Associate Professor
Jennifer MacLeod

Faculty of Science,
School of Chemistry & Physics
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
- Head of School
Faculty of Science,
School of Chemistry & Physics
Keywords
surface science, nanoscience, microscopy, spectroscopy, diffraction, on-surface chemistry, molecular self-assembly
Discipline
Condensed Matter Physics, Nanotechnology
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
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 for courses in Physics and Engineering. 2021
- SEB420 - Technological Frontiers - Lecturer and Unit Coordinator
- PVB203 - Experimental Physics - Lecturer
- PVB304 - Physics Research - Lecturer and Unit Coordinator
- EGB113 - Energy in Engineering Systems - Lecturer
- PVB321 - Introduction to Experimental Nanotechnology - Lecturer
2020
- PVB304 - Physics Research - Lecturer and Unit Coordinator
- EGB113 - Energy in Engineering Systems - Lecturer
- PVB321 - Introduction to Experimental Nanotechnology - Lecturer
2019
- PVB304 - Physics Research - Lecturer and Unit Coordinator
- EGB113 - Energy in Engineering Systems - Lecturer
- PVB321 - Introduction to Experimental Nanotechnology - Lecturer
- SEB104 - Grand Challenges in Science - Lecturer
2018
- PVB304 - Physics Research - Lecturer and Unit Coordinator
- EGB113 - Energy in Engineering Systems - Lecturer
- SEB104 - Grand Challenges in Science - Lecturer
2017
- PVB304 - Physics Research - Lecturer
- EGB113 - Energy in Engineering Systems - Lecturer
- SEB104 - Grand Challenges in Science - Lecturer
2016
- PVB304 - Physics Research - Lecturer
- ENB314 - Industrial Noise and Vibration - Demonstrator
- EGB113 - Energy in Engineering Systems - Lecturer
- PVB301 - Materials and Thermal Physics - Lecturer
- SEB104 - Grand Challenges in Science - Lecturer
2015
- PVB102 - Physics of the Very Small - Lecturer
- PVB304 - Physics Research - Lecturer
- ENB314 - Industrial Noise and Vibration - Demonstrator
- ENB222 - Thermodynamics 1 - Tutor
- PVB301 - Materials and Thermal Physics - Lecturer
Experience
Supervision of HDR students Dr. MacLeod currently supervises PhD and MSc students in the following areas:
- 2D Materials (applications and fundamental studies)
- Surface-confined reactions of small aromatic molecules
- Spatial constraint of graphene through ion-beam patterning
- Hybrid materials based on graphene, BN and MoS2
- Graphene for supercapacitors
- Graphene coatings for corrosion protection
- Controlled synthesis of covalent organic frameworks
- Materials modification through energetic beams
Professional Service Refereeing: Publons Conference organization:
- Organizing Committee, 9th Vacuum and Surface Science Conference of Asia and Australia, Sydney, NSW, 13-16 August 2018.
- Organizing Committee, International Symposium on Advanced Materials & Sustainable Technologies, Brisbane, QLD, 22-25 July 2018.
- Conference Chair, 42nd Condensed Matter and Materials Meeting, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 30 January - 02 February 2018.
- Organizing Committee, NanoS-E3 International School and Workshop, Brisbane, QLD, 26-29 September 2017.
- Local Organizing Committee, 5th International Symposium on Graphene Devices, Brisbane, QLD, 11-14 July 2016.
- Organizing Committee, NanoS-E3 International School and Workshop, Kingscliffe, NSW, 27 September-2 October 2015.
Selected publications
- Bialas S, Krappitz T, Walden S, Kalayci K, Kodura D, Frisch H, MacLeod J, Nelson A, Michalek L, Barner-Kowollik C, (2022) Light-Gated Control of Conformational Changes in Polymer Brushes, Advanced Materials Technologies, 7 (4).
- Jayalatharachchi V, MacLeod J, Lipton-Duffin J, (2021) Metal Microsubstrates on Si(111): Crystallography, Morphology, and Interactions with a Molecular Adsorbate, Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 125 (26), pp. 14326-14331.
