John Hayton

PhD student

jah260@cam.ac.uk

John is exploring the mechanisms behind crystal face growth out of solution. In particular, he is interested in understanding how particle addition to ionic surfaces affects the macroscopic morphology, with special attention given to how polar surfaces stabilise themselves while growing. John grew up in Birmingham before studying Natural Sciences at Cambridge. In his own time, John rows for his college and likes to bake.

Pristine surfaces require reconstruction to stabilise the diverging electric field produced across the crystal. In the case of crystal growth, such faces consistently exhibit rough growth, with many partial layers growing at once. Understanding these processes will lead to a better morphological control of ionic crystals, improving our production of catalysts.