GROUP | Hintermair Research

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Jacob Lovett

Jacob graduated from the Univerity of York in 2024 with a masters degree in chemistry with green principles and sustainable process, after having spent the previous year on placement at Afton Chemical. During his time at York, Jacob received the David Rowe Prize in green and sustainable chemistry.

Jacobs interst in chemistry stems from his passion for cars with a drive to find a sustainable alternative to petrol to help keep classic cars on the road. This drive is what brought him to Bath for his PhD, working on a project that looks at electrocatalytic coversion of biomass to syngas for the synthesis of carbon-neutral synthetic fuels.

Ben Hudgell

Ben graduated with an MChem from the University of Durham. His master's project focused on enantioselective homogeneous gold(I) catalysis.

A growing interest in chemistry research during his master's year, particularly in organometallic catalysis, motivated him to pursue a PhD in chemistry at the University of Bath. Currently, he is studying organometallic C-H and CO2 activation and pentalenide complexes.

When not in the lab, he's typically either on a long walk, in the gym, or asleep.

Koustav Banerjee

Koustav graduated with a BS-MS degree from IISER Kolkata in 2022. For his master’s project, he worked under the guidance of Prof. Venkataramanan Mahalingam, developing efficient catalysts for electrochemical water oxidation.

He is currently pursuing a PhD under the supervision of Associate Professor Alexandr N. Simonov at Monash University, where his research focuses on developing suitable electrolytes for green ammonia production via the lithium-mediated nitrogen reduction reaction (Li-NRR). His work involves real-time analysis of electrolyte transformations during Li-NRR using online flowNMR spectroscopy.

Outside the lab, he enjoys watching cricket, listening to music, and playing games.

Duong Truong

Duong graduated from Hanoi University of Science and Technology in Vietnam in 2022, with a BEng and an MSc in Materials Science. During his master’s program, Duong did his research under the supervision of Dr Chu Manh Hung, developing energy-efficient and high-performance gas sensors for environmental monitoring. From here, he grew a keen interest in developing nanomaterials and devices in environmental and energy applications for a sustainable future.

Outside of research, Duong is particularly interested in pixel art, movies, chess and boardgames, but usually enjoys them in the form of a Youtube video.

Alec Coles

Alec graduated with an MChem from Keele University in 2021. His Masters research investigated non-covalent interactions in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) under the supervision of Dr Chris Hawes.

In 2021 he joined the Hintermair research lab as a PhD in the field of homogeneous catalysis. His research aims to make bimetallic complexes for dioxygen activation towards the development of new aerobic oxidation catalysts.

During his undergraduate degree, Alec was given the opportunity of a year living and studying abroad at Tokyo Metropolitan University. During this time he took the opportunity to travel that part of the world and undertook Japanese language and cultural studies.

While he is not in the lab, he can usually be found on a tennis court or exploring Bath’s lovely cafes and book shops. He enjoys popular science and history and thick fantasy novels, exploring the Cotswolds, watching Formula 1 and trying to keep up his Japanese.

Yuan Gao

Yuan graduated with an MChem from Durham University in 2019, where she conducted research under the supervision of Professor AnnMarie O'Donoghue, synthesising and investigating bis(amino)cyclopropenium derivatives. She went on to pursue a PhD with Professor Guy Lloyd-Jones at the University of Edinburgh, focusing on the mechanisms of asymmetric phase-transfer catalysed fluorinations. During her PhD, she also developed a simple, practical device to facilitate in-situ NMR spectroscopy for monitoring heterogeneous reactions.

Yuan is currently working on a SCHEMA-funded project at the University of Bath, supervised by Ulrich Hintermair and co-supervised by Matthew Davidson and Sourav Chatterjee, where she is developing self-regulating flow reactor to control polymerisations.

Her academic journey has taken her through many of the UK's most beautiful cities and landscapes. Outside of research, Yuan spends most of her time playing video games and boardgames. She also enjoys baking and outdoor activities, albeit with slightly less priority.

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