Professor Andrew Hector

Profile

Professor Andrew Hector specialises in materials synthesis and characterisation with a focus on materials with electrochemical applications.

Andrew’s group employs a range of solid state, sol-gel, precursor decomposition, solvothermal and electrochemical methods in synthesis. Production of morphologies needed for specific applications, such as ordered porosity, thin films and composites, sit alongside making a specific material. Application areas include catalysis, charge storage, electronics and nanomaterials synthesis.

For materials characterisation, Andrew’s research group uses the superb facilities at the University of Southampton and beyond, including instruments for powder and thin film diffraction and small angle scattering studies at Southampton and at synchrotron X-ray (Diamond Light Source) and neutron (ISIS and ILL) central facilities. They also use electron microscopy to examine microstructure and nanostructure, EDX, WDX and XPS to examine compositions, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy for local structure and oxidation state information.

Andrew came to Southampton in 1995 as a postdoctoral research fellow, first in complex fluorides and oxyfluorides, then in lithium battery cathode materials. He took up a Royal Society University Research Fellowship to study precursor routes to new metal nitride compositions and processing methods before joining the academic team. He works with a variety of commercial organisations; in recent years this has included consultancy work around materials problems, InnovateUK-funded projects and sponsorship of research work, alongside regular contributions through Southampton’s Instrumental Methods in Electrochemistry summer school.