I make the liquids and composites I measure and model
Two linked programmes: the structure, transport and dynamics of ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents, and hydrogen generation and storage from reactive metal composites and porous frameworks.
The ionic liquids, eutectic mixtures and gallium-aluminium composites under study are prepared in-house, including the hydrogen and deuterium isotopomers that neutron contrast variation depends on. Doing the synthesis is not incidental to the measurement. Sample purity sets the floor on what neutron total scattering or time-resolved fluorescence can resolve, and a structural model refined against a sample of unknown water content is a model of something else.
Methods run from neutron total scattering with EPSR refinement, time-correlated single photon counting and vibrational spectroscopy through to plane-wave and molecular DFT, classical molecular dynamics and grand canonical Monte Carlo. Experiment and simulation are treated as one argument rather than two, which is where the useful disagreements surface.
Background
| 2026– | Honorary Senior Lecturer, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Queen's University Belfast |
| 2025– | Associate Professor, Ateneo de Manila University |
| 2019–2025 | Assistant Professor, Ateneo de Manila University |
| 2017–2018 | Brain Korea Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Sogang University, Seoul |
| 2016 | PhD Chemistry, Queen's University Belfast (QUILL) |
| 2012 | MSci Chemistry, First Class Honours, Queen's University Belfast |
The PhD was supervised by John D. Holbrey and the late Kenneth R. Seddon FRS at the QUILL Research Centre, and included ten co-proposed neutron scattering experiments on SANDALS and NIMROD at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source. The postdoctoral fellowship with Doseok Kim involved rebuilding a Ti:Sapphire femtosecond system after relocation and then running it for time-resolved work on eutectics and two-dimensional perovskites.
At Ateneo I built a research group from a standing start at an institution with no prior activity in this area. Alongside the research I have served as director of the graduate programme in chemistry and as a School of Science and Engineering representative on the School Council, and I sit on the university research-awards panel.
Since 2026 I have also held an honorary senior lectureship at Queen's University Belfast, building research links between QUB and Ateneo through joint projects, guest teaching and postgraduate exchange.
Contact
Department of Chemistry, School of Science and Engineering, Ateneo de Manila University, Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1108, Philippines.