Visiting Speaker - Dr. Jonathan Foster

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Programmable two-dimensional materials

Liquid exfoliation is a simple and scalable approach for converting layered materials into two-dimensional nanosheets. Early studies focused on inorganic materials such as graphene, but more recent examples have shown this approach can be adapted to molecular materials such as metal-organic frameworks and most recently other supramolecular frameworks. The diverse and tunable chemistry of these molecular nanosheets, combined with their high surface area, aspect ratios, and nanoscopic dimensions make them ideal for a wide range of sensing, catalysis, electronics and separation applications.¹
Our distinct approach has been to systematically vary surface functionalities to understand the fundamental design principles behind creating high-aspect ratio nanosheets in good yields and add useful functionalities.^2-4 We have also worked with a wide range of academic and industrial collaborators to explore the use of our nanosheets in applications ranging from solar cells^5,6 and biomedical sensors⁷ to catalysts for protein⁸ and pesticide hydrolysis⁹ as well as gels for differential release.¹⁰ Recently we have been asking “how weak can we go” in terms of the interactions that hold together nanosheets and have reported the first examples of both hydrogen¹¹ and halogen¹² bonded nanosheets formed through liquid exfoliation.

References:
[1] J. Nicks et al., Adv. Funct. Mater., 2021, 31, 2103723; [2] D. J. Ashworth et al., Inorg. Chem., 2019, 58, 10837–10845; [3] D. J. Ashworth et al., Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 7986–7994; [4] J. Nicks et al., Chem. Commun., 2019, 55, 8788-8791; [5] K. Sasitharan, et al., Adv. Sci. 2022, 9, 2200366; [6] D. J. Ashworth et al., Chem. Eng. J., 2023, 477, 146871; [7] A. C. Wood et al., Small, 2025, 21, e2406339; [8] N. D. Savić et al., Adv. Funct. Mater., 2025, 35, 2570129; [9] R. R. R. Prasad et al., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2024, 16, 17812–17820; [10] J. Tan et al., Adv. Funct. Mater., 2025, 26, e07474; [11] J. Nick et al., Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 3322–3327; [12] P. C. Purba et al., Adv. Sci., 2025, 12, e07800.

Biography

Dr. Jonathan Foster (Jona – pronounced “John-ah”) graduated with an MChem from the University of Durham in 2008, where he also completed a PhD in the groups of Professor Jonathan Steed and Professor Judith Howard CBE FRS. He undertook post-doctoral positions at the University of Cambridge in the groups of Professor Jonathan Nitschke and Professor Anthony Cheetham FRS.
In 2015 he was awarded a Ramsay Memorial Trust Fellowship and the position of Vice Chancellors Fellow which he held in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Sheffield where he is now a senior lecturer.
Jona has experience working with a wide range of nano-structured and supramolecular materials including gels, polymers, cages and frameworks. His current work focusses on developing new classes of programmable two-dimensional materials for a wide range of sensing, catalytic, separation and energy applications.