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Dr. Peter Dunne
Assistant Professor, Chemistry

Biography

Dr Peter Dunne completed an honours degree in chemistry at the National University of Ireland, Galway in 2005. He remained in NUIG to carry out his PhD research, exploring a patented process for the generation of highly soluble metal oxide nanoparticles under the supervision of Prof. Des Cunningham. From 2010 to 2012 he worked in the group of Prof. Richard Walton at the University of Warwick, synthesising supported metal oxide-mesoporous silica nanocomposites for the catalytic abatement of pollutants. Subsequently he joined the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Nottingham as a postdoctoral fellow on the EU FP7 funded SHYMAN project under Prof. Ed Lester. Here he developed continuous-flow hydrothermal and solvothermal routes to a wide variety of inorganic nanomaterials. In 2016 Peter took up his post as Assistant Professor in Inorganic Energy Materials at Trinity College Dublin.

Publications and Further Research Outputs

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Regan, Annie, O'Donoghue, John, Poree, Carl, Dunne, Peter W., Introducing Materials Science: Experimenting with Magnetic Nanomaterials in the Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory, Journal of Chemical Education, 100, (6), 2023, p2387-2393 Journal Article, 2023 DOI

García Doménech N, Purcell-Milton F, Sanz Arjona A, Casasín García M.-L, Ward M, Cabré M.B, Rafferty A, McKelvey K, Dunne P, Gun†ko Y.K, High-Performance Boron Nitride Based Membranes for Water Purification, Nanomaterials, 12, (3), 2022 Journal Article, 2022 URL DOI

Doménech, N.G. and Coogan, I. and Purcell-Milton, F. and Casasín García, M.L. and Arjona, A.S. and Cabré, M.B. and Rafferty, A. and McKelvey, K. and Dunne, P. and Gun'ko, Y.K., Partially oxidised boron nitride as a 2D nanomaterial for nanofiltration applications, Nanoscale Advances, 4, (22), 2022, p4895-4904 Journal Article, 2022 DOI

Bathe A.S, Sanz Arjona A, Regan A, Wallace C, Nerney C.R, O'Donoghue N, Crosland J.M, Simonian T, Walton R.I, Dunne P.W, Solvothermal synthesis of soluble, surface modified anatase and transition metal doped anatase hybrid nanocrystals, Nanoscale Advances, 4, (24), 2022, p5343 - 5354 Journal Article, 2022 URL DOI

Donnelly Fearghal C, Purcell-Milton Fin, Dunne Peter W, Rulikowska Aleksandr, Alguacil Victo, Gun'ko Yurii K, Luminescent calcium carbonate micro "bow ties", Materials Today Communications, 20, 2019, p100590- Journal Article, 2019 URL DOI

Caramazana, P., Dunne, P., Gimeno-Fabra, M., McKechnie, J., Lester, E., A review of the environmental impact of nanomaterial synthesis using continuous flow hydrothermal synthesis, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, 12, 2018, p57-62 Journal Article, 2018

Vitova, T., Pidchenko, I., Biswas, S., Beridze, G., Dunne, P.W., Schild, D., Wang, Z., Kowalski, P.M., Baker, R.J., Dehydration of the Uranyl Peroxide Studtite, [UO2(n2-O2)(H2O)2]·2H2O, Affords a Drastic Change in the Electronic Structure: A Combined X-ray Spectroscopic and Theoretical Analysis, Inorganic Chemistry, 57, (4), 2018, p1735-1743 Journal Article, 2018

Clark, I., Dunne, P.W., Gomes, R.L., Lester, E., Continuous hydrothermal synthesis of Ca2Al-NO3layered double hydroxides: The impact of reactor temperature, pressure and NaOH concentration on crystal characteristics, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 504, 2017, p492-499 Journal Article, 2017

Donnelly F. C., Purcell-Milton F., Framont V., Cleary O., Dunne P. W., Gun'ko Y. K., Synthesis of CaCO3 nano- and micro-particles by dry ice carbonation , Chem. Commun. , 53 , (49 ), 2017, p6657 - 6660 Journal Article, 2017 DOI URL

Caramazana-Gonzalez P., Dunne P. W., Gimeno-Fabra M., Zilka M., Ticha M., Stieberova B., Freiberg F., McKechnie J., Lester E. H., Assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of titania nanoparticle production by continuous flow solvo/hydrothermal syntheses , Green Chem. , 19 , (6 ), 2017, p1536 - 1547 Journal Article, 2017 DOI URL

Dunne P.W, Starkey C.L, Munn A.S, Sikder M, Luebben O, Shvets I, Lester E.H, Transition metal doped anatase nanocrystals: Continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis and photocatalytic activity, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 4, (3), 2016, p2665 - 2670 Journal Article, 2016 URL DOI

P. W. Dunne, E. Lester and R. I. Walton, Towards scalable and controlled synthesis of metal-organic framework materials using continuous flow reactors, React. Chem. Eng., 2016 Journal Article, 2016

