Rachel Claire Evans
FLSW
The Learned Society of Wales ( Welsh: Cymdeithas Ddysgedig Cymru) is a learned society and charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the Welsh natio ...
is a Welsh chemist based at the
University of Cambridge and a
fellow of
Jesus College, Cambridge.
She works on photoactive polymer-hybrid materials for solar devices, including
organic photovoltaics and stimuli-responsive membranes.
Early life and education
Evans grew up in
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
.
She studied at
Swansea University, earning a
Master of Chemistry (MChem) degree in 2002.
During her Masters, she completed an
International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IASTE)
fellowship at
Lonza Group.
She returned to
Swansea University for her
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, investigating on light-emitting materials for display technologies.
Research and career
After her PhD, Evans spent a year at the
University of Aveiro.
She was subsequently awarded a
Marie Curie Fellowship
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at the
University of Paris where she worked as a
postdoc
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...
on fluorescence of soft materials.
Evans left Paris to join the
University of Coimbra as a
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia postdoctoral fellow. She moved to
Trinity College Dublin in 2009, where she was a lecturer in Physical Chemistry. Her research was funded by
Science Foundation Ireland and
Enterprise Ireland. She delivered the 2011
Royal Society of Chemistry Schools lecture on the ''Chemistry of Light''. In 2013 she published the textbook ''Applied Photochemistry'' with
Springer Publishing. They explored self-assembly of
conjugated polyelectrolyte–
polyoxometalate networks, with dimensions controlled by the polymer chain length and steric charge distribution. The self-assembly of these
lumophores can be used to tune the optical and electronic properties. To understand the morphology of these films and inform the design of performance nanostructured devices, her group use
small-angle scattering, spectroscopy and microscopy. Small-angle scattering allows her to study the microstructure of hybrid materials at the near atomic scale. Their
conjugated polyelectrolyte work was featured in the ''
ChemComm'' Emerging Investigators issue. She also worked on oxygen sensitive printable ink sensors.
Evans has explored polymer-hybrid materials for
luminescent solar concentrator
A luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) is a device for concentrating radiation, Non-ionizing radiation, solar radiation in particular, to produce electricity. Luminescent solar concentrators operate on the principle of collecting radiation over a ...
s.
[ ] By controlling the placement and orientation of the lumophore, she showed that it is possible to limit light lost by
reabsorption. She minimises
waveguiding losses by designing materials with high
refractive indices. She demonstrated that perylene carboxdiimide-bridged triethoxysilane can be covalently grafted to
siloxane hybrids.
[ Her work was featured in the '' Journal of Materials Chemistry C'' Emerging Investigators Issue in 2016. She also develops encapsulation techniques to improve device lifetime. She was made an ]associate professor
Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''.
Overview
In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...
in 2016. She collaborated extensively with the University of Montpellier as part of a French-Irish collaboration.
Evans was appointed a lecturer at the University of Cambridge in 2017
Awards and honours
2023 Elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (FLSW)
2018 Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)
2018 Nominated a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM)
2017 Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and Society of Chemical Industry UK Young Researchers Medal
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Rachel
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Welsh chemists
Welsh women scientists
Welsh women chemists
Women physical chemists
Alumni of Swansea University
Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry
Academics of the University of Cambridge
Fellows of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining
Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales
21st-century Welsh women scientists
21st-century Welsh scientists