Tilley Group

Welcome to the Tilley Research Group, where we design nanoparticle catalysts with atomic precision to power a cleaner future.

Our group is world-leading in the synthesis of the highest-performing nanoparticle catalysts, powering technologies from clean hydrogen production to sustainable biomass upgrading.

Our synthesis expertise lets us engineer complex nanoparticle catalysts with atomic-level precision, controlling exactly how atoms are arranged to unlock the next generation of clean energy catalysts.

As Director of the Electron Microscope Unit, our lab gives you hands-on access to state-of-the-art electron microscopes the best in Australia to see and characterise your nanoparticles at true atomic resolution.

Available projects

Atomic-precision nanoparticle synthesis

We control exactly how atoms are arranged on a nanoparticle's surface, as islands, clusters, strings or single atoms.

Phase boundary and facet engineering

We engineer crystal phase boundaries and defect-rich facets, twin boundaries, atomic steps, interfaces between crystal phases.

Structural colour of butterfly wings

Studying the nanoscale structures behind butterfly wing colour to design next-generation photonic materials

Publications

Recent selected publications:

  1. Ramadhan, Z. R.; Cheong, S.; Saha, S.; Li, Q.; Zheng, X.; Somerville, S. V.; Poerwoprajitno, A. R.; Kumar, P. V.; Dai, L.; Gooding, J. J.; Tilley, R. D. Phase Boundary Engineering of Co₂P–CoP Branched Nanoparticles Enhances Cobalt Oxidation for Oxygen Evolution Electrocatalysis. Adv. Mater. 2026, e23118.
  2. Cavallo, M.; Colasuonno, F.; Somerville, S. V.; Li, Q.; Ramadhan, Z. R.; Moller, A. L.; Forest, C.; Thordarson, P.; Gooding, J. J.; Tilley, R. D. Promotion of FFCA Formation through the Use of Highly Controlled Ru Nanostructures as Catalysts for the Electrocatalytic Oxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Nanoscale 2026.
  3. Han, E.; Ramadhan, Z. R.; Pragasam, D. L.; Yao, Y.; Gooding, J. J.; Tilley, R. D. Investigating the Migration of Phosphorus in the Transformation of Branched Cobalt Nanoparticles to Cobalt Phosphide. Cryst. Growth Des. 2026, 26, 4313–4318.
  4. Ikram, F.; Cheong, S.; Persson, I.; Ramadhan, Z. R.; Poerwoprajitno, A. R.; Gooding, J. J.; Tilley, R. D. Iridium Nanocrystals Enriched with Defects and Atomic Steps to Enhance Oxygen Evolution Reaction Performance. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147 (13), 10784–10790.
  5. Li, Q.; Cheong, S.; Poerwoprajitno, A. R.; Xiang, S.; Frenkel, A. I.; Yang, Y.; Bedford, N. M.; Umer, S.; Lessio, M.; Ohnishi, I.; Ramadhan, Z. R.; Huber, D. L.; Dai, L.; Schuhmann, W.; Gooding, J. J.; Tilley, R. D. How the Arrangement of Platinum Atoms on Ruthenium Nanoparticles Improves Hydrogen Evolution Activity. Adv. Mater. 2025, 37, 2509610.
  6. Xiao, S.; Xie, Y.; Poerwoprajitno, A. R.; Gloag, L.; Li, Q.; Cheong, S.; Ramadhan, Z. R.; Persson, I.; Soda, Y.; Huber, D. L.; Dai, L.; Gooding, J. J.; Tilley, R. D. Formation of Open Ruthenium Branched Structures with Highly Exposed Active Sites for Oxygen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalysis. Chem. Sci. 2025, 16, 9284–9289.
  7. Oluigbo, C. J.; Poerwoprajitno, A. R.; Xie, Y.; Somerville, S. V.; Persson, I.; Ramadhan, Z. R.; Cheong, S.; Dai, L.; Huber, D. L.; Gooding, J. J.; Tilley, R. D. Controlling the Ru Island Decoration on Ni Nanoparticles to Tune the Activity for 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) Oxidation. Chem. Mater. 2025, 37 (15), 6090–6095.
  8. Ramadhan, Z. R.; Poerwoprajitno, A. R.; Cheong, S.; Gooding, J. J.; Tilley, R. D. Size-Controlled Cobalt Nanoplates and Their Impact on Oxygen Evolution Catalysis. Chem. Eur. J. 2025, 31, e02484.
  9. Gloag, L.; Somerville, S. V.; Gooding, J. J.; Tilley, R. D. Co-catalytic Metal–Support Interactions in Single-Atom Electrocatalysts (Review). Nature Reviews Materials 2024, 9, 173–189.

Richard Tilley

Prof. Richard Tilley, Professor in the School of Chemistry and Director of the Electron Microscope Unit, co-leads the Smart Materials and Surfaces research group.

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Want to join?

If you are interested in our projects, please email r.tilley@unsw.edu.au.

Smart Materials and Surfaces Group

The SMS group has a strong focus interfacing materials with biological systems. View our members, recent publications and much more.