Ben F. Spencer

Ben F. Spencer
The University of Manchester · Department of Materials

PhD Photon Physics

About

89
Publications
48,351
Reads
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1,858
Citations
Introduction
Ben F. Spencer currently works at the School of Materials, The University of Manchester.
Additional affiliations
January 2019 - present
The University of Manchester
Position
  • Senior Experimental Officer
October 2015 - December 2018
University of Manchester
Position
  • Experimental Officer in Surface Analysis
October 2011 - September 2015
University of Manchester
Position
  • PostDoc Position

Publications

Publications (89)
Article
Rare-earth metal–organic frameworks (RE-MOFs) formed in the presence of fluoride donors are a group of complex and applicable MOFs. Determining structural complexity is crucial in applying such MOFs and has been achieved to uncover framework disorders in the important fcu framework topology MOF, Y-ndc-fcu-MOF (1). 1 is found to contain F– groups di...
Article
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Phenylacetylene is a detrimental impurity in the polymerisation of styrene, capable of poisoning catalysts even at ppm levels and significantly degrading the quality of polystyrene. The semi-hydrogenation of phenylacetylene to...
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Capture of trace benzene is an important and challenging task. Metal–organic framework materials are promising sorbents for a variety of gases, but their limited capacity towards benzene at low concentration remains unresolved. Here we report the adsorption of trace benzene by decorating a structural defect in MIL-125-defect with single-atom metal...
Article
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) offer a potentially large-scale method for producing low-cost renewable energy. However, stability challenges currently limit their practical application. Consequently, alternative methods for increasing the PSC stability are urgently needed. Compared with three-dimensional (3D) perovskites, low-dimensional (LD) perovs...
Article
In recent years, hydrogels have been demonstrated as simple and cheap additives to improve the optical properties and material stability of organometal halide perovskites (OHPs), with most research centered on the use of hydrophilic, petrochemical-derived polymers. Here, we investigate the role of a peptide hydrogel in passivating defect sites and...
Article
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Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) continue to attract considerable academic and industrial interest due to their excellent potential to contribute to solar energy generation. The application of PSCs will benefit from improvements in the understanding of the roles of the interfaces present in charge transport and recombination. The buried perovskite/ele...
Article
Rare-earth (RE) metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) synthesized in the presence of fluorine-donating modulators or linkers are an important new subset of functional MOFs. However, the exact nature of the REaXb core of the molecular building block (MBB) of the MOF, where X is a μ2 or 3-bridging group, remains unclear. Investigation of one of the archety...
Article
HAXPES measurements were carried out using a Scienta Omicron HAXPES instrument to provide reference spectra for depleted uranium dioxide. High purity uranium dioxide, as confirmed by trace elemental analysis and x-ray diffraction, was synthesized via the integrated dry route from uranium hexafluoride. The material was fixed on double sided carbon t...
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Lithium nickel oxide, LiNiO2, has attracted considerable interest as a high energy cathode for next generation lithium ion batteries. Nevertheless, shortcomings such as significant cycling capacity decay and low stability...
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Highly deformable crosslinked polymer particles enhance perovskite solar cell passivation and stability by binding and distributing throughout the film.
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High entropy metal chalcogenides are materials containing five or more elements within a disordered sublattice. These materials exploit a high configurational entropy to stabilize their crystal structure and have recently become an area of significant interest for renewable energy applications such as electrocatalysis and thermoelectrics. Herein, w...
Article
Since the emergence of organometal halide perovskite (OMP) solar cells, there has been growing interest in the benefits of incorporating polymer additives into the perovskite precursor, in terms of both photovoltaic device performance and perovskite stability. In addition, there is interest in the self-healing properties of polymer-incorporated OMP...
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Copper (I) oxide (Cu 2 O) nanomaterials have become highly promising for photoelectrochemical reactions as both solar absorber layers in p-n heterojunction solar cells, direct photoelectrocatalysis and as electrodes in the CO 2 ...
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Early electric vehicle anodes utilised poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF) as the binder. Due to its lack of solubility in non-harmful solvents, PVDF potentially leads to challenges with anode recycling. In this...
