"An amazing experience”

An industry- and CDT-funded PhD student applies his passion for Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy to copper corrosion inhibition for industrial benefit.

My current area of research is Surface Science. We are using this approach in order to achieve a fundamental understanding of Copper/Corrosion Inhibitor interactions.

I am mostly motivated by the passion I feel towards the field and, particularly in Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy (STM) technique. Due to my background, I had the opportunity to study the physics behind the techniques concerning the field and then used some of them during my master thesis project, which I found really interesting.

I decided to join this Lubrizol-supported project two months after my graduation. I found it extremely fascinating. The fact that I could continue using STM and apply it to getting answers on such a relevant problem in the industry as corrosion inhibition was very attractive to me.

My work as PhD student splits between experimental and data analysis. During my instrument time, I normally use the morning to prepare the samples in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber by using surface science techniques and the afternoon for analysis by Scanning Tunnelling Spectroscopy (STM).

From an individual point of view, the experience as PhD helped me a lot in developing new skills and building up some features of my character. I had the opportunity to attend a Summer School in Cambridge, conferences in Manchester (in which I won a poster prize) and London. I also had the opportunity to attend the MAS-CDT transferable skills course, which was useful to improve my communication skills.

I would recommend pursuing a Lubrizol-funded PhD simply because it is an amazing experience.