Queen Mary, University of London

Devis Di Tommaso
research group

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Welcome

The research group of Dr. Devis Di Tommaso, Senior Lecturer in the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences at the Queen Mary, University of London, focuses on the development and application of computational chemistry techniques to solve a wide range of problems in Physical and Materials Chemistry.

We are particularly interested in modelling processes of crystal nucleation and growth of organic and inorganic materials from complex solutions. Our aim is to understand how the chemistry of solution (nature of the solvent and type and concentration of solution additive) controls the kinetics of crystal growth and the process of polymorph selection during crystallization from solution.

We employ a variety of theoretical techniques including electronic structure methods, first principles and classical dynamics, and continuum approaches and we make extensive use of supercomputing facilities.



For more details see the Research section of the website.


News

2022-03-23 Congratulations to Dimitrios, Fu, and Amira for their publication in Crystal Growth & Design on solution additives promoting Mg2+ dehydration and the onset of MgCO3 nucleation.

2022-03-17 Xiangwen has successfully passed her PhD viva - thanks to David Sherman (Bristol) and Alston Misquitta (QMUL) for examining.

2021-12-11 Congratulations to Xiangwen for her publication in The Journal of Chemical Physics on bridging atomistic simulations and thermodynamic hydration models of aqueous electrolyte solutions

2021-03-12 Devis has given an invited webinar for the University of Leeds, "Solution additives promoting Mg2+ dehydration and MgCO3 nucleation: Implications for CO2 mineralization"

2020-07-15 Our collaborative work with Nishihara's group at Tohoku University on the synthesis of graphene mesosponge via catalytic methane decomposition on magnesium oxide has been published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A.

2020-10-01 Congratulations to Henry for his publication in Molecular Catalysis on the electrocatalytic CO2-to-CO conversion on metalloporphyrins

2020-08-31 Our collaborative work with Park's group at Seoul national University and Clegg's group at East Anglia University on hydration numbers of electrolytes solutions from ab initio water reorientation dynamics has been accepted in ChemPhysChem.

2020-07-22 Devis has given an invited webinar for SRM Institute of Science and Technology, "Modelling Electrolyte Solutions and Processes of Crystal Growth and Nucleation"

2020-07-15 Our collaborative work with Nishihara's group at Tohoku University on "Iron porphyrin-derived ordered carbonaceous frameworks" has been published in Catalysis Today.

2020-07-08 China Scholarship Council funding: congratulations to Zhao Qi, who has just been awarded a PhD studentship from the China Scholarship Council. Zhao will join our group in September 2020 to work on a theoretical project to characterize the molecular processes controlling the CO2 transformation into added value chemicals.

2020-03-08 Congratulations to Xiangwen for her publication in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics on the effect of solution composition effects to the solvation shell of metal ions

2020-04-30 Devis has given a webinar as part of the Thomas Young Centre Online Seminar series: "FUNdamental Studies of MINeral Carbonation with Application to CO2 Utilisation"

2020-04-17 We have been awarded funding from The Royal Society and the CORE-LAB project of Tohoku University. This grant will fund an exchange programme between our group, Crespo-Otero's group, and Nishihara's group at Tohoku University to develop new catalysts for the conversion of CO2 into added value chemicals.

2020-04-01 The first manuscript of my PhD student Xiangwen Wang is out in ChemRxiv: Solution chemistry effects on the solvation shell of metal ions

2019-10-16 Our collaborative work with Wolthers's group at Utrecht University on calcium dehydration as the rate-determining step in calcium mineral growth has been published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C.

2019-08-23 Our collaborative work with Fernandez-Martinez's group on the speciation of yttrium and rare earth elements in passive remediation systems of acid mine drainage has been accepted in Environmental Science and Technology.

2019-08-19 Devis has given an invited talk at the Goldschmidt 2019 conference, Barcelona, "Characterization of Mg-dehydration: Implications for CO2 Mineralization"

2019-07-09 Xiangwen has presented a poster at the 50th BACG Annual Conference, "Bridging Molecular and Macroscopic Models of Solution Thermodynamics"

2019-06-24 We have been awarded funding from Accelerating CCS Technologies. This grant will fund two postdocs (simulations and experiments) to work on the project “Fundamental Studies of Mineral Carbonation with Application to CO2 Sequestration”.

2019-02-09 Our collaborative work with Naili's group on the origin of heat capacity and anisotropic thermal expansion in hydroxyapatite nanoporous materials has been accepted in Materialia.

2018-12-19 Our collaborative work with Resmini's group on the self-assembly of adenosine analogues in solution has been accepted in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.

