Dr Paul D Topham

Senior Lecturer in Chemistry

Latest News

We welcome enquiries from PhD-qualified researchers from all countries outside the UK wishing to apply for a Marie Curie Fellowship to come to work with us at Aston; the next call opens on 14th March with a deadline of 14th August 2013. There are two Fellowship Schemes available:

• One for early- to mid-career researchers of any nationality currently working in Europe (Intra-European Fellowship, IEF);
  
• One for researchers at mid-career plus working in any country outside of Europe (International Incoming Fellowship, IIF).

Subject areas should be focussed on aspects of Polymer Science. Please contact Dr Paul D Topham for further details.

Next year's Recent Appointees in Polymer Science (RAPS) conference will be held at the University of Manchester on 4^th to 6^th September 2013. RAPS is aimed at post-doctoral researchers and academics/industrialists in the first five years of their appointment. For more information, go to the RAPS website at www.raps.org.uk/.

Profile

Dr. Topham joined the Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry subject group at Aston in August 2008 as a Lecturer in Chemistry and became a Senior Lecturer in August 2012.

Following the completion of a PhD in 2006 with Professor Anthony J Ryan OBE, he undertook a post-doctoral research position working for Unilever, under the supervision of Professor Steve Armes.

Qualifications & Education

• Aston University Early Career Researcher of the Year, 2010
• Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice in Higher Education, Aston University, 2010
• PhD in Polymer Science, University of Sheffield, 2006

• MChem, Upper second class. University of Sheffield, 2002

Teaching activity

Chemical Kinetics (CH1103, CE1103)

Physical Chemistry (CH2107, CH3008)

Polymer Science (CH2123, CH2125, CH3107, CH4507)

Literature Research Projects (CH3117)

MEng Final Year Research Projects

ERASMUS Student Research Projects

Research interests

Dr Topham’s research focuses on the synthesis, development and application of well-defined polymer systems, including “smart” polymers, biocompatible and biodegradable materials and tethered polymer brushes, within the Advanced Materials Research Unit at Aston University. Controlled polymerisation techniques are combined with synthetic organic chemistry to fabricate novel (co)polymers, which display varying phenomena, depending on the material itself and the environment in which it is placed. Characterisation techniques of their nanoscale behaviour involve x-ray scattering and neutron reflectivity amongst more traditional methods. Current research interests include organic solar cells, rubber technology, electrospinning, microphase separation, click chemistry, tissue engineering, cell therapy, drug delivery, polymer fibres and water purification.

Current Research Group Members

Dr Harikrishna Erothu, Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow (working on organic solar cells)

Mr Arun Sohdi, PhD Student (working on polymer-peptide conjugates for tissue engineering)

Miss Nikki Pullan, PhD Student (working on RAFT polymerisation)

Mr Keith Berry, PhD Student (working on rubber technology)

Miss Joanna Kolomanska, PhD student (working on block copolymers in organic solar cells)

Miss Isabel Fraga, cotutelle PhD student with Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, France (working on organic solar cells)

Miss Marion Bertrand, ERASMUS student (working on RAFT CTA and monomer syntheses)

Previous Research Group Members

Mr Quentin Bréton, ERASMUS student

Mr Mohammed Mizan Ahmad, Nuffield Placement student

Mr Michael J. Harvey, Aston Graduate Researcher

Miss Charlotte Grozel, ERASMUS student

Mr Vincent Deydier, ERASMUS student

Mr Rachid El-Ouazzani, Leonardi da Vinci Researcher

Mr Younes Baali, ERASMUS student

Mr Najim Chaib, ERASMUS student

Membership of Professional Bodies and External Roles

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC)

Treasurer of Recent Appointees in Polymer Science (RAPS)

Vice-Coordinator of FP7-funded ITN project (ESTABLIS)

Member of the Advisory Editorial Board of Polymer International

Member of the Editorial Board of ISRN Polymer Science

Member of the COST Action (MP1206) for Electrospun Nano-Fibres for Bio-Inspired Composite Materials and Innovative Industrial Applications

Publications (click on the link for the full article)

30) Harikrishna Erothu, Arun A. Sohdi, Anitha C. Kumar, Andrew J. Sutherland, Christine Dagron-Lartigau, Ahmed Allal, Roger C. Hiorns*, Paul D. Topham*. Facile synthesis of poly(3-hexylthiophene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) copolymers via Steglich esterification. Polymer Chemistry (2013). DOI: 10.1039/C3PY00505D. Accepted.

