Lorena Ruiz-Pérez is from Seville, where she did her first degree in Physics. In the summer of 2002 she moved to Sheffield to start her doctoral work on the interactions between polyelectrolyte networks and brushes. This work was a collaboration between the Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Chemistry. This photo was taken in the labs of the late Professor Ian Soutar and Dr Linda Swanson (who has since left Sheffield). On (Friday!) October 13, 2006 Lorena successfully defended her thesis before her examiners, Dr Tom Waigh (University of Manchester) and Dr (now Professor) Patrick Fairclough (University of Sheffield). Lorena did a postdoc in Sheffield with Professor Tony Ryan before moving to UCL, to lead on their electron micrpscopy facilities. She is now back in Spain, where she is a Serra Húnter Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Physics at the Univesity of Barcelona.
Dr Tom Waigh's home page
Professor Patrick Fairclough's home page
Publications
L. Ruiz-Pérez, A. Pryke, M. Sommer, G. Battaglia, I. Soutar, L. Swanson, and M. Geoghegan "The conformation of poly(methacrylic acid) chains in dilute aqueous solution" Macromolecules 41 2203-11 (2008)
R. La Spina, M. R. Tomlinson, L. Ruiz-Pérez, A. Chiche, S. Langridge, and M. Geoghegan "Controlling network-brush interactions to achieve switchable adhesion" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 46 6460-3 (2007)
M. Geoghegan, L. Ruiz-Pérez, C. C. Dang, A. J. Parnell, S. J. Martin, J. R. Howse, R. A. L. Jones, R. Golestanian, P. D. Topham, C. J. Crook, A. J. Ryan, D. S. Sivia, J. R. P. Webster, and A. Menelle "The pH-induced swelling and collapse of a polybase brush synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization" Soft Matter 2 1076-80 (2006)
A. J. Ryan, C. J. Crook, J. R. Howse, P. Topham, M. Geoghegan, S. J. Martin, A. J. Parnell, L. Ruiz-Pérez, and R. A. L. Jones "Mechanical actuation by responsive polyelectrolyte brushes and triblock gels" J. Macromol. Sci. B: Phys. 44 1103-21 (2005)
A. J. Ryan, C. J. Crook, J. R. Howse, P. Topham, R. A. L. Jones, M. Geoghegan, A. J. Parnell, L. Ruiz-Pérez, S. J. Martin, A. Cadby, A. Menelle, J. R. P. Webster, A. J. Gleeson, and W. Bras "Responsive brushes and gels as components of soft nanotechnology" Faraday Discuss. 128 55-74 (2005)
Oral presentations and prizes
European Polymer Congress, Moscow, June 2005
Skinner prize for best poster, Faraday Discussion 128, Leeds, July 2004
Last updated in May 2026.