British chemist
Rachel Claire Evans FRSC FIMMM FLSW is a Welsh chemist based at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge .[ 1] She works on photoactive polymer-hybrid materials for solar devices, including organic photovoltaics and stimuli-responsive membranes.[ 2]
Early life and education
Evans grew up in South Wales .[ 3] She studied at Swansea University , earning a Master of Chemistry (MChem) degree in 2002.[ 4] [ 5] During her Masters, she completed an International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IASTE) fellowship at Lonza Group .[ 3] She returned to Swansea University for her PhD , investigating on light-emitting materials for display technologies.[ 6] [ 4]
Research and career
After her PhD, Evans spent a year at the University of Aveiro .[ 4] She was subsequently awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship at the University of Paris [ 4] where she worked as a postdoc on fluorescence of soft materials.[ 4] Evans left Paris to join the University of Coimbra as a Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia postdoctoral fellow. She moved to Trinity College Dublin in 2009, where she was a lecturer in Physical Chemistry. Her research was funded by Science Foundation Ireland and Enterprise Ireland .[ 7] She delivered the 2011 Royal Society of Chemistry Schools lecture on the Chemistry of Light .[ 8] In 2013 she published the textbook Applied Photochemistry with Springer Publishing .[ 9] They explored self-assembly of conjugated polyelectrolyte –polyoxometalate networks, with dimensions controlled by the polymer chain length and steric charge distribution.[ 10] [ 11] The self-assembly of these lumophores can be used to tune the optical and electronic properties.[ 12] To understand the morphology of these films and inform the design of performance nanostructured devices, her group use small-angle scattering , spectroscopy and microscopy.[ 13] [ 14] Small-angle scattering allows her to study the microstructure of hybrid materials at the near atomic scale.[ 15] Their conjugated polyelectrolyte work was featured in the ChemComm Emerging Investigators issue.[ 16] She also worked on oxygen sensitive printable ink sensors.[ 17]
Evans has explored polymer-hybrid materials for luminescent solar concentrators .[ 18] By controlling the placement and orientation of the lumophore, she showed that it is possible to limit light lost by reabsorption .[ 19] [ 20] She minimises waveguiding losses by designing materials with high refractive indices . She demonstrated that perylene carboxdiimide-bridged triethoxysilane can be covalently grafted to siloxane hybrids .[ 18] Her work was featured in the Journal of Materials Chemistry C Emerging Investigators Issue in 2016.[ 21] She also develops encapsulation techniques to improve device lifetime.[ 22] She was made an associate professor in 2016. She collaborated extensively with the University of Montpellier as part of a French-Irish collaboration.[ 23]
Evans was appointed a lecturer at the University of Cambridge in 2017[ 3] and a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge.[ 4] Her group explore soft materials that are responsive to stimuli, nanostructured inks and hybrid nanoparticles.[ 24] The soft materials respond to light, using photoresponsive surfactants that include an azobenzene group.[ 25] She was appointed chair of the Royal Society of Chemistry Photophysics and Photochemistry Group in 2017.[ 26]
She founded Senoptica Technologies[ 27] in 2018 and is the chief scientific officer (CSO) working on optical sensors developed in Evans' lab.[ 28] Senoptica Technologies detect defective modified atmosphere packaging , changing colour to alert the consumer to the amount of oxygen in the pack.[ 29]
Awards and honours
2023 Elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (FLSW)[ 30]
2018 Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)[ 31]
2018 Nominated a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM)[ 32]
2017 Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and Society of Chemical Industry UK Young Researchers Medal[ 33] [ 34]
2017 Learned Society of Wales Dillwyn Medal[ 35]
2015 Trinity College Dublin Fellowship[ 36]
2014 Irish Lab Awards Young Leader of the Year [ 37]
2008 RSC Harry Hallam prize [ 3]
2007 RSC Ronald Belcher Memorial Lectureship[ 34]
References
^ a b Rachel Evans publications indexed by Google Scholar
^ Rachel Evans publications from Europe PubMed Central
^ a b c d "Dr Rachel C. Evans" . labevans.co.uk . The Evans Group. 19 October 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ a b c d e f Anon (2018). "Dr Rachel Evans" . jesus.cam.ac.uk . Jesus College Cambridge. Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ "Graduate Profiles" . swansea.ac.uk . Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ Evans, Rachel Claire (2007). Efficient emitters for technological applications . discover.library.wales (PhD thesis). Swansea University. OCLC 502626916 . Copac 54612244 .
^ "Rachel Evans : School of Chemistry – Trinity College Dublin" . chemistry.tcd.ie . Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ "RSC Annual Lecture for Schools 'Chemistry of Light' – Irish Science Teachers' Association" . ista.ie . Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ Evans, Rachel C., Douglas, Peter, Burrows, Hugh (2013). Applied photochemistry . Dordrecht: Springer. ISBN 9789048138302 . OCLC 842836702 . {{cite book }}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link )
^ Houston, Judith E.; Patterson, Adam R.; Jayasundera, Anil C.; Schmitt, Wolfgang; Evans, Rachel C. (2014). "Charge-modulated self-assembly and growth of conjugated polyelectrolyte–polyoxometalate hybrid networks". Chem. Commun . 50 (40): 5233–5235. doi :10.1039/c3cc47552b . hdl :2262/72169 . ISSN 1359-7345 . PMID 24336591 .
