Professor Nicola Morley
MPhys, PhD, MInstP
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Deputy Head of School
Professor in Material Physics
School One University Director
+44 114 222 5935
Full contact details
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
91探花
S1 3JD
- Profile
-
I was appointed as Lecturer to the department of Materials Science and Engineering in May 2005 and promoted to Senior Lecturer in January 2014 and Professor in January 2019.
My research is based in the Functional Magnetic Materials and Devices group (FMM). Previously, I was a postdoctoral research assistant in the FMM group at the University of 91探花 (2003-2005).
I was awarded my PhD from the University of Durham in 2003, and graduated from the University of Oxford in 1999 with a MPhys in Physics.
- Research interests
-
My research involves investigating different functional magnetic materials (magnetocaloric, magnetostrictive, soft and hard magnets) using novel techniques such as spark plasma sintering (SPS), additive layer manufacture (ALM) and thin film deposition, to determine how the structural and microstructural properties influence the functional and mechanical properties, for applications including refrigeration, structural health monitoring and electric motors. The work includes studying element substitution, high entropy alloys, and materials design using computational methods (Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning).
Key research interests:
- Materials Informatics, which combines computational techniques (Natural Language processing, Machine Learning) with high-throughput fabrication (thin films and additive manufacturing) and characterisation (MOKE, XRD) to discover new materials, this has been focused on high entropy alloys for applications including corrosion resistant materials, soft magnetic materials and fusion materials
- Combinatorial design studies of magnetic high entropy alloys, using high-throughput thin film fabrication and characterisation to determine how the functional properties are influenced by the structural properties, with the aim to gain further understanding of these materials and discover new soft magnetic materials
- Developing magnetostrictive damage sensors to detect barely visible damage on aerospace composites, including composite repair and using magnetic nanoparticles in the epoxy
- Developing new processing techniques including additive manufacturing for magnetocaloric and magnetostrictive materials for commercial applications
- Using muon spectroscopy to study the transport mechanisms of different solar cell materials (polymers and inorganic-organic hybrid materials)
- Investigating the use of underlayers and dopants in Fe-based thin films, to understand how the magnetic properties are altered at phase boundaries within films including FeCo, FeGa, FeCoNi, for use in MEMS sensors and actuators, energy harvesters and spin wave sensors
- Publications
-
Journal articles
- . Materials Research Bulletin, 112970-112970.
- . Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 44(16).
- . Materials Chemistry and Physics, 129751-129751.
- . Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 986, 173770-173770.
- . Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 979, 173593-173593.
- . Powder Technology, 438, 119469-119469.
- . Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 976, 173406-173406.
- . AIP Advances, 14(1).
- . Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 365, 114888-114888.
- . Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 972, 172847-172847.
- . Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 585, 171115-171115.
- . Solid State Communications, 373-374, 115317-115317.
- . ACS Omega, 8(44), 41169-41181.
- . Advanced Engineering Materials.
- . Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 170644-170644.
- . Acta Materialia, 256, 119113-119113.
- . Materials Today Physics, 36, 101183-101183.
- . Physica B: Condensed Matter, 661, 414927-414927.
- . Journal of Molecular Structure, 1282, 135258-135258.
- . Energy Conversion and Management: X, 19.
- . Materials Science and Engineering: B, 291, 116407-116407.
- . Chinese Journal of Physics.
- . Composites Communications, 39, 101571-101571.
- . Molecules, 28(6).
- . Advanced Materials Interfaces.
- . Materials Today Communications, 34, 105371-105371.
- . Materials Chemistry and Physics, 299.
- . Journal of Rare Earths.
- . Journal of Ovonic Research, 19(1), 65-72.
- . Materials Chemistry and Physics, 294.
- . Chemical Data Collections, 42.
- . Journal of Alloys and Compounds.
- . Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 919.
- . Materials Letters, 311.
- . Intermetallics, 144.
- . Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism.
- . Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology.
- . Materials Chemistry and Physics, 275.
- . Journal of Composites Science, 5(12).
- . Composites Science and Technology, 216.
- . Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism, 34(11), 2945-2955.
