Purifying the Future: Layers of Potential with 2D materials ft. Aine Coogan

In this episode

• How thin 2D materials are, and why Aine works with layered double hydroxides, a family she can tailor to different uses
• Her favourite lab instruments, from the scanning electron microscope to circular dichroism with circularly polarised light
• How a nanoscience degree at Trinity College Dublin turned into a PhD in the same group
• The project she is proudest of: 2D material membranes that filter dyes out of water and are then cleaned under a cheap LED lamp
• How ChatGPT suggested an alternative experiment for a reviewer’s question, and why she checked it against published papers first
• Her wishes: research funding in Ireland that matches its output, and proper rights for PhD students

Key Takeaways

• Materials-chemistry PhD at Trinity College Dublin on tunable 2D layered double hydroxides for water purification, catalysis and chirality/biomedical uses.
• Used ChatGPT ethically to pass a major reviewer revision, it suggested an alternative fluorescent radical-probe experiment when the required EPR kit wasn’t available (she then validated it against real papers and ran it).
• Any AI suggestion must be cross-checked and referenced, it can invent elements not in your starting materials.
• Loves outreach with kids because their open questions sharpen her research thinking and presentation skills.
• Wishes centre on Ireland chronically underfunding research (<1% of GDP vs EU’s 3%) and PhD students having no worker rights despite teaching and supervising.

Listen on

About the guest

Aine Coogan is a Materials Chemistry PhD Researcher at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, where she synthesises 2D nanomaterials for water purification by nanofiltration and for chiral biomedical applications. Her group added photocatalytic copper aluminium layered double hydroxides to boron nitride membranes so the filters can be reused rather than discarded. She holds a Bachelor’s in Nanoscience, Physics and Chemistry of Advanced Materials from Trinity.

Aine Coogan curated the Real Scientists Nano Twitter account (@RealSci_Nano) from June 26 to July 10 2023. Read all of Aine’s tweets from that week.