Peter W. Dunne, Chris L. Starkey, Alexis S. Munn, Selina V.Y. Tang, Olaf Luebben, Igor Shvets, Alan G. Ryder, Yannick Casamayou-Boucau, Liam Morrison, Edward H. Lester, Bench- and Pilot-Scale Continuous-Flow Hydrothermal Production of Barium Strontium Titanate Nanopowders, Chemical Engineering Journal, 2015 Journal Article, 2015

Dunne, P.W., Munn, A.S., Starkey, C.L., Lester, E.H., The sequential continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis of molybdenum disulphide, Chemical Communications, 51, (19), 2015, p4048-4050 Journal Article, 2015

Munn, A.S., Dunne, P.W., Tang, S.V.Y., Lester, E.H., Large-scale continuous hydrothermal production and activation of ZIF-8, Chemical Communications, 51, (64), 2015, p12811-12814 Journal Article, 2015

Fonseca De Lima, J., Harunsani, M.H., Martin, D.J., Kong, D., Dunne, P.W., Gianolio, D., Kashtiban, R.J., Sloan, J., Serra, O.A., Tang, J., Walton, R.I., Control of chemical state of cerium in doped anatase TiO2 by solvothermal synthesis and its application in photocatalytic water reduction, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 3, (18), 2015, p9890-9898 Journal Article, 2015

Dunne, P.W., Munn, A.S., Starkey, C.L., Huddle, T.A., Lester, E.H., Continuous-flow hydrothermal synthesis for the production of inorganic nanomaterials, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 373, (2057), 2015 Journal Article, 2015

Gimeno-Fabra, M., Hild, F., Dunne, P.W., Walton, K., Grant, D.M., Irvine, D.J., Lester, E.H., Continuous synthesis of dispersant-coated hydroxyapatite plates, CrystEngComm, 17, (32), 2015, p6175-6182 Journal Article, 2015

Dunne, P.W., Starkey, C.L., Gimeno-Fabra, M., Lester, E.H., The rapid size- and shape-controlled continuous hydrothermal synthesis of metal sulphide nanomaterials, Nanoscale, 6, (4), 2014, p2406-2418 Journal Article, 2014

McManus, J.S., Cunningham, P.D., Regan, L.B., Smith, A., McGrath, D.W., Dunne, P.W., Highly soluble ligand stabilized tin oxide nanocrystals: Gel formation and thin film production, Crystal Growth and Design, 14, (9), 2014, p4819-4826 Journal Article, 2014

Jablonska, M., Chmielarz, L., Wegrzyn, A., Guzik, K., Piwowarska, Z., Witkowski, S., Walton, R.I., Dunne, P.W., Kovanda, F., Thermal transformations of Cu-Mg (Zn)-Al(Fe) hydrotalcite-like materials into metal oxide systems and their catalytic activity in selective oxidation of ammonia to dinitrogen, Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 114, (2), 2013, p731-747 Journal Article, 2013

Gimeno-Fabra, M., Dunne, P., Grant, D., Gooden, P., Lester, E., Continuous flow synthesis of tungsten oxide (WO3) nanoplates from tungsten (VI) ethoxide, Chemical Engineering Journal, 226, 2013, p22-29 Journal Article, 2013

McManus, J.S., Cunningham, P.D., Regan, L.B., Dunne, P.W., The synthesis of organo-soluble anatase nanocrystals from amorphous titania, Chemical Communications, 48, (60), 2012, p7453-7455 Journal Article, 2012

Dunne, P.W., Carnerup, A.M., Wegrzyn, A., Witkowski, S., Walton, R.I., Hierarchically structured ceria-silica: Synthesis and thermal properties, Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 116, (24), 2012, p13435-13445 Journal Article, 2012

Meally, S.T., Karotsis, G., Brechin, E.K., Papaefstathiou, G.S., Dunne, P.W., McArdle, P., Jones, L.F., Planar [Ni 7] discs as double-bowl, pseudo metallacalix[6]arene host cavities, CrystEngComm, 12, (1), 2010, p59-63 Journal Article, 2010

Meally, S.T., McDonald, C., Karotsis, G., Papaefstathiou, G.S., Brechin, E.K., Dunne, P.W., McArdle, P., Power, N.P., Jones, L.F., A family of double-bowl pseudo metallocalix[6]arene discs, Dalton Transactions, 39, (20), 2010, p4809-4816 Journal Article, 2010

Togashi, D.M., Ryder, A.G., McMahon, D., Dunne, P., McManus, J., Fluorescence study of bovine serum albumin and Ti and Sn oxide nanoparticles interactions, Optics InfoBase Conference Papers, 2007 Journal Article, 2007

Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications

Peter W. Dunne, Andrew S. Bathe, Teagan F. Sweet, Annie Regan, Matthew Priestly, and Rachel Bothwell, Hollow and Plant-like Copper Sulfide Microstructures Grown from Colloidal Sulfur Seeds, Early Career Colloid Network Meeting ECCo 2024, London, England, 20/06/2024, 2024 Oral Presentation, 2024