- Pham H, Fernando J, Horn M, MacLeod J, Motta N, Doherty W, Payne A, Nanjundan A, Golberg D, Dubal D, (2021) Multi-heteroatom doped nanocarbons for high performance double carbon potassium ion capacitor, Electrochimica Acta, 389.
- Chathuranga H, Marriam I, Zhang Z, MacLeod J, Liu Y, Yang H, Yan C, (2022) Multifunctional, Bioinspired, and Moisture Responsive Graphene Oxide/Tapioca Starch Nanocomposites, Advanced Materials Technologies, 7 (4).
- Horn M, Singh A, Alomari S, Goberna-Ferrón S, Benages-Vilau R, Chodankar N, Motta N, Ostrikov K, MacLeod J, Sonar P, Gomez-Romero P, Dubal D, (2021) Polyoxometalates (POMs): from electroactive clusters to energy materials, Energy and Environmental Science, 14 (4), pp. 1652-1700.
- Ekanayake U, Rahmati S, Zhou R, Zhou R, Cullen P, O’Mullane A, MacLeod J, Ostrikov K, (2021) Power-to-decarbonization: Mesoporous carbon-MgO nanohybrid derived from plasma-activated seawater salt-loaded biomass for efficient CO2 capture, Journal of CO2 Utilization, 53.
- Turangan N, Xu Y, Spratt H, Rintoul L, Bottle S, MacLeod J, (2021) Self-supporting covalent organic framework membranes synthesized through two different processes: Solvothermal annealing and solvent vapor annealing, Nanotechnology, 32 (7).
- Bradford J, Zaganelli A, Qi D, Zebardastan N, Shafiei M, MacLeod J, Motta N, (2021) Substrate-mediated growth of oriented, vertically aligned MoS2 nanosheets on vicinal and on-axis SiC substrates, Applied Surface Science, 552.
- Ekanayake U, Barclay M, Seo D, Park M, MacLeod J, O'Mullane A, Motta N, Shon H, Ostrikov K, (2021) Utilization of plasma in water desalination and purification, Desalination, 500.
- Hartl H, Ostrikov K, MacLeod J, (2022) Versatile, Rapid, and Plasma-Assisted Synthesis of Cuprous Halide Composites at Room Temperature and Pressure, Advanced Materials Technologies, 7 (4).
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Jennifer, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Research projects
- Title
- Plasma-Assisted On-Surface Assembly for Hydrogen Production and Beyond
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 78987481
- 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
Supervision
Current supervisions
- The electronic and structural properties of extended, disordered, 2D conjugated polymerssynthesized on-surface
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Kathryn Fairfull-Smith - Plasma-Enabled on-Surface Polymerization
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Ken Ostrikov - Controlled Synthesis and Characterization of Self-Supporting Covalent Organic Framework Membranes
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Steven Bottle - Graphene- based materials for Li- ion Capacitors (LICs)
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Nunzio Motta, Associate Professor Deepak Dubal - UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLOITING PIEZOELECTRICITY IN COLLAGEN
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Cameron Brown, Associate Professor Jamie Trapp - Bioinspired Materials with Enhanced Strength and Toughness
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Cheng Yan, Associate Professor Zhanying Zhang - Nano- structures of high energy density anode materials for Li- ion batteries
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Jose Alarco, Dr Joseph Fernando - A low energy k-resolved inverse photoelectron spectrometer to investigate electronic states of organic molecular materials
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Josh Lipton-Duffin, Dr Soniya Yambem - Nanomaterial Synthesis and Surface Treatment by Atmospheric Pressure Cold Plasmas
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Ken Ostrikov, Professor Anthony O'Mullane - Van der Waals Epitaxy of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides on Graphene
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Nunzio Motta, Professor Ken Ostrikov
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Assembly and Reactions of Carboxylic Acids on Metal-Passivated Silicon (2021)
- Investigating The Surface of Graphitic Electrodes for Supercapacitors (2021)
- Growth and Characterisation of Two-Dimensional Materials and Their Heterostructures on SiC (2019)
- Molecular Reactions on Surfaces: Towards the Growth of Surface-Confined Polymers (2019)
- Epitaxial Graphene Growth on 3C-SiC/Si(111): Towards Semiconducting Graphene (2018)