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Exploring Staff and Student Perceptions of Learning Resources in Physical Sciences (2024)
Journal Article
Braidwood, N., & Plana, D. (2024). Exploring Staff and Student Perceptions of Learning Resources in Physical Sciences. New Directions in the Teaching of Natural Sciences, 19(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.29311/ndtns.vi19.4468

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a significant diversification of learning resources and teaching methods and in its aftermath different approaches have been taken across science education in HE. Within this work we explored staff and student prefe... Read More about Exploring Staff and Student Perceptions of Learning Resources in Physical Sciences.

Evaluation of Online Team Based Learning: Staff and Student Perspectives (2023)
Journal Article
Richardson, M., & Plana, D. (2023). Evaluation of Online Team Based Learning: Staff and Student Perspectives. The Journal of Academic Development and Education, https://doi.org/10.21252/a6ck-1t65

With the forced move online during the Covid19 pandemic, Keele chemistry programmes turned to
Team Based Learning (TBL) as an active learning method that could be adapted to a virtual
environment. TBL is a structured, collaborative form of learni... Read More about Evaluation of Online Team Based Learning: Staff and Student Perspectives.

An Investigation of the Temperature Dependence of a Monomer–Dimer Equilibrium Using UV–Vis and 1H NMR Spectroscopies (2023)
Journal Article
Hancock, L. M., McGarvey, D. J., & Plana, D. (2023). An Investigation of the Temperature Dependence of a Monomer–Dimer Equilibrium Using UV–Vis and 1H NMR Spectroscopies. Journal of Chemical Education, 100(3), 1283-1288. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00917

A laboratory experiment in which 1H NMR and UV–vis spectroscopies are applied to probe the temperature dependence of a monomer–dimer equilibrium involving a cyclopentadienone derivative is described and discussed. Details of the data analysis for ext... Read More about An Investigation of the Temperature Dependence of a Monomer–Dimer Equilibrium Using UV–Vis and 1H NMR Spectroscopies.

A Series of Manganese(III) Salen Complexes as a Result of Team-Based Inquiry in a Transnational Education Programme. (2020)
Journal Article
Yuan, D., Cai, N., Xu, J., Miao, D., Zhang, S., Woodfine, S. E., …Watkinson, M. (2020). A Series of Manganese(III) Salen Complexes as a Result of Team-Based Inquiry in a Transnational Education Programme. ChemPlusChem, 85(6), 1210 - 1219. https://doi.org/10.1002/cplu.202000337

The development of a team-based approach to research-led transnational practical chemistry teaching is described in which a team of five Chinese students on an articulated transnational degree programme, supported by a team of academic and technical... Read More about A Series of Manganese(III) Salen Complexes as a Result of Team-Based Inquiry in a Transnational Education Programme..

Chinese Students’ Expectations Versus Reality When Studying on a UK-China Transnational Chemistry Degree Program (2019)
Journal Article
Cranwell, P. B., Edwards, M. G., Jane Haxton, K., Hyde, J., Page, E. M., Plana, D., …Wright, J. S. (2019). Chinese Students’ Expectations Versus Reality When Studying on a UK-China Transnational Chemistry Degree Program. New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences, 14(1), https://doi.org/10.29311/ndtps.v0i14.3325

An extensive study has been conducted into the experiences of Chinese chemistry students studying on transnational education (TNE) programs at four UK institutions partnered with Chinese universities; in particular, student expectations regarding stu... Read More about Chinese Students’ Expectations Versus Reality When Studying on a UK-China Transnational Chemistry Degree Program.

Spectroelectrochemistry at free-standing carbon nanotubes electrodes (2016)
Journal Article
Ibañez, D., Garoz-Ruiz, J., Plana, D., Heras, A., Fermín, D., & Colina, A. (2016). Spectroelectrochemistry at free-standing carbon nanotubes electrodes. Electrochimica Acta, 217, 262-268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2016.09.074

A versatile and low-cost methodology for fabricating free-standing carbon nanotubes (CNT) electrodes for electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical applications is described. The uniformity, flexibility and resistance to bending of these films make t... Read More about Spectroelectrochemistry at free-standing carbon nanotubes electrodes.

