Nicola Gaston

I am interested in understanding the development and variation of physical properties in materials as a function of size, from clusters of a few atoms, to large nanoparticles and bulk materials. My current research is focused on understanding the relationship between electronic structure and properties such as catalytic activity, chemical reactivity, conductivity and thermodynamic stability, and how this relates to the underlying structure (size, shape, composition) of the material. We use a range of ab initio quantum mechanical techniques to describe electronic structure and the way it depends on the chemical and physical environment.