PhD Studentship: Hyperbolic metamaterial sensor for selective detection of volatile organic compounds

Award details

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) pose significant risks to both human health and the environment. Many VOCs, such as benzene, formaldehyde, and toluene, are common in household products, industrial processes, and vehicle emissions. When released into the air, they can contribute to indoor and outdoor air pollution. Overall, monitoring VOC levels is critical for protecting public health, improving air quality, and supporting sustainable environmental management. Additionally, volatile chemical markers, particularly ethylene and ammonia, provide powerful early indicators of ripening dynamics, microbial activity, and degradation processes. Because these gases emerge well before visible or textural changes occur, high-sensitivity detection platforms for ethylene and ammonia represent a transformative opportunity for predictive quality assessment of food.

Optical techniques based on nanomaterials provide significant advantages for detecting these molecular signatures due to their real-time readout, high sensitivity, and compatibility with low-cost, portable instrumentation. Hyperbolic plasmonic metamaterials, consisting of engineered arrays of nanoscale meta-atoms, have recently demonstrated exceptional responsiveness to chemically induced refractive index changes, enabling the detection of a wide array of gases and biomolecular stimuli. Their fabrication via scalable self-assembled electrochemical methods yields large-area, highly uniform sensing substrates ideal for multiplexed measurements and fine control over geometry and optical resonance.

In this project, the successful candidate will design novel sensing architectures and transducer coatings capable of detecting ethylene, ammonia, and other spoilage-related volatiles across a variety of controlled and real-world environments. This will include developing strategies for improving analyte affinity, enhancing selectivity within complex gas mixtures, and understanding the cross-sensitivity behaviour that governs multi-analyte detection. The candidate will gain training in nanofabrication, optical and structural characterisation, numerical modelling, surface functionalisation, and gas-phase testing in both idealised and application-relevant sample matrices. This PhD is suited to candidates interested in interdisciplinary research at the interface of materials science, optical sensing and analytical chemistry.

Applicants are expected to have a master’s-level degree or 1st-class BSc degree, or be awaiting its award, in a relevant area (e.g., Physics, Engineering, or Physical Chemistry). A strong interest in nanomaterials and sensing applications is essential, with experience in nanofabrication, optical measurements, or electromagnetic simulations being advantageous (though not all are required).

The candidate will be part of the world-leading Photonics & Nanotechnology Group at King’s College London, a hub for research in nanophotonics, metamaterials, and plasmonics. Outstanding opportunities exist for collaboration within the EPSRC MetaHub and across London’s broader research ecosystem, including the London Centre for Nanotechnology.

Award value

Funding is available for 3.5 years and covers tuition fees and a tax-free stipend of approximately £22,000 p.a. with inflationary increases after the first year. Funds are also available for travel, conferences and training.

Eligibility criteria

Applicants who must qualify for Home tuition fees are expected to have a masters-level degree or 1^st class BSc degree, or are awaiting its award, in a relevant area (e.g., Physics, Engineering, Chemistry). Candidates should have a keen interest in nanomaterials and their applications, and some experience in either nanofabrication, optical measurements or electromagnetic simulations (experience in all these components is desirable but not essential).

Application process

Interested candidates should apply online via the King’s Apply admissions portal.

Please refer to the How to Apply webpage for guidance.

Please apply for [Physics Full-time MPhil/PhD] and indicate Professor Anatoly Zayats as the supervisor, and quote the project title in your application and all correspondence.

Please ensure to add the following code 994 in the Funding section of the application form. Please select option 5 ‘I am applying for a funding award or scholarship administered by King’s College London’ and type the code into the ‘Award Scheme Code or Name’ box. Please copy and paste the code exactly.

Contact:

Professor Anatoly Zayats, a.zayats@kcl.ac.uk.