Photoelectrochemical activity of colloidal TiO2 nanostructures assembled at polarisable liquid/liquid interfaces (2016)
Journal Article
Plana. (2016). Photoelectrochemical activity of colloidal TiO2 nanostructures assembled at polarisable liquid/liquid interfaces. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 373 -378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelechem.2015.09.030

Photoelectrochemical responses arising from the heterogeneous hole-transfer from colloidal TiO2 nanoparticles to ferrocene species across the polarizable water/1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) interface are investigated as a function of the formal redox pote... Read More about Photoelectrochemical activity of colloidal TiO2 nanostructures assembled at polarisable liquid/liquid interfaces.

Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide at Gold-Palladium Core-Shell Nanoparticles: Product Distribution versus Shell Thickness (2016)
Journal Article
Plana. (2016). Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide at Gold-Palladium Core-Shell Nanoparticles: Product Distribution versus Shell Thickness. ChemCatChem, 952 -960. https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.201501260

The electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 at carbon-supported Au-Pd core–shell nanoparticles is investigated systematically as a function of the Pd shell thickness. Liquid- and gas-phase products were determined by off-line 1H NMR spectroscopy and on-lin... Read More about Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide at Gold-Palladium Core-Shell Nanoparticles: Product Distribution versus Shell Thickness.

A Synthetic Route for the Effective Preparation of Metal Alloy Nanoparticles and Their Use as Active Electrocatalysts (2016)
Journal Article
Plana. (2016). A Synthetic Route for the Effective Preparation of Metal Alloy Nanoparticles and Their Use as Active Electrocatalysts. ACS catalysis, 1533 -1539. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.5b02598

By taking advantage of the nonequilibrium synthetic conditions, we used the cathodic corrosion method to prepare a selected number of alloys of which solid–solution alloys do not exist under ambient conditions. To illustrate our findings, we present... Read More about A Synthetic Route for the Effective Preparation of Metal Alloy Nanoparticles and Their Use as Active Electrocatalysts.

Monitoring charge transfer at polarisable liquid/liquid interfaces employing time-resolved Raman spectroelectrochemistry (2015)
Journal Article
Ibañez, D., Plana, D., Heras, A., Fermín, D., & Colina, A. (2015). Monitoring charge transfer at polarisable liquid/liquid interfaces employing time-resolved Raman spectroelectrochemistry. Electrochemistry Communications, 54, 14-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2015.02.012

In-situ Raman spectroscopy is implemented for the first time to monitor dynamic charge transfer processes at polarisable interfaces between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES) in real time. A custom-designed new electrochemical cell is descr... Read More about Monitoring charge transfer at polarisable liquid/liquid interfaces employing time-resolved Raman spectroelectrochemistry.

New insights into the catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles for CO oxidation in electrochemical media (2014)
Journal Article
Plana. (2014). New insights into the catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles for CO oxidation in electrochemical media. Journal of Catalysis, 182 -189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2013.11.020

This study reports the interaction between metal oxides and gold in acidic media and its effect on the electrochemical oxidation of carbon monoxide. We describe the oxidation of CO in acidic media on Au nanoparticles of 3 and 7 nm on different oxide... Read More about New insights into the catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles for CO oxidation in electrochemical media.

Porous Boron-Doped Diamond/Carbon Nanotube Electrodes (2014)
Journal Article
Zanin, H., May, P. W., Fermin, D. J., Plana, D., Vieira, S. M. C., Milne, W. I., & Corat, E. J. (2014). Porous Boron-Doped Diamond/Carbon Nanotube Electrodes. ACS applied materials & interfaces, 6(2), 990-995. https://doi.org/10.1021/am4044344

Nanostructuring boron-doped diamond (BDD) films increases their sensitivity and performance when used as electrodes in electrochemical environments. We have developed a method to produce such nanostructured, porous electrodes by depositing BDD thin f... Read More about Porous Boron-Doped Diamond/Carbon Nanotube Electrodes.

Tuning CO2 electroreduction efficiency at Pd shells on Au nanocores (2013)
Journal Article
Plana. (2013). Tuning CO2 electroreduction efficiency at Pd shells on Au nanocores. Chemical Communications, 10962 - 10964. https://doi.org/10.1039/C3CC46543H

The faradaic efficiency of CO2 electroreduction is significantly affected by the thickness of Pd nanoshells on Au cores. The ratio of hydrogen evolution to CO2 reduction was determined by differential electrochemical mass spectrometry. Decreasing the... Read More about Tuning CO2 electroreduction efficiency at Pd shells on Au nanocores.

