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

Chapter 14: Cucurbit[8]uril-based Polymeric Materials
D Hoogland, J Liu, OA Scherman
(2020)
2020-January
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)
The transport of liquids in softwood: timber as a model porous medium.
HC Burridge, G Wu, T Reynolds, DU Shah, R Johnston, OA Scherman, MH Ramage, PF Linden
Scientific reports, volume 9, issue 1
(2019)
9
Controlling the structure and photophysics of fluorophore dimers using multiple cucurbit[8]uril clampings.
G Wu, YJ Bae, M Olesińska, D Antón-García, I Szabó, E Rosta, MR Wasielewski, OA Scherman
Chemical science
(2019)
11
Cucurbit[8]uril-Derived Graphene Hydrogels
O Scherman, VK Rana, A Tabet, JA Vigil, CJ Balzer, A Narkevicius, J Finlay, C Hallou, DH Rowitch, H Bulstrode
ACS Macro Lett
(2019)
8
Host-Guest Chemistry Meets Electrocatalysis: Cucurbit[6]uril on a Au Surface as a Hybrid System in CO2 Reduction.
A Wagner, KH Ly, N Heidary, I Szabó, T Földes, KI Assaf, SJ Barrow, K Sokołowski, M Al-Hada, N Kornienko, MF Kuehnel, E Rosta, I Zebger, WM Nau, OA Scherman, E Reisner
ACS Catalysis
(2019)
10
New Consolidants for the Conservation of Archeological Wood
O Scherman, Z Walsh-Korb, E-R Janeček, M Jones, L Averous
(2019)
Preferential binding of unsaturated hydrocarbons in aryl-bisimidazolium$cucurbit[8]uril complexes furbishes evidence for small-molecule π-π interactions
SJ Barrow, KI Assaf, A Palma, WM Nau, OA Scherman
Chem Sci
(2019)
10
Inhibiting Analyte Theft in SERS Substrates: sub-Nanomolar Quantitative Drug Detection
B de Nijs, C Carnegie, I Szabó, D-B Grys, R Chikkaraddy, M Kamp, SJ Barrow, CA Readman, M-E Kleemann, OA Scherman, E Rosta, JJ Baumberg
ACS sensors
(2019)
4

Head of group

Telephone number

01223 334372 (shared), 01223 331797

Email address

College