Professor of Supramolecular & Polymer Chemistry / Director of the Melville Laboratory for Polymer Synthesis

What we do

Our research interests include the synthesis of functional nanosystems, controlled polymer architectures and dynamic supramolecular assemblies through molecular recognition processes.

The underlying theme of our research lies at the interface between synthetic organic efforts on small molecules and macroscopic properties at the materials level, developing a macro-organic approach to chemistry. Dynamic supramolecular self-assembly of materials will be an area of great importance in the coming years, allowing for innovations in nanotechnology and at the biological and chemical interfaces.

We are particularly interested in exploring topics such as water-soluble and stimuli-responsive materials, template and imprinting technologies of functional polymers for use in chiral separations and enantioselective catalysis, and controlling material morphologies and architectures both in solution and in the solid state through rational design and a multi-step, hierarchical self-assembly process.

Watch Professor Scherman discuss his research

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Publications

Supramolecular Conductive Hydrogels With Homogeneous Ionic and Electronic Transport.
SJK O'Neill, M Ashizawa, AM McLean, RRM Serrano, T Shimura, M Agetsuma, M Tsutsumi, T Nemoto, CDJ Parmenter, JA McCune, GG Malliaras, N Matsuhisa, OA Scherman
Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
(2025)
An All-in-One Nanoheater and Optical Thermometer Fabricated from Fractal Nanoparticle Assemblies
WH Skinner, RL Sala, K Sokolowski, I Blein-Dezayes, NS Potter, S Mosca, B Gardner, JJ Baumberg, P Matousek, OA Scherman, N Stone
ACS Nano
(2025)
19
Biomimetic Entropy-Dominant Molecular Hinges with Picomolar Affinity
Z Huang, AS Groombridge, G Wu, M Olesińska, X Chen, JA McCune, OA Scherman
J Am Chem Soc
(2024)
146
Highly stretchable dynamic hydrogels for soft multilayer electronics
S O'Neill, Z Huang, X Chen, R Sala, J McCune, G Malliaras, O Scherman
Sci Adv
(2024)
10
Improved Imaging Surface for Quantitative Single-Molecule Microscopy
YP Zhang, E Lobanova, A Dworkin, M Furlepa, WS Yang, M Burke, JX Meng, N Potter, RL Sala, L Kahanawita, F Layburn, OA Scherman, CH Williams-Gray, D Klenerman
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
(2024)
16
Single-Molecule Stoichiometry of Supramolecular Complexes.
A McLean, RL Sala, BW Longbottom, AR Carr, JA McCune, SF Lee, OA Scherman
J Am Chem Soc
(2024)
146
Supramolecular hydrogels enable co-delivery of chemotherapeutics with synergistic efficacy against patient-derived glioblastoma cells and spheroids
RJ Cavanagh, S Baquain, C Alexander, OA Scherman, R Rahman
RSC Pharmaceutics
(2024)
1
Associative pyridinium electrolytes for air-tolerant redox flow batteries.
ME Carrington, K Sokołowski, E Jónsson, EW Zhao, AM Graf, I Temprano, JA McCune, CP Grey, OA Scherman
Nature
(2023)
623
Plasmonic Sensing Assay for Long-Term Monitoring (PSALM) of Neurotransmitters in Urine
W-H Chen, W Wang, Q Lin, D-B Grys, M Niihori, J Huang, S Hu, B de Nijs, OA Scherman, JJ Baumberg
ACS nanoscience Au
(2022)
3
Tracking Water Dimers in Ambient Nanocapsules by Vibrational Spectroscopy
AY Hwang, R Chikkaraddy, D-B Grys, OA Scherman, JJ Baumberg, B de Nijs
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
(2022)
119

Head of group

Telephone number

01223 334372 (shared), 01223 331797

Email address

College