Marc Kenneth Etherington

Northumbria University is offering a fully funded PhD project entitled “Programmable luminescent tags for eco-efficient photonic devices.” The research addresses the need for reusable and ultimately compostable UV sensors for coatings, inks, adhesives, solar panels and electronics, where an incorrect UV dose can cause early failure or wasted energy. Inspired by quinine, the molecule responsible for tonic water’s fluorescence under UV light, the project will develop new molecules that begin to emit light after receiving a defined UV dose. The PhD researcher will synthesise quinine-inspired emitters designed to glow across the visible spectrum and use spectroscopy to investigate how molecular structure controls their luminescence. The work will progress from molecular design and synthesis to the construction of working programmable luminescent tags. It combines synthetic chemistry, spectroscopy, luminescent materials, device fabrication and photonic-device development, with a strong focus on eco-efficient and sustainable technologies. The researcher will join the Etherington Lab at Northumbria University and collaborate with Jonathan Knowles through the EPSRC Renewable Energy Northeast Universities CDT. The training environment includes synthesis, spectroscopy, device fabrication and entrepreneurship. The project also includes placements at Technische Universität Dresden and PRUUVE GmbH, a recent spin-out, providing opportunities to test the developed devices in external research and innovation settings. This PhD is suited to graduates in chemistry, materials science or a related field who enjoy hands-on synthetic laboratory research.