Name:

Fiona Blighe

Contact details

Phone 353-1-7006009 E-mail: fiona.blighe@dcu.ie Fax:353-1-7007995

Qualifications

PhD in Physics, Trinity College Dublin (2008) Thesis Title: “Preparation and Characterisation of Carbon Nanotube Films and Composites”. Supervised by Profs. Werner Blau and Jonathan Coleman. Examined by Profs. W.I. Milne (Cambridge University Engineering Department) & Eithne McCabe (School of Physics,TCD). BA Mod in Natural Science. Trinity College Dublin (2002) Specialised in the “Physics and Chemistry of Advanced Materials”

Project Summary

There is an explosive growth in the demand for new sensors in areas such as environmental monitoring, healthcare monitoring and industrial process monitoring. New materials are being sought that will enable miniaturised sensors to be developed with reduced cost, increased accuracy, lower detection limits, rapid response times and a decrease in power consumption. In order to improve on current sensor/actuator technologies, components need to be smaller, more efficient, possess lower detection limits, have faster response times and exhibit both increased toughness and extended lifetimes. The synthesis of new smart materials is a critical requirement if these demands are to be met. My current area of interest is developing arrangements of pseudo one dimensional materials as responsive platforms for sensing applications. These platforms maintain high surface areas while out-performing bulk materials in their ability to respond to changes in their environment.

Publications

“Stabilization of Polyaniline Nanofiber Films using Carbon Nanotubes” Fiona M Blighe, Emer Lahiff, Jonathan Coleman & Dermot Diamond. Submitted 2011. “The Effect of Nanotube Content and Orientation on the Mechanical Properties of Polymer–Nanotube Composite Fibers: Separating Intrinsic Reinforcement from Orientational Effects” Fiona M Blighe, Karen Young et al., Advanced Functional Materials 2010 available online. “Strong Dependence of Mechanical Properties on Fiber Diameter for Polymer Nanotube Composite Fibers: Differentiating Defect from Orientation Effects.” Karen young, Fiona M Blighe et al. ACS Nano 2010 4, 6989-6997. “Tough yet stiff composites by filling an elastomer with single walled nanotubes” Fiona M Blighe, Werner J Blau and Jonathan Coleman, Nanotechnology 2008 19 415709. “On the factors controlling the mechanical properties of nanotube films” Fiona M Blighe, Philip Lyons, Sukanta De, Werner J Blau and Jonathan Coleman, Carbon 2008 46 41-47. “Observation of percolation-like scaling, far from the percolation threshold, in high volume fraction, high conductivity polymer-nanotube composite films” Fiona M Blighe, Yenny R Hernandez, Werner J Blau and Jonathan N Coleman, Advanced Materials 2007 19 4443. “Preparation of Buckypaper–Copper Composites and Investigation of their Conductivity and Mechanical Properties” MT Byrne, YR Hernandez, T Conaty, FM Blighe, JN ColemanYK Gun'ko. ChemPhysChem 2009 10, 774-777. “The relationship between network morphology and conductivity in nanotube films” Philip E. Lyons, Sukanta De, Fiona M Blighe, Valeria Nicolosi, Luiz Filipe C. Pereira, Mauro S. Ferreira and Jonathan N. Coleman, Journal of Applied Physics 2008 104 44302. “Comparison of carbon nanotubes and nanodisks as percolative fillers in electrically conductive composites” Yenny R. Hernandez, Alex Gryson, Fiona M Blighe, Martin Cadek, Valeria Nicolosi, Werner J. Blau, Yurii K. Gunko and Jonathan N. Coleman, Scripta Materialia 2008 58 69. “Strong, tough electrospun polymer-nanotube composite membranes with extremely low density” Blond D, Walshe W, Young K, Blighe FM, Umar Khan, Almecija D, Carpenter L, McCauley J, Blau WJ and Coleman JN, Advanced Functional Materials 2008 18 1. “High-yield production of graphene by liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite” Yenny Hernandez, Valeria Nicolosi, Mustafa Lotya, Fiona M Blighe, et al Nature Nanotechnology 2008 3 563.

Further Information

Funding awarded: Awarded an IRCSET EMPOWER Research Fellowship in 2009 Other Experience: Post Doctoral Research Fellow 2008-2009 School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin As a researcher in “The Chemical Physics of One Dimensional Structures” group (PI Prof. Jonathan Coleman) my work focused on the development of novel electronic and mechanical materials for next-generation technologies. Research Assistant Jul-Dec 2001 Sustech GmbH & Co. KG, Technical University Darmstadt, Germany Visiting Research Scientist, worked on the recrystalisation of teeth with hyrdroxyapatite.