Dr Laia Vila-Nadal
- Lecturer in Molecular Metal Oxide Chemistry (School of Chemistry)
telephone:
01413303454
email:
Laia.Vila-Nadal@glasgow.ac.uk
Chemistry, Room A4-38, Joesph Black Building
Biography
For further information, see: LVN group website
Research interests
Research in the LVN group is now mainly a computational chemistry group that centers on understanding the self-assembly mechanisms of inorganic metal oxide materials, aiming to design new materials with diverse applications, for instance, in energy storage, molecular electronics, sensing, etc. We aim to combine theory and simulations with experimental research to discover new molecules, describe their electronic structure, and describe new properties. We are interested in using robotics and 3D-printed reactionware with inorganic systems, with the ultimate goal of being able to program the assembly of new materials with properties (e.g. water oxidation catalysis and energy storage materials). We would like to combine those novel synthetic methods with theoretical predictions of some parameters, such as IR, UV-vis, together with real-time measurements. That approach would mean achieving effective navigation through the chemical space, defined by the chemical reactants, and allow for a greater parameter control in the synthesis, and ultimately the digitalization of chemistry.
We are constantly seeking new members with a broad range of experience – please contact Dr. Vilà-Nadal by email for more information and see our website for current vacancies.
Selected publications:
Memory devices
- Nature, 2014, 515, 545–549. Doi: 10.1038/nature13951
- J. Phys. Chem. C., 2021, 125, 6, 3599–3610 Doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c11038
- J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2018, 140, 2595–2601. Doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b11982
Molecular metal oxides self-assembly and inverse design
- Int. J. Quantum Chem., 2021, 121, 5, e26493. (Perspective) Doi:10.1002/qua.26493
- J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2018, 140, 9379–9382. Doi: 10.1021/jacs.8b05059
- Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2009, 48, 5452–5456. Doi: 10.1002/anie.200901348
Molecular metal oxides as porous materials
- Nat. Rev. Mat., 2017, 2, 17054. Doi: 10.1038/natrevmats.2017.54
- Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2019, 58, 17282–17286. Doi:10.1002/anie.201911170
Nitrogen activation and molecular metal oxides properties
- Front. Chem., 2021, 9, 1–7 (Perspective) Doi:10.3389/fchem.2021.742565
- Nat. Cat., 2018, 1, 208–213. Doi: 10.1038/s41929-018-0037-1
- J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2022, 144, 20, 8951–8960. Doi: 10.1021/jacs.1c10584
Research units
Grants
ECR Capital Award (UR3 and Shadow Modular Grasper), EPSRC; 2019. Co-I with Dr Gerardo Aragon-Camarasa (PI) - Award: £45k
CHEMIFY: A System to Produce Universal Digital Chemical Synthesis EPSRC – EP/S030603/1; 09/2019 – 08/2022. Co-I with Prof Lee Cronin (PI), Dr Phil Kitson (Co-I), and Dr Geoff Cooper (Co-I) - Award: £1.1 M
Integrated Discovery Chemputer Toward Addiction Free Opiates. US National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) ASPIRE Challenge 5. Team: Dr. Sara Walker, Dr. Leroy Cronin, Dr. Hessam Mehr, Dr. Laia Nadal, Mathew Craven, Dr. Phil Kitson, Dr. Gerado Aragon-Camarasa - Award: $0.5M NIH
Probing the States of Single Molecules for Sensing and Multi-value Memory Applications EPSRC – EP/V048341/1; 10/2021 – 03/2025. Co-I with Prof Douglas Paul (PI), Prof Lee Cronin (Co-I), Prof A. Asenov (Co-I), and Dr Vihar Georgiev (Co-I) - Award: £1.6 M
UofG Reinvigorating Research Call, Scheme - 01/2022 – 06/2022 Dr. Vila-Nadal (PI) - Award: £31 k
CoSE Rewards for Excellence, 2021, ECDP program Dr. Vila-Nadal (PI) - Award: £6.5 k
ScotCHEM ECR equipment funding call 2022, link Dr. Vila-Nadal (PI) - Award: £10 k
Supervision
Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA):
- Dr Maria Jose Aliaga Gosalvez. Email: MariaJose.AliagaGosalvez@glasgow.ac.uk (LinkedIn)
PhD students Main Supervisor
- Daniel Malcolm. Since October 2020- to date. (LinkedIn)
Metal oxides by design. Computationally exploring the combinatorial space generated by the self-assembly of known metal oxides.
-
Jake A. Thompson. Since October 2020- to date. (LinkedIn) together with Dr Rebeca Gonzalez-Cabaleiro (TU Delft)
Production of green ammonia aiming for zero-carbon fertilizer production.
- Michael Nicolaou. Since September 2022- to date (LinkedIn) together with Dr Emma Gibson (UofGla)
Obtaing high value chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass
MSci Students
- Tobias Jütten. Since October 2022- to date. Scottish lignin structural modelling and sources
PhD students Second supervisor/Pastoral support
- Emma Clarke. October 2019. Using Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence to Discover the Principles of Inorganic to Biological Life
- Yibin Jiang. October 2019. Compress/Decompress Structural Information of Polyoxometalates
Alumni
- Ms Katherine Hillian. October 2021 - May 2022. MSci Project: Ugi reactions with chromophores
- Mr Aidan Delaney. October 2021 - April 2022. BSc Project: Modelling Single Atom Catalysts
- Mr Antonio India. October 2020 - May 2021. MSci Project: Origami modelling of POMs
2017 EPRSC Vacation Bursary Project 8-10 weeks’ summer project. Supervisor.s Dr Laia Nadal and Dr Vihar Georgiev. Molecular Nano-Clusters with Embedded Spins as QBITs for Quantum Computing. The scheme supports undergraduate students to gain practical first-hand experience of research and encourages them to consider a research career.
2016 EPRSC Vacation Bursary Project 8-10 weeks’ summer project. Supervisor.s Dr Laia Nadal and Dr Vihar Georgiev. Molecular Nano-Clusters with Embedded Spins as QBITs for Quantum Computing. The scheme supports undergraduate students to gain practical first-hand experience of research and encourages them to consider a research career.
Teaching
Academic Session: 2021-22
- LEVEL 1: Chemistry lectures in the SCIENCE FUNDAMENTALS-1X CHEM1002
- Academic demonstrator in 1st year Synthesis Lab
- LEVEL 2 Inorganic Tutorials
- LEVEL 3 Inorganic Tutorials CHEM3
- LEVEL 5: Essay co-ordinator for the PGTs in the S5 Frontiers component of the Frontiers for the CHEM 3M cohort Frontiers of Chemistry
- 2022 Nominated for a Student Teaching Award, in the category of Best College Teacher in the College of Science and Engineering
Additional information
Dr. Laia Vilà-Nadal
Lecturer in Metal Oxide Chemistry
Office A4-38
School of Chemistry
Joseph Black Building
University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8QQ
Tel: +44 141 330 3454
Email: Laia.Vila-Nadal@glasgow.ac.uk