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Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) continue to excite the research community due to their excellent power conversion efficiency (PCE) and relative ease of preparation. Additive engineering has played a decisive role...
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Perovskite solar cells continue to attract interest due to their facile preparation and high power conversion efficiencies. However, the highest efficiency perovskite solar cells inevitably contain lead, which raises concerns over contamination of drinking water when a solar module is broken and then flooded. We previously showed that conventional...
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In recent times, mixed-cation metal halide perovskites have shown promising photovoltaic performance, and the long-term stability of these metal halide perovskites has also been considerably improved by incorporating additives into the perovskite precursor. Here, the role of ionic liquid additives in improving the stability of perovskite is investi...
Article
Aligned sub-micron fibres are an outstanding surface for orienting and promoting neurite outgrowth; therefore, attractive features to include in peripheral nerve tissue scaffolds. A new generation of peripheral nerve tissue scaffolds is under development incorporating electroactive materials and electrical regimes as instructive cues in order to fa...
Article
The oxidation state and surface properties of powder particles play a major role in the final properties of powder manufactured components. In the present study, the coating of a non-stainless low alloy (SA508 Grade 3) steel powder was explored to protect it from progressive oxidation while also studying the effects on powder flowability and electr...
Article
A sample of highly orientated pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) was implanted with Cs⁺ ions in order to study the effect on the graphite matrix and the chemical form of Cs once embedded. The mean implantation depth was calculated to be ∼22 nm, allowing for investigation with X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, (XPS), where both a traditional Al Kα X-ray sour...
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Aqueous rechargeable batteries based on aluminum chemistry have become the focus of immense research interest owing to their earth abundance, low cost, and the higher theoretical volumetric energy density of this element compared to lithium-ion batteries. Efforts to harness this huge potential have been hindered by the narrow potential window of wa...
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The extension of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to measure layers and interfaces below the uppermost surface requires higher X-ray energies and electron energy analysers capable of measuring higher electron kinetic energies. This has been enabled at synchrotron radiation facilities and by using lab-based instruments which are now available...
Article
Semitransparent perovskite solar cells (STPSCs) continue to attract enormous interest because of their potential to provide low-cost renewable energy for building and automotive applications. Whilst many studies have shown that small molecule additives can improve STPSC properties, here we use relatively colossal poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microge...
Article
A method for the rapid determination of theoretical relative sensitivity factors (RSFs) for hard X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) instruments of any type and photon energy has been developed. We develop empirical functions to describe discrete theoretically calculated values for photoemission cross sections and asymmetry parameters across...
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Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) based on organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites containing a small fraction of substituted alkali-metal cations have shown remarkable performance and stability. However, the role of these cations is unclear. The thermal- and moisture-induced degradation of FA1–xCsxPbI3 and (FA1–xCsx)1–yRbyPbI3 (where FA represents formam...
Article
Superhydrophobic iron sulfide thin films were prepared by stearic acid (STA) chemically adsorbed onto the iron sulfide thin films deposited by aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) using a single source precursor (tris(N,N-diethyldithiocarbamato)iron(III)). The microstructure of the iron sulfide thin films has been characterized by me...
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Chemical characterization at buried interfaces is a real challenge, as the physico-chemical processes operating at the interface govern the properties of many systems and devices. We have developed a methodology based on the combined use of pulsed RF GD-OES (pulsed Radio Frequency Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectrometry) and XPS (X-ray Photoel...
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Hard X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (HAXPES) provides minimally destructive depth profiling into the bulk, extending the photoelectron sampling depth. Detection of deeply buried layers beyond the elastic limit is enabled through inelastic background analysis. To test the robustness of this technique, we present results on a thin (18 nm) layer of...
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Two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 is a promising material for future electronic and optoelectronic applications. 2D MoS2 devices have been shown to perform reliably under irradiation conditions relevant for a low Earth orbit. However, a systematic investigation of the stability of 2D MoS2 crystals under high-dose gamma irradiation is still missing. In this...
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Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HAP NPs) are blended with TiO2 NPs to prepare mixed mesoporous scaffolds which are used to prepare high efficiency perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with a best power conversion...
