Dr Andrea Laybourn

Profile

Dr Andrea Laybourn (she/her) attained an MChem in Medicinal Chemistry with Pharmacology in 2008 and a PhD in Materials Chemistry in 2012 from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Liverpool. Her PhD, under the supervision of Profs Dave Adams, Yaroslav Khimyak, and Andy Cooper FRS, involved the synthesis and characterisation of amorphous porous polymers with a strong focus on solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Following this, she undertook postdoctoral research on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) in the School of Chemistry and Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham with Profs Martin Schröder, Neil Champness, and Sam Kingman FREng.

In 2012, she was awarded a prestigious three-year Nottingham Research Fellowship to develop continuous flow microwave methodologies for the production of MOFs. She was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham from 2019-2024. During this time she received the 2023 Barrer Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) for “Outstanding contributions towards developing the sustainable synthesis of porous materials, with a particular emphasis on microwave and continuous flow synthesis”. She also completed a PGCHE awarded by the School of Education at the University of Nottingham in 2023.

Dr Laybourn was awarded a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship in 2024 to develop AI-driven self-optimising continuous flow microwave technologies for porous materials production. She joined the Institute of Process Research and Development and Digital and Sustainable Chemistry Section of the School of Chemistry at the University of Leeds in January 2025, where she is currently a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Associate Professor of Suststainable Materials Manufacture. Dr Laybourn is strong advocate for EDI and supporting early-career researchers and is a member of the Women’s Engineering Society, Fellow of AdvanceHE, and Secretary of the award-winning RSC Porous Materials Interest Group.

Research interests

Dr Laybourn’s research interests lie within  ultrafast materials processing using microwaves and continuous flow and automated technologies, particularly for the sustainable production of porous and/or functional materials such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Her current research involves: understanding the interactions between microwaves and materials through dielectric spectroscopy, using microwave heating to prepare and control the structures and properties of materials, the development of new technologies and reactors that deliver reduced manufacturiung and processing costs, automation and machine learning for use in self-optimising reactors, and the application of porous materials (e.g. MOFs) for environmental remediation (addressing air and water pollution), in catalysis, in energy (e.g. batteries), and sensing in healthcare. Dr Laybourn’s group is based within the Institute of Process Research and Development (IPRD).

Fellowship: Engineering porous materials with precisely targeted properties using AI-driven self-optimising continuous flow microwave technologies, UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.

Grant: Perovskites in the Pipeline: Continuous-flow microwave synthesis of perovskites, Royal Society International Exchanges with the University of Nottingham and the Institute of Advanced Materials Universitat Jaume I, Spain.

Grant: Composite Membranes for H2 Purification, industry funded with the University of Nottingham and National Gas Transmission PLC.

Grant: Volatile organic compound sensing in healthcare using optical interrogation of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), EPSRC, with the University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals Trust. 

Grant: Variable-Temperature Thermochemical Energy Storage System and Heat Networks for Decarbonising the Buildings Sector, EPSRC, with the University of Nottingham.

Grant: SALEC: Safe and affordable low-energy cooking solutions for South Africa and Namibia, GCRF, with the Universities of Nottingham, Namibia, and North-West University, South Africa.

Fellowship: Delivering the next generation of porous materials through selective and targeted electromagnetic heating, Nottingham Research Fellowship.

Qualifications

• PhD Chemistry, University of Liverpool (2012)
• MChem (Hons) Medicinal Chemistry with Pharmacology, University of Liverpool (2008)
• PGCHE, University of Nottingham (2023)

Professional memberships

• MRSC
• FHEA
• MWES
• AffMIChemE

Research groups and institutes

• Institute of Process Research and Development