Thread by @RealSci_Nano, So I moved to London for a prestigious fellowship What was [...]

So I moved to London

for a prestigious fellowship

What was the plan?

How did it go?

I was moving to get back to energy materials research - looking at growing #graphene - that single layer of pencil graphite - in 3D shapes.

This is important as #graphene is an amazing material

Super strong

Electrically conductive

Chemically stable

Light weight

But to build something practical out of it, we need to assemble many #graphene layers together again, without it becoming #graphite

!

We used a super cool #ChemicalVapourDeposition furnace and some #3Dprinted metal scaffolds to start this, and got some amazing preliminary results.

(I'll go into science CVD more in the next thread)

Unfortunately, that super cool furnace broke - and because of how specialized the system we were using was - this mean the work got put on hold

This was amazingly frustrating as the project was my baby at the time. It's still not done - hoping to revisit it soon!!

We did write a review article on 3D graphene structures - if you're interested in reading deeper into what we were trying to do and why - have a read: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369702115004058

Mesoscale design of multifunctional 3D graphene networks

Three-dimensional graphene networks are emerging as a new class of multifunctional constructs with a wide range of potential applications from energy …

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369702115004058

During this time I was working in the @MatteviC research group, Dr Mattevi is an expert in 2D materials - especially #TransitionMetalDichalcogenides.

So I pivoted my research focus into these 2D materials - which are amazingly versatile

Unlike Graphene which is:

1 element

1 atomic layer thick

flexible

1 material

Transition Metal Dichalcogenides are:

2 elements (a metal, and a chalcogen)

3 atomic layers (one metal layer between 2 chalcogen layers)

rigid (ish)

a family of materials

The fact it's a family of materials is super powerful, you suddenly have a huge range of chemistries

you can play with (beyond carbon) - electronic properties.

The beauty here is you can stack different TMD chemistries together almost as though they were one material!

The fact it's a family of materials is super powerful, you suddenly have a huge range of chemistries you can play with (beyond carbon) - electronic properties. The beauty here is you can stack different TMD chemistries together almost as though they were one material!

Again I'll go into the science later - but this is another example of how research moves in unexpected directions.

Things aren't controllable.

I learned a ton of new things in London - and experiencing such a wonderful environment @ImpMaterials set me up for my future.

Being based in Europe also let me travel and experience different cultures to an extent so difficult when you're in Australia!

Loved (nearly) every minute of it - I can't emphasize the advantages of this from a research and life perspective enough.

After 5 years in Europe

it was time to come back home to Australia

- we had a new born baby - and my wife ( @DrTinyTaps) was awarded a prestigious VC Research Fellowship (Lecturer) at @RMIT.

We made the decision that I would take time off work to raise our son.

This time was amazingly challenging, moving countries

, finding a house

, being without steady income

, having a child under 1

.

Career disruption due to children is a real problem.

This burden is disproportionally held by women

- there is an emerging recognition of this

- a lot more needs to be done to support reintegration of carers into the academic workforce.

A huge amount of talent is lost.

I was lucky enough to be able to return to work in The Ellis Group @engunimelb after 9 months at home.

They were (are) amazingly supporting - I had flexibility, working 9 day fortnights, and a lot of understanding about my limitations.

It was still hard to juggle everything

There is also a lack of recognition in things like grant proposals for career interruptions of of male carers who take time off for child rearing.

Again - this is just something written to raise awareness of - not a complaint.

I'm loving working where I am now @engunimelb - doing some amazingly exciting science on energy storage and conversion devices made by assembling nanomaterials

Piezoelectric Polymers