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Professor Jennifer MacLeod
Faculty of Science,
Office of the Deputy Dean
Biography
Jennifer MacLeod holds MSc and PhD degrees in Physics from Queen’s University (Canada), where she worked on instrumentation development for scanning tunneling microscopy studies of semiconductor surfaces. Jennifer has since held a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Università degli Studi di Trieste (Italy) and a Research Associate position at INRS (Canada), where she worked on a range of topics in nanoscience. After coming to QUT in 2015, she received an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) to support her work. Her current research interests include self-assembly and reactions of molecules at surfaces, and the growth and modification of graphene and other 2D materials. She draws on a range of experimental and computational techniques, with a focus on using scanning probe microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to elucidate these systemsPersonal details
Positions
- Deputy Dean
Faculty of Science,
Office of the Deputy Dean - Professor
Faculty of Science,
School of Chemistry & Physics
Keywords
surface science, nanoscience, microscopy, spectroscopy, diffraction, on-surface chemistry, molecular self-assembly
Research field
Condensed matter physics, Nanotechnology
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- PhD (Queen's University at Kingston)
- MSc (Queen's University at Kingston)
Professional memberships and associations
Memberships
- Australian Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI)
- Vacuum Society of Australia (VSA)
Professional pages
Teaching
Dr MacLeod teaches a range of topics in physics. Her contributions have included the following:
- SEB122 - Physics in the Real World - Lecturer
- SEB420 - Technological Frontiers - Lecturer and Unit Coordinator
- PVB203 - Experimental Physics - Lecturer
- PVB301 - Materials and Thermal Physics - Lecturer
- PVB304 - Physics Research - Lecturer and Unit Coordinator
- PVB321 - Introduction to Experimental Nanotechnology - Lecturer
- EGB113 - Energy in Engineering Systems - Lecturer
Publications
Research outputs by year
- Lennox, J., Pepper, R., Martens, W., Gray, V., Alarco, J., MacLeod, J. & Couperthwaite, S. (2026). Connection between alumina doping methodology and performance: a review. Ceramics International, 52(12), 18024–18049. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/264770
- Cao, T., Shi, X., Hu, B., Liu, S., Li, N., Li, M., Lyu, W., Wang, S., Chen, W., Zheng, Z., Pei, J., MacLeod, J. & Chen, Z. (2026). Integrated Physical Vapor Deposition and Vapor Reaction Approach Advances High-Performance Flexible Ag2Te Thin-Film Thermoelectrics. Advanced Functional Materials, 36(41), Article e26075. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/263699
- Kaur, J., Wang, X., Alarco, J. & MacLeod, J. (2026). Thermally Engineered Rice Husk-Derived Carbon Anodes with Metal Oxide Hybridization. ACS Sustainable Resource Management, 3(4), 1073–1084. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/264976
- Cao, T., Shi, X., Hu, B., Yang, Q., Lyu, W., Sun, S., Yin, L., Liu, Q., Chen, W., Wang, X., Liu, S., Li, M., Liu, W., Tesfamichael, T., Liu, Q., MacLeod, J. & Chen, Z. (2025). Advancing Ag2Se thin-film thermoelectrics via selenization-driven anisotropy control. Nature Communications, 16(1), Article 1555. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/256109
- Cao, T., Shi, X., Hu, B., Liu, S., Lyu, W., Li, M., Wang, S., Chen, W., Liu, W., Moshwan, R., Tesfamichael, T., MacLeod, J. & Chen, Z. (2025). Indium-Doping Advances High-Performance Flexible Ag2Se Thin Films. Advanced Science, 12(18), Article 2500364. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/256348
- Zebardastan, N., Bradford, J., MacLeod, J. & Motta, N. (2025). Influence of Epitaxial Graphene Substrate Morphology on the Orientation of CVD-Grown MoS2 Monolayers. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 129(16), 7939–7946. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/257201
- Dandriyal, A., Patil, S., MacLeod, J., Golberg, D., Sudakar, C. & Dubal, D. (2025). The Role of Interphase Engineering for the Development of Stable Anode-Free Batteries. Small, 21(48), Article e08811. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/261162
- Tallon, B., Lipton-Duffin, J. & MacLeod, J. (2024). Exfoliation of Graphene onto Si(111)-7 × 7 under Ultrahigh Vacuum Provides Some Protection against Exposure to Air. Langmuir, 40(48), 25692–25697. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/257200
- Wang, X., Barclay, M., Zhou, R., Zhou, R., Cullen, P., MacLeod, J., O'Mullane, A. & Ostrikov, K. (2024). Graphene nanosheet-supported ultrafine RuO2 quantum dots as electrochemical energy materials. Materials Today Sustainability, 25, Article 100646. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/252170
- Perera, M., Barclay, M., Ostrikov, K., MacLeod, J. & O'Mullane, A. (2024). Plasma-Electrified Synthesis of Atom-Efficient Electrocatalysts for Sustainable Water Catalysis and Beyond. ChemCatChem, 16(24), Article e202400899. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/254665
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Jennifer, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Filter publications:
A complete list of publications is available at: https://www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/jennifer.macleod
Selected research projects
- Title
- ARC Research Hub in Zero-emission Power Generation for Carbon Neutrality
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- IH230100005
- Start year
- 2024
- Keywords
- Title
- Controllable Quantum Phases in Two-Dimensional Metal-Organic Nanomaterials
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP240102006
- Start year
- 2024
- Keywords
- Title
- Doped alumina with tailored material properties for battery applications
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP210200938
- Start year
- 2022
- Keywords
- Title
- Plasma-Assisted On-Surface Assembly for Hydrogen Production and Beyond
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP210100472
- Start year
- 2021
- Keywords
- Title
- Electronic Structure on Both Sides of the Fermi Level in Molecular Material
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DE170101170
- Start year
- 2017
- Keywords
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Looking for a postgraduate research supervisor?