2018-11-29 Devis has given a talk at the 2018 Granada-Munster Discussion Meeting on Mineral-Fluid Interface, University of Munster, "On the dynamics of water around Mg2+ and the effect of counterions"

2018-10-27 Our collaborative work with Crespo-Otero's group on water oxidation catalysed by quantum-sized BiVO4 has been accepted in Journal of Materials Chemistry A.

2018-10-11 Etienne has successfully passed his PhD viva - thanks to Stephen Parker (Bath) and Colin Seaton (Bradford) for examining.

2018-10-10 Our paper on interatomic potentials of Mg ions in aqueous solutions has been accepted in the European Journal of Mineralogy.

2018-10-05 Welcome to Xiangwen Wang, who joins the group to start her PhD studies on the project "Bridging Molecular and Macroscopic Models of Solution Thermodynamics".

2018-10-01 Welcome to Jerrin Ali (BSc) and Micaela Mapaye (MSci), who joins the group to work on their final year project.

2018-08-27 Our collaborative paper with Naili's group on the anomalous behavior of water in hydroxyapatite mesopores has been accepted in Computational Materials Science.

2018-07-07 New publication in collaboration with Alejandro Fernandez-Martinez on the nanoscopic dynamics in amorphous carbonates in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C

2018-05-04 Devis has given a seminar at the University of Trieste, "Modelling Processes of Crystal Growth and Nucleation from Solution"

2018-04-26 Congratulations to Amira Uddin, who has been awarded an Undergraduate Research Bursary from the Royal Society of Chemistry to conduct a summer research project in our group.

2018-01-19 Congratulations to Etienne for his publication in Pharmaceutics on the Solvation and Aggregation of Meta-aminobenzoic Acid in Water.

2017-12-20 A QMUL Principal's Postgraduate Research Studentships is available in our group. Please send a CV and any questions to Devis Di Tommaso

2017-11-30 Devis has given a talk at the 2017 Granada Munster Discussion Meeting on Mineral Reactivity, University of Granada, "Simulations reveal the role of composition into the atomic-level flexibility of bioactive glass cements"

2017-11-16 Devis has visited the group of Prof Gun-Sik Park at Seoul National University, where he gave a lecture on "Computer Simulations of Electrolyte Solutions"

2017-16-27 Devis has given a talk at GeoBremen 2017, "Atomistic Simulations of Water Confined in Hydroxyapatite Nanopores"

2017-09-25 Welcome to Xinxing Zhang, who joins the group to start her PhD studies.

2017-07-21 Our collaborative paper with Naili group on epoxy/clay nanocomposite has been accepted in Computational Materials Science

2017-07-21 Our collaborative paper with de Leeuw group on Posner's clusters has been accepted in Journal of Materials Chemistry B

2017-06-29 Etienne has given a talk at the 48th BACG Annual Conference at University of Manchester, "Simulating the Aggregation and Surface Reactivity of meta-Aminobenzoic Acid: Implications for Crystal Growth and Polymorphism"

2017-06-28 Manjit has presented a poster at the 48th BACG Annual Conference at University of Manchester, "Ab Initio Models of Glass-Ionomer Cements"

2017-04-11 Devis has given a talk at the conference "Advances in computational and experimental studies of solids" in honour of Professor Richard Catlow's 70th birthday at Abingdon, "Atomistic Simulations of Water Confined in Hydroxyapatite Nanopores"

2017-02-10 Our paper on the effect of nanoconfinement and solution composition on the surface reactivity of hydroxyapatite has been has been accepted in Crystals

2017-02-07 Our paper on molecular approaches to study water molecules confined between hydroxyapaptite surfaces in collaboration with the groups of Professor Salah Naili (University Paris-Est Creteil) and Professor Nora de Leeuw (Cardiff University) has been accepted in Applied Surface Science

2017-01-30 Our paper on the anisotropic diffusion of water in hydroxyapatite nanopores in collaboration with the groups of Professor Salah Naili (University Paris-Est Creteil) and Professor Nora de Leeuw (Cardiff University) has been accepted in Physics and Chemistry of Minerals

2016-11-25 Devis has given a talk at the 2016 Granada-Munster Discussion Meeting On Crystal Growth and Biomineralization at University of Munster, "Molecular dynamics simulations of hydroxyapatite nanopores in contact with electrolyte solutions"

2016-11-25 Etienne has given a talk at the 2016 Granada-Munster Discussion Meeting On Crystal Growth and Biomineralization at University of Munster, "Molecular aggregation and surface reactivity of meta-aminobenzoic acid studied using ab-initio and molecular dynamics methods"

2016-10-18 We are currently advertising international PhD scholarship opportunities in the group to start in 2017. Examples of relevant schemes include the China Scholarship Scheme (CSC), Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT) and Commonwealth Scholarships. If you are interested please see opportunities