Solids at the liquid-liquid interface: Electrocatalysis with pre-formed nanoparticles (2013)
Journal Article
Plana. (2013). Solids at the liquid-liquid interface: Electrocatalysis with pre-formed nanoparticles. Electrochimica Acta, 809 -815. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2013.03.185

The catalytic activity of Au and Au–Pd core–shell nanoparticles is investigated at the liquid–liquid interface. The particles are shown to catalyse a process which is attributed to interfacial oxygen reduction. The Au–Pd particles are shown to be mor... Read More about Solids at the liquid-liquid interface: Electrocatalysis with pre-formed nanoparticles.

Methanol Oxidation at Diamond-Supported Pt Nanoparticles: Effect of the Diamond Surface Termination (2013)
Journal Article
Celorrio, V., Plana, D., Flórez-Montaño, J., Montes de Oca, M. G., Moore, A., Lázaro, M. J., …Fermín, D. J. (2013). Methanol Oxidation at Diamond-Supported Pt Nanoparticles: Effect of the Diamond Surface Termination. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 117(42), 21735-21742. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp4039804

The electrocatalytic reactivity of Pt nanoparticles supported on high-pressure, high-temperature diamond particles toward adsorbed CO, methanol, and formic acid oxidation is investigated employing differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS)... Read More about Methanol Oxidation at Diamond-Supported Pt Nanoparticles: Effect of the Diamond Surface Termination.

Galvanic and bipolar cells as probes of electroless deposition: The Cu-dimethylamine borane system (2013)
Journal Article
Plana. (2013). Galvanic and bipolar cells as probes of electroless deposition: The Cu-dimethylamine borane system. Electrochemistry Communications, 8 -10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2013.09.024

Galvanic and bipolar cells were used to demonstrate the complexity of electroless deposition reactions. The separation of the half-reactions, and the ability to control the potential, demonstrate the effect of the substrate and
the interdependence o... Read More about Galvanic and bipolar cells as probes of electroless deposition: The Cu-dimethylamine borane system.

Electrochemical crystallization of spatially organized copper microwire arrays within biomineralized (dentine) templates (2013)
Journal Article
Wang, J., Harris, J., Li, M., Plana, D., Barbour, M. E., Fermin, D. J., & Mann, S. (2013). Electrochemical crystallization of spatially organized copper microwire arrays within biomineralized (dentine) templates. CrystEngComm, 15(36), 7152. https://doi.org/10.1039/c3ce40704g

Macroporous biomineralized composites in the form of thin slices of tooth dentine were used to prepare oriented arrays of high aspect ratio copper microwires by template-directed electrochemical deposition. The coaligned wires were 1 to 4 μm in thick... Read More about Electrochemical crystallization of spatially organized copper microwire arrays within biomineralized (dentine) templates.

Charge Transport Across High Surface Area Metal/Diamond Nanostructured Composites (2013)
Journal Article
Plana, D., Humphrey, J. J. L., Bradley, K. A., Celorrio, V., & Fermín, D. J. (2013). Charge Transport Across High Surface Area Metal/Diamond Nanostructured Composites. ACS applied materials & interfaces, 5(8), 2985-2990. https://doi.org/10.1021/am302397p

High surface area composites featuring metal nanostructures and diamond particles have generated a lot of interest in the fields of heterogeneous catalysis, electrocatalysis, and sensors. Diamond surfaces provide a chemically robust framework for act... Read More about Charge Transport Across High Surface Area Metal/Diamond Nanostructured Composites.

Electrochemical performance of Pd and Au-Pd core-shell nanoparticles on surface tailored carbon black as catalyst support (2012)
Journal Article
Plana. (2012). Electrochemical performance of Pd and Au-Pd core-shell nanoparticles on surface tailored carbon black as catalyst support. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 7152 -7160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.12.014

The present work studies the influence of the surface chemistry of carbon supports on the electrochemical behaviour of Pd and Au–Pd core–shell (CS) nanoparticles. Vulcan XC-72R was chemically modified by different acid treatments, inducing changes in... Read More about Electrochemical performance of Pd and Au-Pd core-shell nanoparticles on surface tailored carbon black as catalyst support.