Our team

Dr. Lu Wanpeng

Wanpeng joined the McCulloch group in 2023 and is interested in the fabrication and characterization of novel Covalent Organic Frameworks for various applications. She completed her BSc at Peking University in Chemistry and Psychology while working on germanosilicate zeolites under the supervision of Prof. Junliang Sun. Her doctoral studies at the University of Manchester focused on ammonia adsorption in Metal-Organic Framework under the supervision of Prof. Martin Schröder and Prof. Sihai Yang.

Dr. Zeinab Hamid

Zeinab joined the McCulloch group in 2023 and is interested in perovskite materials for photocatalytic applications. She completed her MSci at Imperial College London, after which she obtained her PhD at the same university under the supervision of Prof. McCulloch.

Dr. Yang Jin

Jin joined the McCulloch group in 2023 and is interested in the design and synthesis of COFs for photo-related applications. Jin completed his bachelor's and master's studies in China and gained his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Arne Thomas at Technische Universität Berlin. His doctoral research focused on the structural diversity and functionality of the linkage in COFs.

Floriana Moruzzi

Flo’s research focuses on organic semiconductors in solar fuels production. She is interested in features of organic materials in the photoreduction of carbon dioxide, as well as design and assembly of photocatalytic testing systems. Flo obtained her integrated master’s degree (MSci) in Chemistry from Imperial College London in 2018. She joined the McCulloch group in the same year. She is also a visiting researcher at Imperial College London co-supervised by Dr. Ludmilla Steier.

Maryam Alsufyani

Maryam’s research is focused on the design and synthesis of n-type rigid conjugated polymers for use in organic thermoelectrics and other organic electronic devices like organic field effect transistors and organic electrochemical transistors. She received her MS degree in chemical science in 2018 at King Abdullah University of Science and technology (KAUST), and joined the McCulloch group in the same year.

Benjamin Willner

Ben completed his MSci project in the McCulloch group targeting photocatalytic hydrogen generation with organic semiconductors. He is now undertaking a DPhil in the group beginning in 2019 in the use of organic semiconductors for solar fuel generation.

Sophie Griggs

Sophie completed her undergraduate studies in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London, carrying out her MSci research project in the McCulloch group investigating the impact of planarity on of a novel n-type NDTI-based donor-acceptor polymer for OECT devices. She is now a DPhil student under Prof Iain McCulloch, aiming to synthesise a p-type material to undergo post-polymerisation functionalisation for bioelectronic sensing applications. Her research interests lie mainly in the design and synthesis of biocompatible organic semiconducting materials for sensing applications.

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Tian Junfu

Junfu completed his undergraduate studies in the Department of Chemistry at University of Cambridge. After graduation, he conducted his research in Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore as a research engineer, working on synthesis and utility of chemiluminescent dioxetane as molecular detectors. He then pursued his PhD as part of the 20/21 Synthesis for Biology and Medicine (SBM) CDT cohort and is now a DPhil student under Prof Iain McCulloch, investigating on role of porosity and morphology on performance of polythiophene as OECT materials.

Luvian Yao Yuyun

Luvian completed her BSc degree in the department of chemistry at Imperial College London. After graduation, she directly pursued a PhD in the department of Chemistry at Oxford under the supervision of Prof. Iain McCulloch. Her research interest mainly lies on the development of novel n-type conjugated polymer materials for OECT applications, in particular, she is working on the effect of side chains towards the performance of the polymer.

Dong Guanru

Guanru completed his undergraduate studies In the department of Chemistry at Imperial College London in 2022, and joined the McCulloch group in the same year.

Zhang Yu

Yu completed his master's degree in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London under the supervision of Professor Martin Heeney. After graduation, he worked as a research assistant in Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences for nearly one year. At the same year, Yu has been selected by the University of Oxford for a China Scholarship Council – University of Oxford Scholarship to pursue his studies as a DPhil student in Professor Iain McCulloch’s Group. His current research interests are focused on the design and synthesis of COFs applied in OECTs.

Yueying Huang (Ellen)

Yueying completed her MSci degree in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London, carrying out her MSci project in the Martin group focusing on the metal-free synthesis and side chains modification of conjugated polymers for OECT applications. After graduation, she is now undertaking a Dphil in the McCulloch group and working on deep-HOMO conjugated polymers for photocatalytic water oxidation.

Romana Malečková

Romana is a PhD student at Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry. She is a visiting student in McCulloch’s group for a six-month internship. Her focus is mainly preparation and optimisation of conductive hydrogels based on organic conducting materials for use in bioelectronics.

Roosa-Maria Salomaa (Rosma)

Rosma is a fourth-year chemistry student at St. Anne’s College. Her project focuses on the synthesis and characterisation of materials, and testing of devices for semi-transparent organic solar cells. Beyond the lab, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, trying new recipes and going on adventures!

Paul Khlat

Paul is a fourth year MChem student at New College. He is synthesising and characterising polymers for hydrogen evolution from seawater and sunlight, with a focus on the effect of glycolating the polymers. In his spare time, Paul enjoys playing football and cooking.

Joshua Field

Josh completed his undergraduate studies in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge before joining the Synthesis for Biology and Medicine CDT at the University of Oxford, through which he has joined the McCulloch group for a 16-week project rotation. His research focuses on organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) for applications in bioelectronics, aiming to improve the properties of the group’s electron-deficient rigid rod n-type polymer motif. He is now pursuing his PhD under Prof. Harry Anderson working on porphyrin macrocycles.