Article
Investigation of novel and high-performance transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs) is required to substitute currently widely used tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) due to the low abundance of indium and constantly increasing...
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We present a sensitive and low-cost immunoassay, based on a customized open-source quartz crystal microbalance coupled with graphene biointerface sensors (G-QCM), to quantify antibodies in undiluted patient serum. We demonstrate its efficacy for a specific antibody against the phospholipase A2 receptor (anti-PLA2R), which is a biomarker in primary...
Article
Peripheral nerve injury is a common consequence of trauma with low regenerative potential. Electroconductive scaffolds can provide appropriate cell growth microenvironments and synergistic cell guidance cues for nerve tissue engineering. In the present study, electrically conductive scaffolds were prepared by conjugating poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythio...
Article
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Efficient electro-reduction of CO2 over metal-organic framework (MOF) materials is hindered by the poor contact between thermally synthesized MOF particles and the electrode surface, which leads to low Faradaic efficiency for a given product and poor electrochemical stability of the catalyst. We report a MOF-based electrode prepared via electro-syn...
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There is a critical research need for efficient luminescent colloidal nanocrystals, free from cadmium and lead whose toxicity subjects them to usage restrictions, with applications from display devices to biology. Approaches to directly replace cadmium‐based materials have mainly focused on indium phosphide‐based nanocrystals, however these too are...
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Ion irradiation is a versatile tool to introduce controlled defects into two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 on account of its unique spatial resolution and plethora of ion types and energies available. In order to fully realise the potential of this technique, a holistic understanding of ion-induced defect production in 2D MoS2 crystals of different thickne...
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The mesoporous (meso)-TiO2 layer is a key component of high efficiency perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Herein, pore size controllable meso-TiO2 layers are prepared using spin coating of commercial TiO2 nanoparticle (NP) paste with added soft polymer templates (SPT) followed by removal of the SPT at 500 °C. The SPTs consist of swollen crosslinked pol...
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Graphene-based materials have shown significant potential for biomedical applications including biosensors, cell scaffolds and drug delivery. However, the interaction of complex biomacromolecules like proteins with graphene and its derivatives, graphene oxide (GO) and reduced (r)GO, remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that the quartz-cr...
Article
Alkyl-xanthato gallium(iii) complexes of the form [Ga(S2COR)3], where R = Me (1), Et (2), iPr (3), nPr (4), nBu (5), sBu (6) and iBu (7), have been synthesized and fully characterised. The crystal structures for 1 and 3-7 have been solved and examined to elucidate if these structures are related to their decomposition. Thermogravimetric analysis wa...
Preprint
In order to realise the potential of graphene nanocomposites it is vital to control the degree of dispersion and achieve a strong graphene polymer interface. Herein, we developed a facile grafting to functionalisation approach for graphene nanoplatelets. NH2-terminated graphene nanoplatelets, NH2 GNPs, prepared by a diazonium coupling were used as...
Article
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Samples of highly-orientated pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and nuclear graphite grades, Gilsocarbon and Pile Grade-A (PGA), were examined using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultra-violet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and Raman spectroscopy. The photoelectron spectra was used to characterise the surface and sub-surface, particularly with re...
Article
In order to realise the potential of graphene nanocomposites it is vital to control the degree of dispersion and achieve a strong graphene/polymer interface. Herein, we developed a facile ‘grafting to’ functionalization approach for graphene nanoplatelets. NH2-terminated graphene nanoplatelets (NH2-GNPs) prepared by diazonium coupling were used as...
Article
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We report a comparative study of the binding of I2 (iodine) in a pair of redox-active metal-organic framework (MOF) materials, MFM-300(VIII) and its oxidized, deprotonated analogue, MFM-300(VIV). Adsorption of I2 in MFM-300(VIII) triggers a host-to-guest charge-transfer, accompanied by a partial (∼30%) oxidation of the VIII centers in the host fram...
Article
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Ambient-air-stable methylammonium lead iodide (MAPI) perovskite thin films have been fabricated via one-step aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD) from a pseudohalide Pb(SCN)2 precursor. We compare both the bulk and surface properties of the perovskite films grown using AACVD with those made by the widely used spin-coating method. Film...