29) Paul D. Topham, Andrew Glidle, Daniel T. W. Toolan, Michael P. Weir, Maximillian Skoda, Robert Barker, Jonathan R. Howse*. The relationship between charge density and polyelectrolyte brush profile using simultaneous neutron reflectivity and in situ total internal reflection FTIR. Langmuir (2013). DOI: 10.1021/la4005592. Accepted.

28) Daniel T. W. Toolan, Ehtsham ul Haq, Alan Dunbar, Stephen Ebbens, Nigel Clarke, Paul D. Topham, Jonathan R. Howse*. Direct observation of morphological development during the spin-coating of polystyrene-poly(methyl methacrylate) polymer blends. Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics (2013), 51(11), 875-881. Article.

27) Sukunya Juikham,* Paul D. Topham, Brian J. Tighe. Identification of Optically Clear Regions of Ternary Polymer Blends using a Novel Rapid Screening Method. Polymer International (2013). DOI: 10.1002/pi.4512. Accepted.

26) Nikki Pullan, Max Liu, Paul D. Topham.* Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization of 2-Chloro-1,3-Butadiene. Polymer Chemistry (2013), 4(7), 2272-2277. Article

25) Daniel T. W. Toolan, Andrew J. Parnell, Paul D. Topham, Jonathan R. Howse.* Directed phase separation of PFO:PS blends during spin-coating using feedback controlled in situ stroboscopic fluorescence microscopy. Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2013), 1, 3587-3592. Article

24) Arun A. Sohdi, Darren Campbell, Paul D. Topham*. Polymer-peptide conjugate hydrogels: Towards controlled drug delivery. Chiang Mai Journal of Science (2012), 39(3), 351-372. Article

23) Anthony J. Ryan, Paul D. Topham* (2012). Stimuli-Responsive and Motile Supramolecular Soft Materials in Supramolecular Chemistry: from Molecules to Nanomaterials, J.W. Steed and P.A. Gale (eds). John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, UK, pp 3337-3354. Book chapter

22) Dave J. Adams*, Paul D. Topham* (2012). Assembly of Block Copolymers in Supramolecular Chemistry: from Molecules to Nanomaterials, J.W. Steed and P.A. Gale (eds). John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, UK, pp 3235-3254. Book chapter

21) Linge Wang*, Meng Wang, Paul D. Topham, Yong Huang*. Fabrication of magnetic drug-loaded polymeric composite nanofibres and their drug release characteristics. RSC Advances (2012), 2, 2433-2438. Article

20) Paul D. Topham*, Andrew J. Parnell, Roger C. Hiorns. Block Copolymer Strategies for Solar Cell Technology. Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics (2011), 49 (16), 1131-1156. Featured as the front cover August 2011. Article

19) Stephen Ebbens*, Richard Hodgkinson, Andrew J. Parnell, Alan Dunbar, Simon J. Martin, Paul D. Topham, Nigel Clarke, Jonathan R. Howse*. In-Situ Imaging and Height Reconstruction of Phase Separation Processes in Polymer Blends during Spin-Coating. ACS Nano (2011), 5, 5124-5131. Article

18) Joshua M. G. Swann, Paul D. Topham.* Design and application of actuators derived from block copolymers. Polymers (2010), 2(4), 454-469. Article

17) Dave J. Adams,* Paul D. Topham.* Peptide Conjugate Hydrogelators. Soft Matter (2010), 6, 3707-3721. Article

16) Joshua M. G. Swann, Wim Bras, Jonathan R. Howse,* Paul D. Topham,* Anthony J. Ryan. Effect of the Hofmeister anions upon the swelling of a self-assembled pH-responsive hydrogel. Langmuir (2010), 26 (12), 10191-10197. Article

15) Joshua M. G. Swann, Wim Bras, Jonathan R. Howse,* Paul D. Topham,* Anthony J. Ryan. Quantifying Hydrogel Response using Laser Light Scattering. Soft Matter (2010), 6, 743-749. Featured as the back cover. Article

14) Andrew J. Parnell,* Nadia Tzokova, Paul D. Topham, Dave J. Adams, Sarah Adams, Christine M. Fernyhough, Anthony J. Ryan, Richard A. L. Jones. The efficiency of encapsulation within surface rehydrated polymersomes. Faraday Discussions (2009), 143, 29-46. Article

13) Nadejda Tzokova, Christine M. Fernyhough, Michael F. Butler, Steven P. Armes, Anthony J. Ryan, Paul D. Topham,* Dave J. Adams.* The Effect of PEO Length on the Self-Assembly of Poly(ethylene oxide)-Tetrapeptide Conjugates Prepared by ‘Click’ Chemistry. Langmuir (2009), 25(18), 11082-11089. Article

