Dr David Ashworth

Research Associate

Chemical and Process Engineering

Personal statement

I graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2016 with an MChem with Study in Industry. I continued to study at Sheffield with a PhD in Chemistry (awarded 2020), researching metal-organic framework (MOF) nanosheets with Dr Jonathan Foster. I was then awarded an EPSRC Doctoral Prize to further develop scalable, continuous synthesis methods for these metal-organic materials, in conjunction with the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

In 2021, I took up an EPSRC-funded PDRA position at The University of Strathclyde, working on a collaborative project under Prof. Ashleigh Fletcher (Department of Chemical and Process Engineering) and Dr Iain Oswald (Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences). My main area of research is centred aroud the design and characterisation of flexible metal-organic frameworks, for CO2 capture and gas separation applications. I use a combination of diffraction, adsorption and spectroscopic techniques to try to understand the fundamental rules governing the behaviour of flexible framework materials.

Publications

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Publications

Decoupled MOF breathing : pressure-induced reversal of correlation between orthogonal motions in a diamondoid framework: Brammer Lee, Ashworth David, Carrington Elliot J, Roseveare Thomas M, McMonagle Charles J, Ward Martin R, Fletcher Ashleigh J, Düren Tina, Warren Mark R, Moggach Stephen A, Oswald Iain DH; Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2025); https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202504297
The effect of crystallinity on the cooperative CO2 uptake of metal-organic polyhedra: Snelgrove Matthew, Donagueda Beatriz, Craig Gavin, Fletcher Ashleigh, Ashworth David, Regincos Marti Emma; 7th Annual UK Porous Materials Conference (2024)
Application of non-invasive Raman spectroscopy to metal-organic frameworks : rapid identification and monitoring growth: Chong Magdalene, Parrott Andrew, Ashworth David, Fletcher Ashleigh, Nordon Alison; Spring SciX 2024 (2024)
Scalable and sustainable manufacturing of ultrathin metal–organic framework nanosheets (MONs) for solar cell applications: Ashworth David J, Driver Justin, Sasitharan Kezia, Prasad Ram RR, Nicks Joshua, Smith Benedict J, Patwardhan Siddharth V, Foster Jonathan A; Chemical Engineering Journal Vol 477 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.146871
Gaining kinetic insight into the crystallisation of metal-organic frameworks via non-invasive Raman spectroscopy: Chong Magdalene, Parrott Andrew, Ashworth David, Fletcher Ashleigh, Nordon Alison; ISIC 2023 (2023)
Dual-cell, high-pressure studies of porous, flexible frameworks from 20 to 30,000 bar: Ashworth David, Carrington Elliot J, McMonagle , Roseveare Thomas, Warren Mark, Fletcher Ashleigh, Moggach Stephen, Oswald Iain, Brammer Lee; IUCr 2023 - 26th Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography (2023)

More publications

Teaching

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Teaching

I am currently involved with teaching 1st and 2nd year undergraduate tutorials.

CP101 - Basic Principles in Chemical Engineering
CP203 - Chemical Principles

Additionally, I am involved with developing and delivering otureach activities for primary/secondary school children to inspire and encourage interest in STEM subjects.

Research

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Research Interests

My main research project centres around the characterisation of flexible metal organic frameworks (MOFs), to understand their structural response to external stimuli such as pressure, temperature and guest species. This knowledge allows design of materials towards applications such as CO2 capture, and gas separations.

My research is primarily split between using gravimetric and volumetric adsorption techniques to understand gas adsorption and selectivity rules, and high-pressure X-ray diffraction to characterise structural response to pressure, at an atomic level.

More broadly, I am interested in the rational design of MOFs with specific properties related to their intended end-use, synthesis methods thereof, and stimuli-responsive MOFs for applications across gas/liquid separation and catalysis.