2016-06-28 Etienne has given a talk at the joint CGOM12/BACG2016 conference at University of Leeds, "The role of solvent in the self-assembly of m-aminobenzoic acid: a DFT and molecular dynamics study"

2016-06-23 Our paper on the comparison between periodic- and cluster-models to compute glass structure and properties of glasses has been accepted in the Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids

2016-04-06 Etienne has given a talk at the UK's HEC Materials Chemistry Consortium conference at Cardiff University, "The role of solvent in the self-assembly of m-aminobenzoic acid: a DFT and molecular dynamics study"

2016-04-06 Devis has given a talk at the 2016 BCA Spring Meeting at University of Nottingham, "Modelling the nucleation and growth of organic and inorganic crystals"

2016-15-03 Opportunities for PhD studentship currently available: We are looking for an outstanding candidate (must be Pakistani national) for a Queen Mary - Higher Education Commission PhD studentship. General information can be found here. Before applying, please send a CV and any questions to Devis Di Tommaso.

2016-03-15 Congratulations to Etienne for his publication in CrystEngComm on the role of solvent in the early stages of organic molecules crystallization.

2015-11-27 Devis has given a talk at the 2015 Granada-Munster Discussion Meeting On Crystal Growth and Biomineralization at University of Granada, "Structural and Spectroscopic Properties of Water around Magnesium Ions"

2015-11-12 Our paper on the predisposed flexibility of bioactive glass ionomer cements has been accepted in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

2015-06-22 Congratulations to Etienne for receiving 2nd Poster Prize award at the 2015 annual conference of the "British Association for Crystal Growth".

2015-03-20 Our paper on the properties of water confined in hydroxy-apatite nanopores in collaboration with the groups of Professor Salah Naili (University Paris-Est Creteil) and Professor Nora de Leeuw (Cardiff University) has been accepted in Theoretical Chemistry Accounts

2015-02-04 Devis Di Tommaso is the organizer of the 46th British Association for Crystal Growth conference, which will be held at Queen Mary (21-23 June 2015). Enquiries may be addressed to Dr Di Tommaso.

2014-12-15 Possible PhD position funded by the Materials Research Institute of Queen Mary. Informal enquiries may be addressed to Dr Di Tommaso.

2014-11-26 Devis has given a talk at the 2014 Granada-Munster Discussion Meeting On Crystal Growth and Biomineralization at University of Munster, "Modelling processes of solvent exchange on metals ions and molecular self-association from solution"

2014-10-30 Our paper on the formation of oligomers of carboxylic clusters from solution has been accepted in the Journal Physical Chemistry A

2014-10-28 Devis has given an invited talk at the School of Physics and Astronomy of Queen Mary, "Modelling processes of solvent exchange on metals ions and molecular self-association from solution"

2014-10-24 Devis has given an invited talk at the School of Mathematics and Physics of Queen's Belfast University, "Modelling processes of solvent exchange on metals ions and molecular self-association from solution"

2014-10-16 Devis has given an invited talk at the Thomas Young Centre Welcome Day at Queen Mary, "Modelling processes of solvent exchange on metals ions and molecular self-association from solution"

2014-08-05 Our group is now a member of the Thomas Young Centre, the London Centre for the Theory and Simulation of Materials

2014-08-01 Devis has given a talk at the Recent Appointees in Materials Modelling (RAMM) conference at Imperial College London, "The Effects of Surface Topography and Solution Composition on the Hydration of Calcium Ions"

2014-07-14 Devis has given a talk at the 45th British Association for Crystal Growth annual conference in Leeds, "Modelling the Crystallization of Organic Molecules from Solution"

2014-07-13 Devis is now a member of the British Association for Crystal Growth committee

2014-05-26 Devis has given an invited talk at at the CECAM workshop in Lugano, "The Thermodynamic Stability of Organic Clusters Computed Using a Quantum Mechanical Continuum Solvation Approach"

2014-05-25 Devis is an invited speaker at the CECAM workshop Molecular Simulations of Crystallization from Solution in Lugano, Switzerland

2014-05-16 Devis has given an invited talk at University of Cardiff, "The Thermodynamic Stability of Organic Clusters Computed Using a Quantum Mechanical Continuum Solvation Approach"

2014-03-06 Our paper on the effects of electrolytes on the hydration properties of calcium ions has been accepted in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

2014-10-05 Devis has given an invited talk at Queen Mary University of London, "Computational Chemistry Applied to Catalysis, Amorphous Materials and Crystal Growth: From Rationalization to Prediction"

2013-10-05 Our group is now a member of the HPC Material Chemistry Consortium

2013-10-05 Devis has given a talk at HPC Material Chemistry Consortium, "In Silico Prediction of Crystal Polymorphism during Nucleation from Solution"


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