Jumping in the Deep End: me as a young scientist Martyn Poliakoff (& Jon McMaster) [email protected]

Jumping in the Deep End:me as a young scientist

Martyn Poliakoff (& Jon McMaster)[email protected]

Aim of my talk

How good is my idea

for a sixth form project?

About me!

•Research Professor in Chemistry, working in Green Chemistry

•Born London (UK) 1947 (Russian father)

•My father and Russian grandfather were both physicists

•But what about me?

My father always

intended me to be a

scientist

One of my earliest

memories

Starting in Science

My first Scientific Observation

Cold

Hot

My top ear was cold and the bottom one was hot

Lying in bed

My “explanation”

Cold

Hot

There was a metal wire inside my head that took heat from the top ear to the bottom

What was wrong with my “explanation”

• Contradicts the Second Law of Thermodynamics“Heat cannot flow from Cold to Hot”

• Nothing metallic inside one’s body• Could not be verified experimentally

(at least by the young me)

My “explanation”

BUT

It did suggest the correct solution to making the top ear warmer

Turn over in bed!

Aged 8, I went to boarding school

I wasn’t happy!

I hated the food and wasn’t good at

sport

The Problem

How could I learn to swim quickly (and stop people making fun of me)?

The Hypothesis

If I jumped into the deep end of the swimming pool,

I would have to swim!

The Experiment

• I jumped into the deep end (with the whole school watching)

• I sank to the bottom and had to be rescued with a long pole

• BUT I became the Hero of the School!

How to become a hero in your school

By Martyn Poliakoff

Marlborough House School

What Referees might have said

• The experiment was only performed once

• Cannot be used by swimmers• The method is unreliable

Verdict – Reject!

There were NO books about science in the school

library!

So I had to find my own

My Mother’s Science

Bookpublished

1902

Take home lesson

If you really want to make science exciting at school,

Tell the pupils that they are forbidden from doing it!

Cathedral in Pisa

Aged nearly 14, I start Science at School

My First Inorganic Chemistry textbook

1961

I set up a lab in my parents’ basement in London

I made lots of mistakes

• I tried to distil formic acid out of oven cleaner (HCOOH + H2O) without knowing that the difference in boiling points was less than 2oC

• Result: I superheated the flask and the whole basement was filled with fumes and had to be evacuated!

By summer 1964, when I was 16, I had taken all possible

Chemistry exams (A levels, etc)

So I was free to do what I liked in the

School labs!

My “Research” topic 1964/5

What was I trying to find out?

[Cu]2+ + xNH3 + [CrO4]2-

[Cu(NH3)x]2+ [CrO4]2-

What was the value of x ?

Precipitating and Weighing

Titrations:plotting pH

until I broke the pH meter!

Paper Chromatography

Measuring Conductivity of the paper

Conductivity Results

Start

Electrophoresis

Colour of the Reaction Product

Copper Chromate + Ammonia is GREEN

Copper Sulphate + Ammonia is BLUE

Chromate is YELLOW

Spectroscopy??

Spectroscope

Spectrum of Sodium Lamp

Spectroscope Results

Reaction was more complicated than I thought

Rapid Scan Spectrometer that I built with my friend John (1964/5)

Lamp

What was wrong with my project?

[Cu]2+ + xNH3 + [CrO4]2-

[Cu(NH3)x]2+ [CrO4]2-

No one told me that the value of x changes as the conditions are

varied!

I went to University

• I studied Chemistry (nearly failing my final exams!)

• I studied for a doctorate• I became a spectroscopist and did

photochemistry!

My PhD Thesis

Moved to Newcastle upon Tyne

I designed and built apparatus for spectroscopy & photochemistry

I moved to Nottingham in 1979

I became fascinated by Supercritical Fluids

• Gases e.g. CO2, H2O compressed until they are nearly as dense as liquids

• SCFs can dissolve solids and can be used as solvents for chemical reactions

Green Chemistry (early 1990s) Cleaner approaches to

making chemicals & materials

Highlighted the need for “greener” solvents

Reactor

Lab Reactor

Pete Licence

• continuous• multipurpose• 1000 ton p.a.

scCO2

ChemicalPlant

We still measure IR spectra

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.0

2.2

2.4

Ab

sorb

ance

1800 2000 Wavenumbers (cm-1)

RCH=CH2RCH2CH2CHO

RC(O)Rh(CO)3P

We still do photo-

chemistry

Cleaner ways for making antimalarial

drugs

Why have I been successful?

I have had outstanding people to advise me

My PhD supervisor Jim Turner FRS

5 generations of PhDs

12

3 4 5

My “research family” tree

me

Jim Turner

Norman Sheppard

me

Norman Sheppard

JJ TurnerN Sheppard me

TM LowryGBBM Sutherland

HE ArmstrongH KolbeF Wöhler

L Gmelin1788-1853

JJ Berzelius1779-1848

Enormous thanks to my Co-workers, Colleagues, Collaborators, Technicians

and Funders past and present

Aim of my talk

How good is my idea

for a sixth form project?

Yes, it's interestingOriginal, not done before?Understandable to everyoneNot too complicatedGood advice available

Scientifically soundClear question to answerIndividual AND Group workExisting theoretical backgroundNot too expensiveCould be funExcellent chance of success

YOUNG

SCIENCE



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https://youtu.be/pp2WrHc4rmI



YOUNG

SCIENCE

Documents

Jumping in the Deep End: me as a young scientist Martyn Poliakoff (& Jon McMaster) [email protected]