials using the ANSTO neutron source in Sydney, Australia.
Alex Ferguson
Researched:
• Resistivity measurements on superconducting manganite sandwiches.
Kenneth Kwok
Researched:
• Investigating the transition between Zinc Molybdenum Oxide and Nickel Molybdenum Oxides.
Rosanna Rov
Researched:
• The effect of tellurium doping on the formation of stable long-range skyrmion lattices in Cu2OSeO3 single crystals, with potential future applications in spintronics.
Nat Vyborna
Researched:
• The effect of antimony doping into Co2SnO4 inverse spinels, with the aim of producing anode materials for all solid-state batteries.
• Development of synthetic tools for the group to produce nanoparticle oxides and investigating how this affects their properties and application.
Andrew Chan
Researched:
• Novel coupling at the interface of cuprate-manganite ‘superconducting sandwiches’ under the supervision of Prof. Cather Simpson and Dr. Ben Mallett.
Dana Goodacre
Researched:
• X-ray spectroscopy studies on vanadium oxides exploring the effects of transition metal doping and the adsorption of molecules on the surface, co-supervised by Kevin Smith.
• Currently located at Berkeley, California working at the Advanced Light Source.
Morgan Allison
Researched:
• The effects of substituting silicon with germanium in Fe4Si2Sn7O16 alongside the doping of iron with cobalt and manganese.
• Currently located at The University of Sydney working alongside Prof. Chris Ling.
Malin Lüdicke, Technical University of Dresden
Researched:
•Single crystal synthesis of Ir-Sn-O clustered structures from the melt. Crystal structure determination of the (incommensurable) modulated structures and electronic characterisation
•Development of single crystal XRD methodology and instrumentation for variable temperature studies.
Dr. Ali Sheikh Bostanabad
Researched:
• Transition states of metal complexes using Density Functional Theory calculations. These complexes are a key component of Dye Sensitized Solar Cells.
Patrikk Colita
Researched:
• Synthesis of cobalt doped zinc molybdates ZnMoO4 specifically the key structural changes that occur when you transition from ZnMoO4 to CoMoO4.