Biography
BSc, Chemistry, University of East Anglia, 1987
DPhil, Department of Theoretical and Physical Chemistry, Oxford, 1991
Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, 1992-2002
Research
Our research unites a range of interdisciplinary technologies including; microfabrication, fluid dynamics, numerical simulations, spectroscopic analysis and electrochemical methodology. These technologies are employed to design, manufacture and apply microscale reactor systems for the development of the next generation of (bio)chemical sensors.
Microreactor fabrication
The sensor technology is designed and constructed using our own dedicated microfabrication facilities. This approach allows us to create flow through cells of optimal sensor configurations, with critical dimensions in the range, Height: 10-50 μm, Width: 40-200 μm and Length: 500+ μm, The motivation of the research is the development of new/efficient (bio)chemical based sensors and the microfabrication approach offers many potential advantages over traditional larger scale technologies, eg
- A vast range of optimised experimental geometries can be rapidly fabricated and tested
- The minute mixing and reaction chambers offer significant improvements in analysis times and the sample volumes required.
- Wide range of sensor applications are possible (eg biochemical, electroanalytical chemistry, modified electrodes, etc).
Computer aided design
The group also uses computational methods in order to aid in the design and analysis stages of the sensor development. In these simulations finite element based codes are used in order to, (i) predict the fluid flow properties within candidate reactor designs, (ii) calculate the chemical reactant/intermediate/product distribution within the cells (iii) extract kinetic/mechanistic parameters for processes of interest (iv) act as a computer aided design tool for the optimisation of candidate sensor configurations.
Publications
K Yunus, IE Henley and AC Fisher, Voltammetry under microfluidic control: Computer aided design and application of novel microelectrochemical reactors, J.Phys.Chem.B, 3878,107,(2003).
BA Brookes, TJ Davies, AC Fisher, RG Evans, SJ Wilkins, K Yunus and RG Compton. A computational and experimental study of cyclic voltammetry response of partially blocked electrodes, Part I: Non overlapping uniformly distributed blocking systems, J.Phys.Chem.B, 1616,107,(2003).
MJ Cass, FL Qiu, AB Walker, AC Fisher, LM Peter, Dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cells: The influence of TiO2 gain topography and electrolyte transport, J.Phys.Chem.B, 949,106,(2003).
FL Qiu and AC Fisher, The boundary element method: Chronoamperometric simulations at microelectrodes. Elec.Commun., 87,5,(2003).
SS Hill, RAW Dryfe, EPL Roberts, AC Fisher and K Yunus, Hydrodynamic study of ion transfer at the liquid/liquid interface: The channel flow cell, Anal.Chem., 486, 75, (2003)