Article
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The synthesis of the complete range of (Bi1-x Sb x )2S3 solid solutions, where 0 ≤ x ≤ 1, by the variation of the mole ratio of bismuth and antimony piperidine dithiocarbamate complexes is reported. There was a near linear expansion of a and c lattice parameters as the mole ratio of the antimony precursor was increased. The composition of the parti...
Article
The preparation of graphene via electrochemical exfoliation in aqueous solution is considered very attractive in terms of cost, scalability and non-toxicity. However, the quality of graphene produced by this method is inferior to the material produced by methods such as mechanical exfoliation due to the functionalisation of carbon by reactive oxyge...
Article
Ni-P\alginate microgels coatings, as potential metallic protective coatings with self-healing properties, were deposited by the electroless method. The alginate microgels contained nickel chloride and sodium hypophosphite. It was proven that the reduction of nickel ions released from the microgels is possible on the steel and Ni-P coating surface....
Article
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Direct synthesis of either 2H-MoS2 or α-MoO3 is made possible by thermolysis of the same single source precursor in either argon or air at moderate temperatures.
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A new approach is presented, based on the unexpectedly versatile role of transition metal ions, to produce high‐quality graphene via an anodic electrochemical exfoliation route, and the capability of the resultant material in energy storage applications are illustrated. The method is based on graphene exfoliation in the presence of transition metal...
Article
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The quality of graphene produced by electrochemical exfoliation of graphite in aqueous solution is inferior to the material produced by mechanical exfoliation, due to the functionalization of carbon by reactive oxygen radical species derived from water oxidation. Andinet Ejigu, Robert A. W. Dryfe, and co‐workers describe in article number 1804357 h...
Article
The localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of Au nanoparticles (NPs) as well as its interaction with nearby entities provides a wealth of fundamental and practical information at the nanometre scale. A number of studies have investigated core-shell NPs with Au cores and polymer shells that are temperature-responsive. However, there are very few...
Article
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Air-stable caesium tin iodide double perovskite (Cs 2 SnI 6 ) thin films have been fabricated via aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD). We compare the properties of the double perovskite films made using AACVD...
Article
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Thin films of Cd1-x Zn x S (CZS) were prepared by a novel spin coating/melt method from cadmium ethylxanthato [Cd(C2H5OCS2)2] and zinc ethylxanthato [Zn(C2H5OCS2)2] in x ratios of 0-0.15 and of 1. A solution of the precursor(s) in THF was spin coated onto a glass substrate and then heated at 250 °C for 1 h under N2. The thickness of the film forme...
Article
Achieving control of the surface chemistry of colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) is essential to fully exploit their properties in solar cells, but direct measurement of the chemistry and electronic structure in the outermost atomic layers is challenging. Here we probe the surface oxidation and passivation of cation-exchanged PbS/CdS core/shell CQDs wit...
Article
We report measurements of multiple exciton generation and recombination in InP/CdS (core/shell) colloidal quantum dots. Ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy was used to measure the sub-nanosecond charge dynamics for a range of pump fluences and for different pump photon energies. Analysis of the resulting transients was used to determine the...
Conference Paper
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A laboratory based terahertz cyclotron resonance spectrometer is used to determine 2D electron gas parameters in an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure. The modified ASOPS system acquires ∼100 terahertz-traces under a 14 ms long multi-Tesla magnetic field pulse.
Article
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We report on the characterization of the intrinsic, anisotropic, dielectric properties of wurtzite gallium nitride in the spectral range of 0.5 to 11THz, using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The ordinary (ε˜⊥) and extraordinary (ε˜∥) components of the complex dielectric function were determined experimentally for a semi-insulating, m-plane gal...
Article
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The effective mass, sheet carrier concentration, and mobility of electrons within a two-dimensional electron gas in an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure were determined using a laboratory-based terahertz cyclotron resonance spectrometer. The ability to perform terahertz cyclotron resonance spectroscopy with magnetic fields of up to 31 T was enabled by com...