Prof. Julie V. Macpherson

Royal Society Industry Fellow and Professor of Chemistry

BSc, PhD Warwick

Research Summary

Development of new electrochemical based diamond sensors for a variety of different applications in healthcare, pharmaceutical analysis, environmental, and security (often in collaboration with industry). Carbon materials, in particular boron doped diamond. Scanned probe techniques for nanoscale imaging of surface activity related to fuel cell catalysis, sensor activity; sensor device fabrication using 3D printing and lithographic techniques; microfluidic flow cell development for novel ways to deliver fluid flow in sensor device platforms; new analytical technique development for species analysis in solutions.

I am significantly involved in the UK's first Collaborative Doctoral Training (CDT) Centre in Diamond Science and Technology (DST), I hold a Royal Society Industry Fellowship with Element Six, aimed specifically at the development of boron doped diamond electrochemical sensors. I was awarded (2017) the Royal Society Innovation award for my work in this area.

Contact: j.macpherson@warwick.ac.uk

For more information on the CDT in Diamond Science and Technology visit www.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/dst

For anyone wanting to get into the use of boron doped diamond in electrochemistry, please read: A Practical Guide to Using Boron Doped Diamond in Electrochemical Research, PCCP, 2015, 17, 2935 DOI: 10.1039/c4cp04022h

Our most recent review on BDD as an electrode material is: Boron Doped Diamond: A Designer Electrode Material for the Twenty-First Century, Ann. Rev. Anal. Chem. 2018, 11, 463 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-anchem-061417-010107

Selected Publications

Tracking Metal Electrodeposition Dynamics from Nucleation and Growth of a Single Atom to a Crystalline Nanoparticle, H.E.M. Hussein et al, ACS Nano, 2018, ASAP

Electrochemical Synthesis of Nanoporous Platinum Nanoparticles Using Laser Pulse Heating: Application to Methanol Oxidation, H.E.M. Hussein, H. Amari and J. V. Macpherson, ACS Catalysis 2017, 7, 7388-7398

Fabrication of a single sub-micron pore spanning a single crystal diamond membrane and impact on particle translocation, J. R. Webb, A. A. Martin, R. P. Johnson, M. B. Joseph, M. E. Newton, I. Aharonovich, M. Toth and J. V. Macpherson, Carbon, 2017, 122, 319-328

Controlled sp2 Functionalisation of Boron Doped Diamond as a Route for the Fabrication of Robust and Nernstian pH Electrodes, Z.J. Ayres, A. J. Borrill, J. C. Newland, M. E. Newton and J. V. Macpherson, Anal. Chem. 2016, 88, 974-980

Electrochemical X-Ray Fluorescence (EC-XRF) for Trace Heavy Metal Analysis: Enhancing XRF Detection Capabilities by Four Orders of Magnitude, L. A. Hutton, G.D. O'Neil, T.L. Read, Z.J. Ayres, M. E. Newton and J. V, Macpherson, Anal. Chem. 2014, 86, 4566-4572.

Boron Doped Diamond Ultramicroelectrodes: A Generic Platform for Sensing Single Electrocatalytic Nanoparticle Collisions, D. Wakerley, A. G. Guell, T. S. Miller, L. A. Hutton, A. J. Bard and J. V. Macpherson, Chem. Comm. 2013, 49, 5657-5659

Electrochemical Mapping Reveals Direct Correlation Between Heterogeneous Electron Transfer Kinetics and Local Density of States in Diamond Electrodes, H.V.Patten, K.E. Meadows, L.A. Hutton, J.G.Iacobini, D.Battistel, K.McKelvey, AW Colburn, ME Newton, JV Macpherson, PR Unwin, Angew Chemie Intl, 2012, 51, 7002-7006

Electrochemistry at Nanoscale Electrodes: Individual Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube (SWNTs) and SWNT-Templated Metal Nanowires P.Dudin, M.E.Snowden, J.V. Macpherson and P.R.Unwin, ACS Nano, 2011, 5, 10017-10025

Carbon Nanotube Tips for Atomic Force Microscopy N.R.Wilson and J.V. Macpherson, Nature Nanotechnology, 2009, 4, 483-491