A‌dam works on developing our understanding of the fundamental features behind controlling surface tension. Fluorocarbon surfactants provide the lowest reduction of aqueous surface tension. However, due to their toxicity there is now a developing requirement to design replacement surfactants. Hydrocarbon surfactants offer an alternative free from the constraints imposed by fluorocarbon surfactants. However, until very recently, hydrocarbon surfactants have not been able to achieve aqueous surface tensions which rival those of similar fluorocarbon analogues. This has been achieved by branching the tail structure to generate dense surfactant tail layers which mimics a pure alkane. Adam synthesises novel highly branched hydrocarbon surfactants and designs experiments to explore their properties in various ways through techniques including neutron scattering and tensiometry.

Adam is a keen pianist and enjoys ‌amateur astronomy.

 

Publications:

Surfactants at the design limit.

Trimethylsilyl hedgehogs - a novel class of super-efficient hydrocarbon surfactants