Abbie McLaughlin

Professor Abbie McLaughlin is a Personal Chair in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Aberdeen, affiliated with the School of Natural and Computing Sciences and Head of the Department of Chemistry. Her research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of transition metal oxides with exceptional electrical and magnetic properties, particularly for applications in solid oxide fuel cells and advanced electronic materials.

She holds a BSc from Durham and a PhD from Cambridge, and her research expertise spans solid-state synthesis, Rietveld refinement, impedance spectroscopy, and magnetic characterization. She utilizes large-scale facilities such as ISIS, Diamond, ILL, and ESRF for neutron and synchrotron studies.

Her research interests include oxide ion and mixed proton-oxide ion conductors, magnetic materials, colossal magnetoresistance in oxypnictides, and structure-property relationships in perovskite derivatives. She has published around 80 papers and secured over £2.5M in funding from EPSRC, Leverhulme Trust, Royal Society, and others.

The recent publications highlight trends in designing novel electrolytes with high ionic conductivity, understanding conduction mechanisms in disordered perovskites, and exploring exotic electronic and magnetic phenomena such as phase separation and insulator-insulator transitions in quantum materials.

Scientific Awards:

• University of Aberdeen Excellence Award - Outstanding Research Awards: Individuals Further Stage of Career – STEM (2021)
• Leverhulme Trust research fellowship (2020-2021)
• Leverhulme Trust early career fellowship (2006-2009)
• Royal Society of Edinburgh, SEELLD personal research fellowship (2003-2006)

She actively supervises PhD students and teaches undergraduate courses in chemistry, including solid-state chemistry, transition metals, and superconductors. She has served on EPSRC panels and facility access committees for ISIS, ILL, and Oak Ridge. Her research group operates advanced instrumentation for synthesis and characterization, including high-temperature furnaces, X-ray and neutron diffractometers, and impedance analysis systems.

Her group investigates oxide ion conductors like Ba₃M'M''O_8.5 and Ba₇Nb₄MoO₂₀, mixed conductors, and magnetic oxypnictides such as Sr₂Mn₂CrAs₂O₂, aiming to discover new materials with tunable functionalities for energy and electronic applications.