12) Nadejda Tzokova, Christine M. Fernyhough, Paul D. Topham,* Nicholas Sandon, Dave J. Adams,* Michael F. Butler, Steven P. Armes, Anthony J. Ryan. Soft Hydrogels from Nanotubes of Poly(ethylene oxide)-Tetraphenylalanine Conjugates Prepared by ‘Click’ Chemistry. Langmuir (2009), 25(4), 2479-2485. Article

11) Paul D. Topham,* Nicholas Sandon, Elizabeth S. Read, Jeppe Madsen, Anthony J. Ryan, Steven P. Armes. Facile Synthesis of Well-defined Hydrophilic Macromonomers using ATRP and Click Chemistry. Macromolecules (2008), 41 (24), 9542-9547. Article

10) Paul D. Topham, Jonathan R. Howse, Christine M. Fernyhough, Anthony J. Ryan.* The performance of poly(styrene)-block-poly(2-vinyl pyridine)-block-poly(styrene) triblock copolymers as pH-driven actuators. Soft Matter (2007), 2, 1506-1512. Article

9) Linge Wang, Paul D. Topham, Oleksandr O. Mykhaylyk, Jonathan R. Howse, Wim Bras, Richard A. L. Jones, Anthony J. Ryan.* Electrospinning pH-Responsive Block Copolymer Nano-Fibres. Advanced Materials (2007), 19 (21), 3544-3548. Article

8) Paul D. Topham, Jonathan R. Howse, Colin J. Crook, Anthony J. Gleeson, Wim Bras, Steven P. Armes, Richard A. L. Jones, Anthony J. Ryan.* Autonomous Volume Transitions of Polybase Triblock Copolymer Gel in a Chemically Driven pH-Oscillator. Macromolecular Symposia: Polymer Networks (2007), 256, 95-104. Article

7) Paul D. Topham, Jonathan R. Howse, Colin J. Crook, Steven P. Armes, Richard A. L. Jones, Anthony J. Ryan.* Antagonistic Triblock Polymer Gels Powered by pH Oscillations. Macromolecules (2007), 40 (13), 4393-4395. Featured as the front cover from October to December 2007. Article

6) Mark Geoghegan,* Lorena Ruiz-Perez, Cheen C. Dang, Andrew J. Parnell, Simon J. Martin,Jonathan R. Howse, Richard A. L. Jones, R. Golestanian, Paul D. Topham, Colin J. Crook, Anthony J. Ryan, Devinderjit S. Sivia, John R. P. Webster, Alain Menelle. pH induced swelling and collapse of a polybase brush synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization. Soft Matter (2006), 2, 1076–1080. Article

5) Jonathan R. Howse, Paul D. Topham, Colin J. Crook, Anthony J. Gleeson, Wim Bras, Richard A. L. Jones, Anthony J. Ryan.* Reciprocating Power Generation in a Chemically Driven Synthetic Muscle. Nano Letters (2006), 6(1), 73-77. Article

4) Paul D. Topham, Jonathan R. Howse, Oleksandr O. Mykhaylyk, Steven P. Armes, Richard A. L. Jones, Anthony J. Ryan.* Synthesis and Solid State Properties of a Poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) Triblock Copolymer. Macromolecules (2006),39(16), 5573-5576. Article

3) Paul D. Topham, Jonathan R. Howse, Colin J. Crook, Andrew J. Parnell, Mark Geoghegan, Richard A. L. Jones, Anthony J. Ryan.* Controlled growth of poly[2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] brushes via atom transfer radical polymerisation on planar silicon surfaces. Polymer International (2006), 55(7), 808-815. Article

2) Anthony J. Ryan*, Colin J. Crook, Jonathan R. Howse, Paul D. Topham, Richard A. L. Jones, Andrew J. Parnell, Mark Geoghegan, Lorena Ruiz-Perez, Simon J. Martin. Mechanical Actuation by Responsive Polyelectrolyte Brushes and Triblock Gels. LMSB Journal of Macromolecular Science, Part B: Physics (2005), 44(6), 1103-1121. Article

1) Anthony J. Ryan*, Colin J. Crook, Jonathan R. Howse, Paul D. Topham, Richard A. L. Jones, Mark Geoghegan, Andrew J. Parnell, Lorena Ruiz-Perez, Simon J. Martin, Andrew Cadby, Alain Menelle, John R. P. Webster, Anthony. J. Gleeson, Wim Bras. Responsive brushes and gels as components of soft nanotechnology. Faraday Discussions (2005), 128 (Self-Organising Polymers), 55-74. Article

Funding for International Researchers

Follow this link for Professor Turitsyn's guide to a range of different funding opportunities for international researchers. For further information, contact Dr Topham directly:

Funding opportunities