Abigail Collins

Abi joined the group as a PhD student in October 2019. Originally from Coventry, she graduated in 2017 with a 2:1 BSc in Chemistry from the University of St Andrews, and again in 2018 with a Distinction MSc in Polymer Chemistry from the University of Warwick. Abi’s PhD project focused on the development of hybrid organic-inorganic polymer hosts to facilitate solid-state triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion. Upconversion layers are a type of spectral converter for solar energy harvesting devices as part of the ERC funded SPECTRACON project. This project combines polymer chemistry and structural characterisation with photophysics, and explores the relationship between the two. Abi successfully defended her PhD in July 2024.

Current Research

Abi re-joined the group in October 2024 as a Postdoctoral Research Associate continuing on the SPECTRACON project. Her current work focuses on luminescent waveguide encoded lattices (LWELs) for enhancing light harvesting efficiency in indoor photovoltaics.

Publications

  • Ambient solid-state triplet–triplet annihilation upconversion in ureasil organic–inorganic hybrid hosts, Abigail R. Collins, Bolong Zhang, Michael J. Bennison and Rachel C. Evans, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2024,12, 6310-6318
  • Ultra-Small Air-Stable Triplet-Triplet Annihilation Upconversion Nanoparticles for Anti-Stokes Time-Resolved Imaging, Bolong Zhang, Kieran D. Richards, Beatrice E. Jones, Abigail R. Collins, Rosie Sanders, Sarah R. Needham, Pu Qian, Amoghavarsha Mahadevegowda, Caterina Ducati, Stanley W. Botchway, Rachel C. Evans, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2023, 137, 47, e202308602.
  • Organic Polymer Hosts for Triplet−Triplet Annihilation Upconversion Systems, Michael J. Bennison, Abigail R. Collins, Bolong Zhang and Rachel C. Evans, Macromolecules, 2021, 54, 5287-5303.
  • Photoactive organic-inorganic hybrid polymer waveguides for optical device technologies, Abigail R. Collins, Thomas J. F. Southern, Guangpeng Lyu, Michael J. Bennison and Rachel C. Evans*, Proc. SPIE 11367, Photosensitive Materials and their Applications, 113670Y, 2020, doi: 10.1117/12.2564510.

Prizes

  • #RSCPoster, 2023 – Awarded 1st place in the Energy category.
  • Next Gen Materials for Solar Photovoltaics, 2023 – Journal of Materials Chemistry C poster prize awarded.
  • STEM for Britain 2022 Competition – awarded by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee: Silver award in Chemistry for poster presentation and scientific communication. Prize of £1,000 sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry and Nutrition Society.
  • RSC Photophysics and Photochemistry Group Early Career Members’ meeting 2021 – Prize for 3-minute video “Green-to-Blue Photon Upconversion for Solar Energy Applications Using Organic-Inorganic Polymer Hosts” awarded by Horiba UK.

Outreach 

  • Cambridge Festival 2022 – ‘Electricity from colourful windows.’
  • She Talks Science, 2022 – Invited to speak by Murray Edwards College in a webinar series aimed at female students interested in studying STEM subjects at university.