Dr Lauren Hatcher

(she/her)

BSc, PhD

Publication

• Date
• Type

Research

Research Interests:

I am a solid-state organometallic chemist with particular expertise in time-resolved single crystal X-ray diffraction, photocrystallography and crystal engineering of switchable molecular and framework materials.

The structure of a material holds the key to understanding its useful properties and this is why I am fascinated by solid-state chemistry. Single crystal X-ray diffraction provides highly accurate information on the structure of crystalline materials and is used to re-create a 3D image of the individual atoms and molecules. By combining these techniques with in-situ excitation (e.g. light, temperature, pressure and electric fields) and time-resolved methodologies, I aim to create "molecular movies" that show how switchable materials respond to excitation in 3D and in real time.

Research Projects:

Dynamic X-ray Diffraction in Solar Energy Materials Design (Royal Society University Research Fellowship).

My current URF project, Dynamic X-ray Diffraction in Solar Energy Materials Design, develops new photo-active ferroelectric materials and determines the structural basis for their light-induced functionality using in-situ photocrystallographic techniques. Photo-active ferroelectric materials can directly convert sunlight into electricity and are highly desirable for solar energy applications. By developing cutting-edge dynamic X-ray diffraction methods, both at Cardiff and in collaboration with Diamond Light Source, we will watch how these materials interact with light in real-time. This improved understanding will then be taken back into the synthetic lab and used to design new crystals with improved photo-induced ferroelectric capabilities. This research has the exciting potential to deliver real global impact by revolutionising our understanding of solar energy conversion at the atomic scale, which can in-turn lead to the design of new and more efficient solar cells.

Advanced Microcrystallization for Serial Crystallography 

This project is running in collaboration with the UK synchrotron, Diamond Light Source.

Traditional X-ray crystallography involves the collection of a complete 3D crystal structure dataset from just one, largely perfect single crystal. This has many advantages, but in situations were the crystals are not stable for the duration of the X-ray experiment and/or undergo damage due to exposure to high-energy X-rays or light irradiation, then it is not possible to collect all of the data required from just the one crystal sample. Instead, multi-crystal data collection methods such as serial crystallography are now being developed, where each data image is obtained from a different crystal and these images are then later combined to generate the complete dataset. There are many challenges presented by serial crystallography experiments, which are being addressed in this project. Most particularly, at Cardiff we are working to develop new targeted crystallization strategies to produce the hundreds, or sometimes thousands, of perfect single crystals required for these experiments. These experiments optimise both the crystal size distribution and crystal habit, aiming for the most consistent, homogeneous batch of microcrystals possible across the batch.

For more information on specific projects available with Dr Lauren Hatcher please review the Materials and Energy section of our research project themes.

Biography

Dr Lauren E. Hatcher is a Royal Society University Research Fellow (Mar 2020 – present) in the School of Chemistry at Cardiff University. Prior to this she worked as a Research Associate in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Bath (RA in Crystallisation Science for Manufacturing (CMAC), Jan 2018 – Jan 2020; RA in the Metastable Materials Research Group, Jan 2014 – Jan 2018). Lauren completed her PhD in Chemistry at the University of Bath in May 2014, under the supervision of Prof. Paul Raithby (Thesis title: Molecular Photocrystallography). She also completed her undergraduate studies at Bath in 2010 (1:1 BSc(Hons) in Natural Sciences with Industrial Placement) and as part of this course spent one year as an Industrial Placement Student in the Small Molecule Crystallography Group at GlaxoSmithKline Services, Harlow.

Honours and awards

• Royal Society University Research Fellowship (2019)
• CCDC Chemical Crystallography Prize for Younger Scientists, British Crystallographic Association (2017)
• American Crystallographic Association travel grant, American Crystallographic Association meeting, Denver (2016)
• Rigaku travel grant, British Crystallographic Association Spring Meeting, Lancaster (2015)
• Journal of Chemical Crystallography poster prize, 63rd American Crystallographic Association meeting, Hawaii (2013)
• Final Year Postgraduate Symposium Prize (Bolland Symposium), University of Bath Department of Chemistry (2013)
• Oxford Cryosystems Low Temperature poster prize, 22nd International Union of Crystallography Congress, Madrid (2011)
• Magaret Etter Student Lecturer Award, 61st American Crystallography Meeting, New Orleans (2011)
• The Leadership Forum Award for Best Chemistry Student, European SET Student of the Year Awards (2010)
• Faculty of Science Prize for Best Natural Sciences Student, University of Bath (2007, 2008, 2010)

Professional memberships

• Member of the British Crystallographic Association
• Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Academic positions

• Jan 2018 - Jan 2020: Research Associate in Crystallisation Science for Manufacturing (CMAC), EPSRC grant EP/I033459/1, Department of Chemistry, University of Bath
• Jan 2014 - Jan 2018: Research Associate, Metastable Materials Group, EPSRC grant EP/K004956/1 Department of Chemistry, University of Bath
• Feb 2016 - Oct 2016: Impact Acceleration Fellow (secondment), EPSRC grant EP/I01974X/1, Research Complex at Harwell, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot

Committees and reviewing

• BCA Chemical Crystallography Group, Vice-Chair (2018 - 2019)
• BCA Chemical Crystallography Group, Ordinary member (2016 - 2018)
• BCA Young Crystallographers Group, Secretary/Treasurer (2012 - 2014)

Supervisions

As our research group specialises in the design of useful switchable materials and understanding the structure-property correlations that are responsible for their functionality, I am highly interested in supervising students with interests in several areas of chemistry, including:

• structural chemistry and crystallography
• analytical chemistry
• synthetic organometallic and inorganic chemistry
• advanced crystallisation techniques.

Current supervision

Sam Lewis

Research student

Debashish Das

Research student

Josh Morris

Research student