Simon Hall (chemist)

Born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Hall grew up in Tiverton, Devon. He attended Tiverton Comprehensive School (now Tiverton High School), where he played rhythm guitar in the band of future 3 Colours Red frontman Pete Vuckovic. On leaving school, he worked for Reuters Ltd. as a stocks and bonds pricing analyst, simultaneously studying for a BSc degree with the Open University. On graduating with a 2:1 degree in Chemistry with Geology in 1997, he joined the laboratories of Professor Stephen Mann at the University of Bristol to read for a PhD in Materials Chemistry. His doctoral research degree involved the creation of novel nanomaterials using a biomimetic approach and also the first ever electron diffraction study on the phylum Bryozoa.{{Cite journal|last1=Hall|first1=Simon R.|last2=Taylor|first2=Paul D.|last3=Davis|first3=Sean A.|last4=Mann|first4=Stephen|date=2002-02-01|title=Electron diffraction studies of the calcareous skeletons of bryozoans|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0162013401003592|journal=Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry|series=30th Anniversary|language=en|volume=88|issue=3|pages=410–419|doi=10.1016/S0162-0134(01)00359-2|pmid=11897358|issn=0162-0134|url-access=subscription}}

Hall's research is concerned with the control of crystal growth, both organic and inorganic.{{Cite journal|last1=Potticary|first1=Jason|last2=Hall|first2=Charlie|last3=Hamilton|first3=Victoria|last4=McCabe|first4=James F.|last5=Hall|first5=Simon R.|date=2020-05-06|title=Crystallization from Volatile Deep Eutectic Solvents|url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.cgd.0c00399|journal=Crystal Growth & Design|language=en|volume=20|issue=5|pages=2877–2884|doi=10.1021/acs.cgd.0c00399|issn=1528-7483|arxiv=1902.08376|hdl=1983/3de0d442-d91d-4a04-ba97-a97ed23d03fb |s2cid=212726517}}{{Cite journal|last1=Andrusenko|first1=Iryna|last2=Hamilton|first2=Victoria|last3=Mugnaioli|first3=Enrico|last4=Lanza|first4=Arianna|last5=Hall|first5=Charlie|last6=Potticary|first6=Jason|last7=Hall|first7=Simon R.|last8=Gemmi|first8=Mauro|date=2019-08-05|title=The Crystal Structure of Orthocetamol Solved by 3D Electron Diffraction|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/anie.201904564|journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition|language=en|volume=58|issue=32|pages=10919–10922|doi=10.1002/anie.201904564|pmid=31210373|issn=1433-7851|hdl=1983/c72542f0-aa7c-43c2-8231-6aa7173f5dd9|s2cid=190536078 |hdl-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Potticary|first1=Jason|last2=Terry|first2=Lui R.|last3=Bell|first3=Christopher|last4=Papanikolopoulos|first4=Alexandros N.|last5=Christianen|first5=Peter C. M.|last6=Engelkamp|first6=Hans|last7=Collins|first7=Andrew M.|last8=Fontanesi|first8=Claudio|last9=Kociok-Köhn|first9=Gabriele|last10=Crampin|first10=Simon|last11=Da Como|first11=Enrico|date=2016-05-10|title=An unforeseen polymorph of coronene by the application of magnetic fields during crystal growth|url= |journal=Nature Communications|language=en|volume=7|issue=1|pages=11555|doi=10.1038/ncomms11555|issn=2041-1723|pmc=4866376|pmid=27161600|arxiv=1509.04120|bibcode=2016NatCo...711555P}}{{Cite journal|last1=Danks|first1=A. E.|last2=Hall|first2=S. R.|last3=Schnepp|first3=Z.|date=2016|title=The evolution of 'sol–gel' chemistry as a technique for materials synthesis|url=http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=C5MH00260E|journal=Materials Horizons|language=en|volume=3|issue=2|pages=91–112|doi=10.1039/C5MH00260E|issn=2051-6347|doi-access=free|hdl=1983/ef8857e7-53bd-4b32-b61f-dc5c41bc45f5|hdl-access=free}} His research activities include biomimetic materials chemistry,{{Cite journal|last1=Hall|first1=Simon R.|last2=Collins|first2=Andrew M.|last3=Wood|first3=Natalie J.|last4=Ogasawara|first4=Wataru|last5=Morad|first5=Moataz|last6=Miedziak|first6=Peter J.|last7=Sankar|first7=Meenakshisundaram|last8=Knight|first8=David W.|last9=Hutchings|first9=Graham J.|date=2012|title=Biotemplated synthesis of catalytic Au–Pd nanoparticles|url=http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=c2ra01336c|journal=RSC Advances|language=en|volume=2|issue=6|pages=2217|doi=10.1039/c2ra01336c|bibcode=2012RSCAd...2.2217H |issn=2046-2069|url-access=subscription}} synthesis of nanoscale functional materials{{Cite journal|last1=Green|first1=David C.|last2=Glatzel|first2=Stefan|last3=Collins|first3=Andrew M.|last4=Patil|first4=Avinash J.|last5=Hall|first5=Simon R.|date=2012-11-08|title=A New General Synthetic Strategy for Phase-Pure Complex Functional Materials|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/adma.201202683|journal=Advanced Materials|language=en|volume=24|issue=42|pages=5767–5772|doi=10.1002/adma.201202683|pmid=22927336|s2cid=205246887 |url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last1=Sayle|first1=Thi X. T.|last2=Cantoni|first2=Michelle|last3=Bhatta|first3=Umananda M.|last4=Parker|first4=Stephen C.|last5=Hall|first5=Simon R.|last6=Möbus|first6=Günter|last7=Molinari|first7=Marco|last8=Reid|first8=David|last9=Seal|first9=Sudipta|last10=Sayle|first10=Dean C.|date=2012-05-22|title=Strain and Architecture-Tuned Reactivity in Ceria Nanostructures; Enhanced Catalytic Oxidation of CO to CO 2|url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/cm3003436|journal=Chemistry of Materials|language=en|volume=24|issue=10|pages=1811–1821|doi=10.1021/cm3003436|issn=0897-4756|url-access=subscription}} and control of organic crystal growth.{{Cite journal|last1=Hall|first1=Charlie L.|last2=Potticary|first2=Jason|last3=Hamilton|first3=Victoria|last4=Gaisford|first4=Simon|last5=Buanz|first5=Asma|last6=Hall|first6=Simon R.|date=2020|title=Metastable crystalline phase formation in deep eutectic systems revealed by simultaneous synchrotron XRD and DSC|url=http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=D0CC04696E|journal=Chemical Communications|language=en|volume=56|issue=73|pages=10726–10729|doi=10.1039/D0CC04696E|pmid=32789371|issn=1359-7345|doi-access=free|hdl=1983/34958593-4d39-4195-aa35-43f909e0cf31|hdl-access=free}} In 2006, he published the first synthesis of single-crystal, high-temperature superconductor nanowires.{{Cite journal|last=Hall|first=S. R.|date=2006|title=Biomimetic Synthesis of High-Tc, Type-II Superconductor Nanowires|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adma.200501971|journal=Advanced Materials|volume=18|issue=4|pages=487–490|doi=10.1002/adma.200501971|s2cid=138726914 |issn=1521-4095|url-access=subscription}} Subsequent work on these systems led to his demonstration of the microcrucible growth mechanism; a nanowire growth mechanism that had been predicted, but never observed up until that point.{{Cite journal|last1=Boston|first1=Rebecca|last2=Schnepp|first2=Zoe|last3=Nemoto|first3=Yoshihiro|last4=Sakka|first4=Yoshio|last5=Hall|first5=Simon R.|date=2014-05-09|title=In Situ TEM Observation of a Microcrucible Mechanism of Nanowire Growth|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1251594|journal=Science|language=en|volume=344|issue=6184|pages=623–626|doi=10.1126/science.1251594|issn=0036-8075|pmid=24812400|bibcode=2014Sci...344..623B|s2cid=206555658|hdl=1983/8f23c618-23f8-46e1-a1d9-960a0b491b1f|hdl-access=free}} His current work is focused on the creation of novel organic crystals for pharmaceutical{{Cite journal|last1=Cookman|first1=J.|last2=Hamilton|first2=V.|last3=Hall|first3=S. R.|last4=Bangert|first4=U.|date=2020-11-05|title=Non-classical crystallisation pathway directly observed for a pharmaceutical crystal via liquid phase electron microscopy|url= |journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=10|issue=1|pages=19156|doi=10.1038/s41598-020-75937-2|issn=2045-2322|pmc=7644682|pmid=33154480|bibcode=2020NatSR..1019156C}} and optoelectronic{{Cite journal|last1=Potticary|first1=Jason|last2=Jensen|first2=Torsten T.|last3=Hall|first3=Simon R.|date=2017-08-29|title=Nanostructural origin of blue fluorescence in the mineral karpatite|url= |journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=7|issue=1|pages=9867|doi=10.1038/s41598-017-10261-w|issn=2045-2322|pmc=5575318|pmid=28852091|bibcode=2017NatSR...7.9867P}} research and in the creation of novel forms of high temperature superconductors.{{Cite journal|last1=Gómez Rojas|first1=Omar|last2=Sudoh|first2=Iori|last3=Nakayama|first3=Tadachika|last4=Hall|first4=Simon R.|date=2018|title=The role of ionic liquids in the synthesis of the high-temperature superconductor YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−δ|url=http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=C8CE01275J|journal=CrystEngComm|language=en|volume=20|issue=38|pages=5814–5821|doi=10.1039/C8CE01275J|hdl=1983/35a6f222-1665-4834-9b20-fd611df49a05 |issn=1466-8033|hdl-access=free}} Hall has published over 130 scientific papers with a current h-index of 33 and over 5,000 citations.{{Cite web |title=Simon R. Hall |url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UJ-LryUAAAAJ&hl=en |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=scholar.google.com}}

