Professor Julie Macpherson, won the 2023 RSC Tilden Prize for pioneering instrumental methods and applications in electrochemistry, electroanalysis and catalysis, sensor and imaging systems, material characterisation and electrochemical nanostructure synthesis.

Professor Macpherson’s work focuses on the use of carbon-based materials in electrochemical systems for a variety of applications, including environmental monitoring and electrochemical energy storage. One of the key materials being used is lab-grown boron-doped diamond (BDD), an electrochemically active form of diamond.

Due to its unique and wide-ranging properties, BDD is finding use as a robust sensor for determining the health status of rivers and seas. BDD is also capable of generating highly oxidising species which can be used to fight viruses and bacteria as well as clean up waste water systems. The non-corrosive nature of the material also means it can act as a possible carbon replacement for corrosion susceptible graphite type materials in fuel cells. Read more at Professor Julie Macpherson - 2023 Tilden Prize winner (rsc.org)