- . Micromachines, 12(10).
- . Chinese Physics B.
- . Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics.
- . Advanced Engineering Materials.
- . Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, 154.
- . Journal of Alloys and Compounds.
- . Nature Materials.
- . Materials Chemistry and Physics, 262.
- . Magnetochemistry, 7(2).
- . Materials Today Energy.
- . Physica B: Condensed Matter.
- . Scientific Reports, 10(1).
- . Ceramics International.
- . Journal of Molecular Structure.
- . Thin Solid Films.
- . Sensors, 20(3).
- . Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials.
- . IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 55(7).
- . IEEE Transactions on Magnetics.
- . Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 451, 300-304.
- . Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 51.
- . Synthetic Metals, 234, 177-179.
- . Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 439, 353-357.
- . Advanced Functional Materials, 27(31).
- . Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 694, 1189-1195.
- . Nature Materials, 16, 467-473.
- . Physical Review Letters, 117(10).
- . Applied Physics A: Materials Science and Processing, 122(8).
- . Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 401, 943-948.
- . Applied Physics Letters, 108(1).
- . Applied Surface Science, 359, 704-713.
- . Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 48(30), 305005-305005.
- . Journal of Applied Physics, 118(3), 034102-034102.
- . Synthetic Metals, 208, 21-25.
- . IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 50(11), 1-4.
- . Applied Surface Science.
- . Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 357, 87-92.
- . Physica Scripta, 88(6).
- . Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, 88(18).
- . Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 331, 67-71.
100-x gax (10 鈮 x 鈮 35) thin films. Nukleonika, 58(1), 27-30.
M枚ssbauer study of vacuum annealed Fe- . Synthetic Metals.
- . Synthetic Metals, 173, 1-1.
- . Applied Surface Science.
- . J APPL PHYS, 110(4).
- . Nature Materials, 10(3), 252-252.
- . Applied Surface Science, 257(14), 5977-5983.
- . Synthetic Metals, 161(7-8), 558-562.
- . Applied Surface Science, 257(13), 5586-5590.
- . HIGH PRESSURE RES, 31(1), 148-152.
- . Acta Physica Polonica A, 119(1), 21-23.
- Effect of growth parameters on the structure and magnetic properties of thin polycrystalline Fe films fabricated on Si銆1 0 0銆 substrates. Applied Surface Science.
- A comparative study of the microstructural and magnetic properties of fenced(1 1 0) textured thin polycrystalline Fe100-x Ga x (10 鈮 x 鈮 35) films. Applied Surface Science.
- . IEEE T MAGN, 46(6), 1307-1310.
- . ACTA MATER, 58(11), 4003-4011.
- . Acta Materialia, 58(11), 4003-4011.
- Polymeric spin-valves at room temperature. Synthetic Metals.
- Engineering spin propagation across a hybrid organic/inorganic interface using a polar layer. Nature Materials.
- . J MAGN MAGN MATER, 321(18), 2877-2882.
- . NAT MATER, 8(2), 109-114.
- . J VAC SCI TECHNOL A, 26(4), 581-586.
- . PHYS REV LETT, 100(11).
- . PHYS REV B, 75(9).
- . J PHYS-CONDENS MAT, 18(39), 8781-8789.
- . J MAGN MAGN MATER, 300(2), 436-444.
- . J APPL PHYS, 99(8).
- . INTERMAG 2006 - IEEE International Magnetics Conference, 93.
- . J PHYS-CONDENS MAT, 17(46), 7253-7262.
- . J PHYS-CONDENS MAT, 17(7), 1201-1208.
- . J PHYS-CONDENS MAT, 16(23), 4121-4129.
- . Superconductor Science and Technology, 15(6), 888-893.
- . IEEE Transactions on Appiled Superconductivity, 11(1), 3599-3602.
- . IEEE Transactions on Appiled Superconductivity, 11(1), 3619-3622.
- . Nanotechnology.
- . Sensors, 24(14), 4657-4657.
- . Physica Scripta.
- . Rare Metals.
- . Materials Advances.
- Predictive modelling of laser powder bed fusion of Fe-based nanocrystalline alloys based on experimental data using multiple linear regression analysis. Heliyon.
