Dr Gareth Lloyd

Biography

I was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. After completing high school at St. John’s College (Harare, Zimbabwe) in 1997, I first followed my dream of being a professional runner in Stellenbosch, South Africa. I, eventually, started my studies at the University of Stellenbosch in 2000. At the end of my honours year I meet Prof. Len Barbour, with whom I then did an MSc, titled “Crystal Engineering of Porosity”. I received the S₂A₃ Bronze Medal from the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science for the thesis. After obtaining a Commonwealth Scholarship to study a Ph.D. in the U.K., I went to Durham University to work with Prof. Jon Steed. I received my Ph.D. in 2010, titled “Anion-Tuning of Supramolecular Gel Properties”. I currently hold a Herschel Smith Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship in Inorganic Materials in the Chemistry Department, Cambridge.

Qualifications 

2002     B.Sc. Bio-organic Chemistry (Stellenbosch, South Africa)

2003     B.Sc. Honours Chemistry cum laude (Stellenbosch, South Africa)

2006     M.Sc. Chemistry cum laude (Stellenbosch, South Africa)

2010     Ph.D. in Chemistry (Durham University, U.K.)

Research

I am a Supramolecular Chemist. Essentially, this means I am interested in how molecules interact with each other, either resulting in the formation of larger assemblies, such a gels and crystals, or how molecules recognise each other resulting in sensing or binding.

My current research is looking into functionalising the assembled molecules after the assembly has occurred, post-assembly modification (PAM). We are mostly looking into the new hybrid (contain both inorganic and organic functionality) crystalline materials know as coordination polymers or metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Functionality and applications we wish to design into these materials are gating, for selective release and capture of drug and hazardous molecules; selectivity, such as for CO₂ capture; addition of interesting properties such as paramagnetism, fluorescence; and catalysis.

Selected publications

Diffusion of water in a nonporous hydrophobic crystal. P. K. Thallapally, G. O. Lloyd, J. L. Atwood & L. J. Barbour, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2005, 44, 3848. (N.B. Editor’s Choice Letter in Science as Highlight in the Recent Literature titled ‘Chemistry: No Need For Pores?’, Science, 2005, 308, 1521.)

A discrete metallocyclic complex that retains its solvent-templated channel structure on guest removal to yield a porous, gas sorbing material. L. Dobrzanska, G. O. Lloyd, H. G. Raubenheimer & L. J. Barbour, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2005, 127, 13134.

Enclathration of morpholinium cations by Dianin's compound: salt formation by partial host-to-guest proton transfer. G. O. Lloyd, M. W. Bredenkamp & L. J. Barbour, Chem. Commun., 2005, 4053.

Water-assisted self-assembly of harmonic single and triple helices in a polymeric coordination complex. G. O. Lloyd, L. J. Barbour & J. L. Atwood, Chem. Commun., 2005, 1845.

Solid-State Self-Inclusion: The Missing Link. G. O. Lloyd, J. Alen, M. W. Bredenkamp, E. J. C. de Vries, C. E. Esterhuysen & L. J. Barbour, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2006, 45, 5354.

Gelation is crucially dependent on functional group orientation and may be tuned by anion binding. M. O. M. Piepenbrock, G. O. Lloyd, N. Clarke & J. W. Steed, Chem. Commun., 2008, 2644.

Borromean weave coordination polymer exhibiting saturated hydrogen bonding to anions and water cluster inclusion. P. Byrne, G. O. Lloyd, N. Clarke & J. W. Steed, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2008, 47, 5761.

(NB Research Highlights from: July titled ‘Coordination polymers: Ringing the changes’, Nature Chemistry, 2008, online at http://www.nature.com/nchem/reshigh/2008/0708/full/nchem.42.html.

Also selected by Editors of Nature Chemistry as one of their top Ten Highlights of 2008, online at http://blogs.nature.com/thescepticalchymist/2008/12/top_10_research_highlights_of.html

Anion-tuning of supramolecular gel properties, G. O. Lloyd & J. W. Steed, Nature Chem., 2009, 1, 437.

Metal- and Anion-Binding Supramolecular Gels, M.-O. M. Piepenbrock, G. O. Lloyd, N. Clarke & J. W. Steed, Chem. Rev., 2010, 110, 1960.

Other Interests

I have an unhealthy love for running and will often be seen partaking in activities associated with it.