^ Houston, Judith E.; Chevrier, Michèle; Appavou, Marie-Sousai; King, Stephen M.; Clément, Sébastien; Evans, Rachel C. (2017). "A self-assembly toolbox for thiophene-based conjugated polyelectrolytes: surfactants, solvent and copolymerisation" . Nanoscale . 9 (44): 17481–17493. doi :10.1039/c7nr06169b . ISSN 2040-3364 . PMID 29106435 .
^ Dublin, Fiona Killard, Trinity College. "Rachel Evans : Profiles – Trinity Research : Trinity College Dublin, Rachel Evans" . tcd.ie . Retrieved 2 December 2018 . {{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link )
^ "Nanostructured Inks for Organic Electronics" . The Evans Group . 14 November 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ "Instrumentation" . The Evans Group . 23 February 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ "ISUO – the Irish Synchrotron, Free Electron Laser, Neutron and Muon Facility Users Organisation Materials and Device Photochemistry Group – Evans (TCD)" . isuo.ie . Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ Anon (2014). "Contributors to the Emerging Investigators Issue 2014" (PDF) . Chemical Communications . 50 (40): 5100. doi :10.1039/c4cc90109f . ISSN 1359-7345 .
^ "Trinity Chemistry Newsletter 2016" . Issuu . Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ a b Meazzini, Ilaria; Willis-Fox, Niamh; Blayo, Camille; Arlt, Jochen; Clément, Sébastien; Evans, Rachel C. (2016). "Targeted design leads to tunable photoluminescence from perylene dicarboxdiimide–poly(oxyalkylene)/siloxane hybrids for luminescent solar concentrators" (PDF) . Journal of Materials Chemistry C . 4 (18): 4049–4059. doi :10.1039/C5TC03952E . hdl :20.500.11820/320613b7-a508-47ae-9c07-a34e8bb54070 . ISSN 2050-7526 .
^ Brennan, Lorcan J.; Purcell-Milton, Finn; McKenna, Barry; Watson, Trystan M.; Gun'ko, Yurii K.; Evans, Rachel C. (2018). "Large area quantum dot luminescent solar concentrators for use with dye-sensitised solar cells" . Journal of Materials Chemistry A . 6 (6): 2671–2680. doi :10.1039/c7ta04731b . hdl :2262/96216 . ISSN 2050-7488 .
^ Kaniyoor, Adarsh; McKenna, Barry; Comby, Steve; Evans, Rachel C. (15 December 2015). "Design and Response of High-Efficiency, Planar, Doped Luminescent Solar Concentrators Using Organic-Inorganic Di-Ureasil Waveguides" . Advanced Optical Materials . 4 (3): 444–456. doi :10.1002/adom.201500412 . ISSN 2195-1071 . S2CID 97140164 .
^ "Emerging Investigators 2016: Novel design strategies for new functional materials Home" . pubs.rsc.org . Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ McKenna, Barry; Troughton, Joel R.; Watson, Trystan M.; Evans, Rachel C. (2017). "Enhancing the stability of organolead halide perovskite films through polymer encapsulation" . RSC Advances . 7 (52): 32942–32951. Bibcode :2017RSCAd...732942M . doi :10.1039/c7ra06002e . hdl :2262/82530 . ISSN 2046-2069 .
^ "A growing French-Irish radiance" . Ambassade de France en Irlande – French Embassy in Ireland . Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ "Research" . The Evans Group . 19 October 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ "Soft Responsive Materials" . The Evans Group . 1 August 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ "RSC Photophysics & Photochemistry Group Meeting 2018 – Specific" . specific.eu.com . 19 November 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ "Home - Senoptica Technologies LTD" . Senoptica Technologies LTD .
^ "About Us | Senoptica Technologies LTD" . senoptica.com . Senoptica Technologies Ltd. Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ "Home | Senoptica Technologies LTD" . Senoptica Technologies LTD . Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ Wales, The Learned Society of. "Rachel Evans" . The Learned Society of Wales . Retrieved 30 August 2023 .
^ "Rachel is admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry" . The Evans Group . 27 September 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ Sallows, Lianne (26 October 2018). "New IoM3 Fellows" . University of Cambridge. Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ Sallows, Lianne (8 May 2018). "2017 Macro Group UK Young Researchers Medal awarded to Dr Rachel Evans" . University of Cambridge. Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ a b "2017 Macro Group UK Young Researchers Medal" . Macro Group UK . 4 May 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ "Dillwyn prize for outstanding ECR researcher in STEMM" . The Evans Group . 22 May 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
^ Dublin, Provost & President, Trinity College. "Provost & President : Trinity College Dublin" . tcd.ie . Retrieved 2 December 2018 . {{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link )
^ "2014 – School of Chemistry – Trinity College Dublin" . chemistry.tcd.ie . Retrieved 2 December 2018 .
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