Andrew Bathe, Adrián Sanz Arjona, Chloé Flandrin, James Ryan, Annie Regan, Peter Dunne, Mapping the controlled hydrothermal synthesis of materials with Principal Component Analysis, 9th EuChemS Chemistry Congress (ECC-9), Dublin, Ireland, 07/07/2024-11/07/202, 2024 Oral Presentation, 2024

Christian Heinekamp, Adrián Sanz Arjona, Aoife Kavanagh, Andrew S. Bathe, Annie Regan, Peter W. Dunne, Solvothermal synthesis of soluble, surface modified metal oxide nanocrystals, ACS Fall Meeting 2023, San Francisco, United States, 13/8/2023-17/8/2023, 2023 Oral Presentation, 2023

Peter W. Dunne, Andrew S. Bathe, Teagan F. Sweet, Annie Regan, Matthew Priestly, Rachel Bothwell, Hollow and Plant-like Copper Sulfide Microstructures Grown from Colloidal Sulfur Seeds, Inorganic Ireland Symposium, TCD, 19/5/2023, 2023 Oral Presentation, 2023

Bathe, A.S., Sanz Arjona, A., Regan, A., Flandrin, C., Dunne, P.W., Mapping the Controlled Hydrothermal Synthesis of Materials with Principal Component Analysis, International Solvothermal and Hydrothermal Association Conference, Valladolid, Spain, 10/9/2023-13/9/2023, 2023 Oral Presentation, 2023

Heinekamp, C. Nerney, C.R., Kavanagh, A., Bathe, A.S., Sanz Arjona, A., Regan, A., Dunne, P.W., Solvothermal synthesis of soluble, surface modified metal oxide nanocrystals, International Solvothermal and Hydrothermal Association Conference, Valladolid, Spain, 10/9/2023-13/9/202, 2023 Oral Presentation, 2023

Bathe, A.S., Sanz Arjona, A., Regan, A., Dunne, P.W., Hydrothermal Injection: Synthetic Control by Reaction Engineering, International Solvothermal and Hydrothermal Association Conference, Valladolid, Spain, 10/9/2023-13/9/2023, 2023 Oral Presentation, 2023

Christian Heinekamp, Clodagh R. Nerney, Aoife Kavanagh, Andrew S. Bathe, Adrián Sanz Arjona, Annie Regan, Peter W. Dunne, Solvothermal synthesis of soluble, surface modified metal oxide nanocrystals, Royal Society of Chemistry, MC16, University College Dublin, 3/7/2023-6/7/2023, 2023 Oral Presentation, 2023

CHAPTER 14: The Engineering of Continuous Hydrothermal/Solvothermal Synthesis of Nanomaterials in, editor(s)Andrew J Hunt Thomas M Attard , Supercritical and Other High-pressure Solvent Systems: For Extraction, Reaction and Material Processing, 2018, pp416-448 , [Lester, E., Dunne, P., Chen, Y., Al-Atta, A.] Book Chapter, 2018

CHAPTER 15: The Chemistry of Continuous Hydrothermal/Solvothermal Synthesis of Nanomaterials in, editor(s)Andrew J Hunt Thomas M Attard , Supercritical and Other High-pressure Solvent Systems: For Extraction, Reaction and Material Processing, 2018, pp449-475 , [Dunne, P.W., Lester, E., Starkey, C., Clark, I., Chen, Y., Munn, A.S.] Book Chapter, 2018

Research Expertise

Projects

  • Title
    • C-Weed: Carbon Dots from Seaweed and Seaweed Derivatives
  • Summary
    • Due to the increase in global renewable energy generation and the need for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions we find ourselves in the energy transition of the century wherein the demand for green, sustainable energy materials is rising. Carbon dots are considered a new and green nanomaterial, applicable for energy generation technologies. In this research the potential of seaweed and seaweed derivatives as feedstocks for the hydrothermal formation of carbon dots will be explored. Kelp and Irish moss seaweeds and their derivatives glucose, galactose, alginic acid and carrageenan will be assessed for the generation of carbon dots by hydrothermal methods. The efficacy of the synthetic and purification protocols examined with varying conditions of temperature, time and pH will be assessed by detailed structural and photophysical characterisation methods. Photophysical analysis by UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopies will be particularly relevant in establishing the suitability of processes and products for their subsequent incorporation into optoelectronic devices, such as LEDs and photovoltaic cells. Structural characterisation by XRD, IR, Raman and TEM will help identify the obtained products to inform rational design choices in feedstock and synthesis choices for scale-up. It is anticipated that this project will establish the viability of Irish seaweeds as precursors to added value products of functional carbon nanomaterials. The focus here will be on carbon dots for optoelectronic devices, but the scope extends to a range of other applications within the energy sector including photocatalysis for hydrogen generation and materials for carbon capture and conversion.
  • Funding Agency
    • SEAI
  • Date From
    • 01/04/2023
  • Date To
    • 31/03/2026

Recognition

Representations

Publishing Ethics External Expert for the Royal Society of Chemistry 2023

Memberships

Member of the American Chemical Society 06/07/2023 – Current