Dr. Maximilian Moser

Max’s research is focused on the synthesis of high-performance organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors and their evaluation in bioelectronic devices, where they establish a connection between the abiotic and biotic kingdoms. Max obtained his integrated master’s degree (MSci) in Chemistry from Imperial College London in 2017. He has been part of the McCulloch research group since his final year MSci project on organic photovoltaics and commenced his DPhil studies in 2017 on a Schrödinger Scholarship. He has completed his doctorate in 2021.

Dr. Andrew Wadsworth

During Andrew's doctoral research, he designed and synthesized a number of novel nonfullerene electron acceptors for use in organic photovoltaics, some of which have proven to be among the best performing materials in the field. With a background in organic synthesis, over the course of his Ph.D, Andrew developed skills in the fabrication of organic photovoltaic and solar water splitting devices and materials characterization. In his postdoctoral research, he has also worked on the design of organic semiconductors for photocatalytic applications and mixed conductors for biosensors.

Dr. Iuliana Petruţa Maria

Petruţa completed her PhD at Imperial College London in 2020, developing n-type organic semiconductors for applications in organic bioelectronics. The aim of her research was to establish general structure-property relationships for mixed ionic and electronic transport in aqueous media and to understand the complex interactions between conjugated polymers, water and dopant ions. As a postdoctoral researcher, Petruţa continues to investigate the development of n-type materials for biosensor, thermoelectric and neuromorphic devices.

Dr. Adam Marks

Adam’s doctoral research spanned two main disciplines, beginning with investigating small molecule systems for spintronics and singlet fission before transitioning to the synthesis of organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors for bioelectronics. Recently Adam’s research has led to the development of a series of electron-deficient acceptor-acceptor rigid rod n-type polymers which are among the highest performing OECT devices in the field. Adam continues to pursue the synthesis of high-performance n-type polymers, specifically focusing on OECT, thermoelectric and biosensor materials.

Dr. Jan Kosko

Jan obtained his M.Sci. degree in chemistry from Imperial College London and completed his Ph.D. at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology under the supervision of Prof. Iain McCulloch. During Jan’s doctoral research he developed bulk heterojunction nanoparticle photocatalysts for solar hydrogen production. In his postdoctoral research, he is continuing to develop photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution and the artificial photosynthesis of solar fuels from water and carbon dioxide.

Dr. Helen Bristow

Helen’s research focuses on the optoelectronic properties and device performance of organic semiconducting materials. In particular, she is investigating a class of small molecule n-type organic semiconductors, commonly known as non-fullerene acceptors, and applying these in organic photovoltaics, organic thin film transistors and organic photodetectors. She has been a member of the McCulloch research group since undertaking an MRes in Plastic Electronics in 2017, co-supervised by Professor James Durrant of Imperial College London. She had completed her doctorate in 2022.

Max Benkert (Part II 2021/2022)

Max is a 4th year MChem student at St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford. He is passionate about polymers and renewable energy, with his project focussing on the synthesis and characterisation of COF heterojunctions for solar fuels. In his spare time, Max enjoys cooking, swimming, dinner parties and all things aviation.

Kate Chamberlain (Part II 2021/2022)

Kate is a 4th year MChem student at University College. She is working on functionalising the side chains of p-type polymers for bioelectronic sensing applications. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking and playing football.

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Matt Rosenfeld (Part II 2021/2022)

Matt is a fourth year chemistry student at University College. His project focuses on the fabrication and characterisation of soluble organic polymers for solar fuel production. Outside the lab, he likes playing water polo and Dance Dance Revolution.

Dr. Catherine Aitchison

Cath joined the McCulloch group in 2020 and is interested in the synthesis and testing of organic semiconductors for light-driven processes. Cath completed her MSci on photoactivated self-assembly of metal organic cages under Prof. Jonathan Nitschke at the University of Cambridge before moving to Liverpool to complete her PhD with Prof. Andy Cooper. Her doctoral studies focused on structure-activity relationships in molecular and polymer materials for photocatalytic proton reduction.

Dr. Xiaolei Zhao

Xiaolei joined the McCulloch group in 2021 and is interested in the charge transport in polymer and fabrication of the OECT. Xiaolei completed his Ph.D in electrical engineering at Tsinghua University under supervision of Prof. Jinliang He and Prof. Jun Hu. His doctoral studies focused on adaptive field grading material.

Dr. Yuanbao Lin

Yuanbao Lin got his Ph.D. at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) under the supervision of Prof. Thomas D. Anthopoulos. His main research is about organic solar cells including interface engineering, molecular dopant in the active layer, and large-area/flexible structures. He has published over 30 papers (12 of them were published as first author or corresponding author) with over 2500 citations.

Dr. Fabien Ceugniet

Fabien completed his PhD in chemistry at the University of Strasbourg under the supervision of the Drs. Gilles Ulrich and Nicolas Leclerc. His work focused on the post-functionalisation of BODIPYs and their optoelectrical properties in the near infrared. He joined the McCulloch Group in 2022 and is interested in light-matter interactions and charge transports of organic semi-conductor.

Dr. Yunseul Kim

Yunseul completed her MS and PhD degrees in School of Materials Science and Engineering at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) under the supervision of Prof. Dong-Yu Kim. Her main research was about synthesis of organic semiconductors, in particular, open-shell and closed-shell quinoidal conjugated polymers and characterisation of their optical, electrical and spin-induced magnetic properties. She joined the McCulloch Group in 2022 and is interested in the design and synthesis of n-type conjugated polymers.

Dr. Christina Kousseff

Christina joined the McCulloch group in 2023 and is interested in the design and synthesis of semiconducting polymers for OECT applications. She completed her BSc at the University of Exeter, followed by her MRes at University College London working on conjugated polymers for biological imaging, before obtaining her PhD at Queen Mary University of London under the supervision of Dr Christian Nielsen, focusing on the synthesis of conjugated materials for bioelectronic applications.