- Ph.D. Polymer Chemistry, University of Strathclyde, 1989
- B.Sc. Chemistry, University of Strathclyde, 1986
Gerhard R. Andlinger '52 Professor in Energy and the Environment
Director, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Iain McCulloch’s research involves the design, synthesis and development of semiconducting small molecules and polymers for use as transistors for display, solar cells and most recently biological sensing. His efforts have focused on the understanding and control of microstructure and energy levels in conjugated aromatic semiconducting polymers and the subsequent impact on device properties. This has resulted in several commercial products including lithographic formulations and printable semiconducting inks. His research continues to broaden in scope, including making important contributions in organic photovoltaics, where he is exploring new electron acceptor materials, doping effects, and fundamental optical absorption phenomena. In addition, he is developing biological sensing and electrochemical devices, which have resulted in the first demonstration of solid-state optical semiconducting sensors for measurement of cations, as well as fundamental molecular design rules of semiconducting polymers for organic electrochemical transistors. Most recently, he has discovered that organic semiconducting nanoparticle blends are efficient photocatalysts for the production of hydrogen from water and the reduction of carbon dioxide.
- Generation of long-lived charges in organic semiconductor heterojunction nanoparticles for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Nat. Energy., 2022, 7 (4), 340-351.
- Oligoethylene Glycol Side Chains Increase Charge Generation in Organic Semiconductor Nanoparticles for Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution. Adv. Mater. 2022, 34(22), 2105007
- Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from organic semiconductor heterojunction nanoparticles. Nat. Mater. 2020, 19, 559.
- The Effect of Residual Palladium Catalyst Contamination on the Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Activity of Conjugated Polymers. Adv. Energy Mater. 2018, 8 (34), 1802181
- Reduced voltage losses yield 10% efficient fullerene free organic solar cells with >1 V open circuit voltages. Energy Environ. Sci. 2016, 9 (12), 3783.
Honors and Awards:
- Royal Society Armourers and Brasiers Prize, 2022
- The European Academy of Sciences Blaise Pascal Medal for Materials Science, 2020
- Elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 2020
- Royal Society of Chemistry, Interdisciplinary Prize, 2020
- Selected as Member of Wiley’s Advanced Materials “Hall of Fame,” 2020
- Elected Fellow, Academia Europaea, 2020
- Guest professor, Southeast University, China, 2019
- Elected Fellow, European Academy of Sciences, 2016
- Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher, (Materials Science 2014 ‐ 18: Chemistry 2017, 2018: Crossfield
2019, 2020) - Royal Society of Chemistry ‐ Tilden Prize for Advances in Chemistry, 2014
- Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2014
- Royal Society, Wolfson Merit Award, 2014
- Thomson Reuters ISI Global Top 100 Materials Scientists, 2000‐10, by Citation Impact, ranked number
35, 2012 - Royal Society of Chemistry Creativity in Industry Award, 2009
- RSC Teamwork in Innovation Award – Highly Commended, 2007
- IDTechEx Award for Printed Electronics Best Technical Development – Materials, 2007
- Alfred Woodhead Award presented by the Society for Information Display (SID), 2006
- Hoechst Innovation Award, 1997
- British Telecom Scholarship (Chemistry) U. Strathclyde, 1985
- Robert Hart Scholarship (Top Student in Science/Engineering) U. Strathclyde, UK, 1983