I am currently accepting research students for Honours, Masters and PhD study.
- Glassy 2D molecular materials
- Atomic-scale identification of catalyst active sites using electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy
You can browse existing student topics offered by QUT or propose your own topic.
Current supervisions
- Advanced Interface Engineering for Dendrite-Free Solid-State Metal-Ion Batteries
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Deepak Dubal, Distinguished Professor Dmitri Golberg - Controlled Synthesis and Characterization of Self-Supporting Covalent Organic Framework Membranes
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Aaron Micallef, Adjunct Professor Steven Bottle - Engineering Advanced Anode Materials for High-Performance Lithium and Sodium-Ion Batteries
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Deepak Dubal, Distinguished Professor Dmitri Golberg - Exploring Nanomaterials for Efficient Ammonium-Ion Based Energy Storage Systems
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Deepak Dubal, Professor Prashant Sonar - Flexible thermoelectric materials and devices for wearable electronics
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Zhigang Chen, Dr Xiaolei Shi - Investigating the efficacy of controlled chemical methods in fabricating Metal-Oxide TENGs
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Deepak Dubal, Professor Cameron Brown - Investigating the Mechanical and Surface Characteristics of Doped Alumina for Implementation in Battery Separators
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Wayde Martens, Professor Sara Couperthwaite, Dr Rachel Pepper, Associate Professor Joshua Watts - Nano- structures of high energy density anode materials for Li- ion batteries
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Joseph Fernando, Adjunct Professor Jose Alarco, Professor Prashant Sonar - On-surface synthesis of one-dimensional organic polymers
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Josh Lipton-Duffin, Associate Professor Kathleen Mullen - Optimising graphene transfer on nanostructured silicon substrates using focused ion beam milling in vacuum
MPhil, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Josh Lipton-Duffin, Dr Konstantin Faershteyn
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- High-performing flexible thermoelectric materials and devices for near-room-temperature applications (2026)
- An Inverse Photoemission Spectrometer Using both UV and Low-energy Detection Ranges (2025)
- Computational Discovery and Design of Low-Dimensional Magnetic Materials (2025)
- Development of bioinspired multifunctional nanocomposites (2023)
- Graphene-based materials for li-ion capacitors (LICs) (2023)
- Plasma-enabled on-surface synthesis (2023)
- Van der Waals epitaxy of transition metal dichalcogenides on graphene (2023)
- Plasma assisted nanomaterials synthesis from sustainable sources (2022)
- Assembly and Reactions of Carboxylic Acids on Metal-Passivated Silicon (2021)
- Investigating The Surface of Graphitic Electrodes for Supercapacitors (2021)
Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)
- Investigating Dissociative Electron Attachment (DEA) on surface-supported small carboxylated molecules (2026)
- Cold plasma-treated titanium surfaces coated with polydopamine/copper resist endotoxin-induced surface oxidation and the promotion of tissue healing (2023)
- Graphene Layers for Corrosion Protection of Steel (2022)
- Ullmann Dehalogenation of Dibromoferrocene for the Formation of Surface-confined Molecular Rotors (2021)
- Modification of Small-Molecule Organic Thin Films Using Energetic Beams and Plasma (2019)
- Synthesis and Characterisation of Covalent Organic Frameworks as Thin Films (2019)
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.