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

Take a tour of the Scherman Lab

Publications

Citrate Coordination and Bridging of Gold Nanoparticles: The Role of Gold Adatoms in AuNP Ageing
D-B Grys, B de Nijs, AR Salmon, J Huang, W Wang, W-H Chen, OA Scherman, JJ Baumberg
ACS Nano
(2020)
14
Cascaded nanooptics to probe microsecond atomic-scale phenomena
M Kamp, B de Nijs, N Kongsuwan, M Saba, R Chikkaraddy, CA Readman, WM Deacon, J Griffiths, SJ Barrow, OS Ojambati, D Wright, J Huang, O Hess, OA Scherman, JJ Baumberg
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
(2020)
117
Viscoelastic Hydrogel Microfibers Exploiting Cucurbit[8]uril Host-Guest Chemistry and Microfluidics
Z-J Meng, J Liu, Z Yu, H Zhou, X Deng, C Abell, OA Scherman
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
(2020)
12
Host-Enhanced Phenyl-Perfluorophenyl Polar-π Interactions.
Z Huang, X Chen, G Wu, P Metrangolo, D Whitaker, JA McCune, OA Scherman
J Am Chem Soc
(2020)
142
Design Principles for Aqueous Interactive Materials: Lessons from Small Molecules and Stimuli‐Responsive Systems
JA McCune, S Mommer, CC Parkins, OA Scherman
Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
(2020)
32
Light-triggered syneresis of a water insoluble peptide-hydrogel effectively removes small molecule waste contaminants.
BK Das, B Pramanik, S Chowdhuri, OA Scherman, D Das
Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)
(2020)
56
Transparent Films Made of Highly Scattering Particles.
T Erdem, L Yang, P Xu, Y Altintas, T O'Neil, A Caciagli, C Ducati, E Mutlugun, OA Scherman, E Eiser
Langmuir: the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
(2020)
36
Chapter 13: Functionalisation and Self-Assembly of Nanoparticles through Cucurbit [n] uril-based Binding Motifs
K King, K Sokołowski, X Ren, OA Scherman
(2020)
2020-January
Spider silk inspired damping fibres drawn from a supramolecular hydrogel composite at room temperature - A step closer to sustainable fibre technology
DU Shah, Y Wu, MH Ramage, OA Scherman
ECCM 2018 - 18th European Conference on Composite Materials
(2020)
Chapter 14: Cucurbit[8]uril-based Polymeric Materials
D Hoogland, J Liu, OA Scherman
(2020)
2020-January

Head of group

Telephone number

01223 334372 (shared), 01223 331797

Email address

College