- . Advanced Engineering Materials.
Conference proceedings papers
- Hydration of calcium [alumino] ferrite with limestone. Further Reduction of CO2 -Emissions and Circularity in the Cement and Concrete Industry (pp 209-212). Bangkok, Thailand, 18 September 2023 - 18 September 2023.
- Effect of synthesis conditions, Zn doping and Al/Fe ratio on calcium [alumino] ferrite structure. Further Reduction of CO2 -Emissions and Circularity in the Cement and Concrete Industry, Vol. 1 (pp 94-97). Bangkok, Thailand, 18 September 2023 - 18 September 2023.
- Hydration of Calcium [Alumino] Ferrite with Limestone. Thailand Concrete Association, (ed.) Further Reduction of CO2 -Emissions and Circularity in the Cement and Concrete Industry
- . 2023 IEEE International Magnetic Conference - Short Papers (INTERMAG Short Papers), 15 May 2023 - 19 May 2023.
- Thermomagnetic Cooling for High Power Density Electrical Machines. IEEE, 9 October 2022 - 13 October 2022.
- . 2018 IEEE International Magnetics Conference (INTERMAG), 23 April 2018 - 27 April 2018.
- . Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 903 (pp 012041-012041)
- . Journal of Physics : Conference Series, Vol. 903(1)
- . IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 24 April 2017 - 28 April 2017.
- . 2017 IEEE International Magnetics Conference (INTERMAG), 24 April 2017 - 28 April 2017.
- Measuring continuous concentration of mass pollutants in the aquatic environment. ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, Vol. 251
- . 2015 IEEE SENSORS, 1 November 2015 - 4 November 2015.
- . Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 551 (pp 012042-012042)
- Mossbauer study of vacuum annealed Fe100-xGax (10 <= x <= 35) thin films. NUKLEONIKA, Vol. 58(1) (pp 27-30)
- . JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 107(9)
- . JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 105(7)
- . JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 105(7)
- . IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, Vol. 44(11) (pp 2670-2673)
- . JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 103(7)
- . JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 97(10)
- . JOURNAL OF MAGNETISM AND MAGNETIC MATERIALS, Vol. 286 (pp 91-94)
- . JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 95(11) (pp 6555-6557)
Preprints
- Teaching activities
-
The following modules I teach on:
- MAT1910 - Introduction to Nanoscience and Nanomaterials
- MAT3210 - Advanced Functional Materials
- MAT6664: Nanomaterials
- First/Second Year Tutor
- UG/PGT Project supervisor
- Professional activities and memberships
-
- Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- Member of the Institute of Physics (IoP)
- Member of the IEEE Magnetic Society Administration Committee
- Case Study - High Entropy Alloys
High Entropy Alloys: The next big thing in soft magnetic films?
"I had been working for twelve years in academia and hit a point where I had a done a lot of teaching, research and administration. I had applied for and lost a big grant to pursue a new research area, making me realise that I needed to step back from my other duties and get back into the lab to see where this research could go, so I applied for the Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship.
"'High Entropy Alloys' are big buzzwords with the materials science field, having only been discovered a decade ago. I noticed this area was underdeveloped within my own research area of magnetic materials, with only ~10 published papers on their magnetics properties, so I saw an opportunity to tune the properties within my fellowship and found that they had stranger behaviour than I had anticipated. The fellowship allowed me to explore this new area and discover these novel properties.
"My research was productive in this year and was promoted to Professor (despite only applying to Reader level) as a direct result of my fellowship. Without this fellowship, it is likely that I would only have been promoted to a Reader position with a heavier teaching load and not as much time for lab-based research. There was also benefit for the magnetics research group as in the year and a half since my fellowship, we have brought in 拢2.5m of research funding, compared to only 拢500k in the prior five years.
"I was known in the community prior to this fellowship, but since I have been invited to more conferences and was invited to sit on the Women in Magnetism International Group. The Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship came at the right time, when my kids were old enough that I could spend more time on research and has grown my confidence, setting off more career opportunities since."
Case study from .