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Dr. Richard Taylor

  • Postdoctoral Fellow
  • Room: A.3.242
  • Telephone: +49 9131 7133352
  • E-mail

I am interested in the potential of interferometric scattering microscopy to uncover the hidden dynamics of biology at the nanoscale, in particular, in exploring what we can learn about membrane organization and cellular function. I am also excited to develop nanofluidic tools to facilitate novel investigations into single-cell biology via advanced optical microscopies.

2013

In Situ SERS Monitoring of Photochemistry within a Nanojunction Reactor

Richard W. Taylor, Roger J. Coulston, Frank Biedermann, Sumeet Mahajan, Jeremy J. Baumberg, Oren A. Scherman

Nano Letters 13 5985-5990 (2013) | Journal

We demonstrate a powerful SERS-nanoreactor concept composed of self-assembled gold nanoparticles (AuNP) linked by the sub-nm macrocycle cucurbit[n]uril (CB[n]). The CB[n] functions simultaneously as a nanoscale reaction vessel, sequestering and templating a photoreaction within, and also as a powerful SERS-transducer through the large field enhancements generated within the nanojunctions that CB[n]s define. Through the enhanced Raman fingerprint, the real-time SERS-monitoring of a prototypical stilbene photoreaction is demonstrated. By choosing the appropriate CB[n] nanoreactor, selective photoisomerism or photodimerization is monitored in situ from within the AuNP-CB[n] nanogap.

Electrokinetic Assembly of One-Dimensional Nanoparticle Chains with Cucurbit[7]uril Controlled Subnanometer Junctions

Nina Hüsken, Richard W. Taylor, Dodzi Zigah, Jean-Christophe Taveau, Olivier Lambert, Oren A. Scherman, Jeremy J. Baumberg, Alexander Kuhn

Nano Letters 13 6016-6022 (2013) | Journal

One-dimensional (1D) nanoparticle chains with defined nanojunctions are of strong interest due to their plasmonic and electronic properties. A strategy is presented for the assembly of 1D gold-nanoparticle chains with fixed and rigid cucurbit[n]uril-nanojunctions of 9 Å. The process is electrokinetically accomplished using a nanoporous polycarbonate membrane and controlled by the applied voltage, the nanoparticle/CB[n] concentration ratio, time and temperature. The spatial structure and time-resolved analysis of chain plasmonics confirm a growth mechanism at the membrane nanopores.

I was born in the United Kingdom where I completed my graduate studies, gaining a Masters (1st, Hons) in Physics from the University of Birmingham in 2009. Thereafter I completed my doctoral studies in 2013 in the Nanophotonics group of Prof. Jeremy J. Baumberg at the University of Cambridge. The subject of my doctoral work was ‘On the sub-nm plasmonics of gold nanoparticles clusters’, which led to a patent for ‘Plasmonic junctions for surface-enhanced spectroscopy’. In 2013 I joined the group of Prof. Sandoghdar to develop interferometric scattering microscopy for application to live cells, becoming a Humboldt Postdoctoral fellow in 2015. In addition to research activities, I also enjoy aiding efforts for scientific outreach, and I also co-organised the first international workshop on interferometric scattering microscopy in 2020.

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