Professor Hall delivered his Inaugural Lecture in the Wills Memorial building on October 24, 2023, titled "[https://youtube.com/watch?v=5wYP98u5Dbk?si=YjRZl45jOqHHtdvJ Unexpected Crystals in the Bragging Area]". The lecture can be viewed on YouTube by clicking on the lecture title above.

Hall was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) in 2018. In the same year, he was made a Visiting Professor of Chemistry, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan. In 2016, he was made a Visiting Professor of Materials Science at Nagaoka University of Technology, Japan. In 2015, Hall was awarded the [http://www.mif-japan.org/?hl=en Matsumae Foundation] International Fellowship; one of only 12 awarded Worldwide in the Natural Sciences in that year. In the same year he won the Nanotechnology Platform Japan Prize from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, (Japanese Government), for his discovery of the microcrucible growth mechanism in nanowires. In 2013 he was made a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In 2004, Hall was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship for his proposal on ‘Biotemplated Routes to Advanced Superconductors’.

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Category:1969 births

Category:Living people

Category:Alumni of the Open University

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Category:People from Tiverton, Devon

Category:Academics of the University of Bristol

Category:Alumni of the University of Bristol

Category:English chemists

Category:Fellows of the Higher Education Academy

Category:Scientists from Devon

Category:Academic staff of Keio University