{"id":1407,"date":"2016-04-25T13:24:23","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T12:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/uommaterialsblog\/?p=1407"},"modified":"2016-05-05T15:35:35","modified_gmt":"2016-05-05T14:35:35","slug":"mondaymaterials-episode-21-dr-andrew-thomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/uommaterialsblog\/mondaymaterials-episode-21-dr-andrew-thomas\/","title":{"rendered":"#MondayMaterials Episode 21 – Dr Andrew Thomas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last time out with #MondayMaterials<\/a> we hit the big 2-0 while speaking to Prof Bill Sampson<\/a>! 20 episodes since the launch of our blog last May and it seems like only yesterday to me. I\u2019ve learnt a lot in that time, though, particularly regarding how the research within the school works. We have several research groups<\/a>\u00a0and research centres<\/a> within the school, working on a huge variety of topics. You only have to look back through the #MondayMaterials interviews to see that we\u2019ve touched upon everything from graphene<\/a>, to ecommerce<\/a>, to paint<\/a> and paper<\/a>, via metallurgy<\/a>, medical advances<\/a>, and virtual reality<\/a>. It\u2019s an eclectic mix of research, but all of it equally fascinating and important.<\/p>\n

For those reasons, I decided it was time to make a few changes to how the #MondayMaterials series is run. So far I\u2019ve just been picking interviewees at random, from people I meet or those that are recommended to me, but I think you lovely readers deserve to hear from all corners of the School of Materials<\/a> equally. So from here on out we\u2019ll be switching between the research groups and centres from episode to episode, and to make room for this change we\u2019ll now be coming your way every three weeks instead of every fortnight. But don\u2019t worry, that extra week just means the content will even better.<\/p>\n

\"In
In the lab with Andrew!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kicking off this process, and representing Biomaterials<\/a>, is Dr Andrew Thomas. Although Andrew could, like many of our researchers, fit into more than just the one group, he tells us that much of his recent work has been in this area. I hope you enjoy hearing about is at much as I did:<\/p>\n

Hi Andrew, thanks for chatting to us. Can you please explain your research, for the layman, in ten sentences or less?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I work in surface science and I look at the interaction between molecules and surfaces; so any interaction, pretty much covering every area of science, where we have a surface involved in a process – so from biomaterials to catalysts to energy materials. We try to understand the fundamental chemistry and physics of what\u2019s happening at the surface and the interface. In the last few years I\u2019ve worked particularly heavily in biomaterials, looking at dental implants. We\u2019re working with a Swiss company who are interested in looking at why one of their implants performs much better than another one. We\u2019re trying to understand how the difference in surface chemistry between the two types of implants might improve the healing rate.<\/p>\n

On the other end of the spectrum we look at corrosion. Obviously corrosion starts at the surface and we\u2019ve been looking at inhibitors and how they bond and bind to the surface and how their structures, when they bind to the surface, actually prevents corrosion form happening.<\/p>\n

And then the third strand of my research is really to do with solar energy materials, and novel solar energy materials which, rather than just having a reaction in one material, have usually got some kind of functionalising molecule attached to a surface. And it\u2019s this functionalising molecule that actually captures the sunlight and then transfer electrons and produces an electric current.<\/p>\n

How can your research benefit the public?<\/strong><\/h3>\n