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 , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

. She works on photoactive polymer-hybrid materials for solar devices, including

organic photovoltaics An organic solar cell (OSC) or plastic solar cell is a type of photovoltaic that uses organic electronics, a branch of electronics that deals with conductive organic polymers or small organic molecules, for light absorption and charge transport t ...

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 A Master of Chemistry (or MChem) degree is a specific master's degree for courses in the field of Chemistry. United Kingdom In the UK, the M.Chem degree is an undergraduate award, available after pursuing a four-year course of study at a univer ...

(MChem) degree in 2002. During her Masters, she completed an

International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience The International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience commonly referred to as IAESTE (pronounced i-a-es-te or ai-es-te) is an international organization exchanging students for technical work experience abroad. Stude ...

(IASTE)

ship at

Lonza Group Lonza Group is a Swiss multinational manufacturing company for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and nutrition sectors, headquartered in Basel, with major facilities in Europe, North America and South Asia. Lonza was established under that name in ...

. She returned to Swansea University for her

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

, investigating on light-emitting materials for display technologies.

Research and career

After her PhD, Evans spent a year at the

University of Aveiro The University of Aveiro ( pt, Universidade de Aveiro) is a public university, in addition to providing polytechnic education, located in the Portuguese city of Aveiro. Founded in 1973, it has a student population of approximately 12,500, distri ...

. She was subsequently awarded a

Marie Curie Fellowship Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in T ...

at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

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 The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coi ...

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 The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...

Schools lecture on the ''Chemistry of Light''. In 2013 she published the textbook ''Applied Photochemistry'' with

Springer Publishing Springer Publishing Company is an American publishing company of academic journals and books, focusing on the fields of nursing, gerontology, psychology, social work, counseling, public health, and rehabilitation (neuropsychology). It was es ...

. 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

in 2017 and a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. Her group explore soft materials that are responsive to stimuli, nanostructured inks and hybrid nanoparticles. The soft materials respond to light, using photoresponsive surfactants that include an

azobenzene Azobenzene is a photoswitchable chemical compound composed of two phenyl rings linked by a N=N double bond. It is the simplest example of an aryl azo compound. The term 'azobenzene' or simply 'azo' is often used to refer to a wide class of simi ...

group. She was appointed chair of the

Photophysics and Photochemistry Group in 2017. She founded Senoptica Technologies in 2018 and is the chief scientific officer (CSO) working on optical sensors developed in Evans' lab. Senoptica Technologies detect defective

modified atmosphere packaging Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is the practice of modifying the composition of the internal atmosphere of a package (commonly food packages, drugs, etc.) in order to improve the shelf life. The need for this technology for food arises from t ...

, changing colour to alert the consumer to the amount of

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

in the pack.

Awards and honours

2023 Elected a

Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales 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 nation ...

(FLSW) 2018 Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) 2018 Nominated a

Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining Fellowship of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (abbreviated as FIMMM) is an award granted to individuals that the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) judges to have made “significant contribution or established a re ...

(FIMMM) 2017

(RSC) and

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...

UK Young Researchers Medal 2017

Learned Society of Wales 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 nation ...

Dillwyn Medal 2015 Trinity College Dublin Fellowship 2014 Irish Lab Awards ''Young Leader of the Year'' 2008 RSC Harry Hallam prize 2007 RSC Ronald Belcher Memorial Lectureship

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