Dr Melanie Britton BSc, MA, PhD, MRSC

School of Chemistry
Reader in Chemical Imaging
Deputy Head of School

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0) 121 414 4391
Fax: +44 (0) 121 414 4403
Email: m.m.britton@bham.ac.uk

Address: School of Chemistry
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Melanie’s research is at the interface between chemistry, chemical engineering and physics. She has 15 years experience of developing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) experiments to probe chemistry and flow in complex systems and has published over 30 papers and book chapters in this area.

Melanie is also a part of the Birmingham Plastics Network, an interdisciplinary team of more than 40 academics working together to shape the fate and sustainable future of plastics. This unique team brings together chemists, environmental scientists, engineers, philosophers, linguists, economists, artists, writers, lawyers, and experts in many other fields, to holistically address the global plastics problem.

Group web pages

Qualifications

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, 2020
MA Cambridge University, 2004
PhD in Physical Chemistry, University of Surrey, 1995
BSc (Hons) in Chemistry, RHC, London University, 1992
Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Biography

Melanie Britton obtained a BSc in Chemistry from London University (RHC) in 1992 and a PhD from the University of Surrey in 1995, under the supervision of Prof Les Sutcliffe and Dr Duncan Gillies. Her thesis was on NMR spectroscopy of traction fluids.

Following her PhD, she was a postdoctoral research fellow with Prof Paul Callaghan FRS at Massey University in New Zealand, working on Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the rheology of wormlike micelles.

She then moved back to the UK to work with Prof Ken Packer FRS at Nottingham University, looking at 2D relaxation resolved propagators for flow in porous media. In 2000, she received an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship, where she worked with the group of Prof Lynn Gladden FRS at the Magnetic Resonance Research Centre in the University of Cambridge, where she developed MRI methods for visualising Chemical Waves and Patterns.

In 2004, she became a Lecturer in Physical Chemistry at Birmingham University followed by Senior Lecturer in 2011 and Reader in 2020. Melanie is Deputy Head of School

Teaching

Teaching Programmes

Year 1-3 physical chemistry courses in all Chemistry BSc and MSci degree programmes.

Research

RESEARCH THEMES

In operando visualisation techniques
MRI of Batteries
NMR characterisation of ionic liquids and ionic liquid analogues
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Flow visualisation and imaging
MRI of electrochemical systems
Non-linear/autocatalytic chemical reactions.
Chemical pattern formation.
MRI contrast agents.
Chemical imaging.
Reaction-diffusion and reaction-diffusion-advection phenomena .
NMR studies of microemulsions.
NMR spectroscopy/NMR relaxation..
Rheology of complex fluids.
Wormlike micelles/ Microemulsions.
Chemical fingering.

RESEARCH ACTIVITY

Melanie’s group specialises in the development of MRI for visualising electrochemical processes in operando, including batteries, metal surface finishing and corrosion. She also specialises in flow visualisation techniques to probe the rheology and dynamics of complex fluids, such as ionic liquids and micelle solutions, leading to an understanding of the molecular dynamics that underpin their bulk (macroscopic) behaviour. Using these methods, they have investigated how chemical reactions can couple with diffusion and flow to produce chemical gradients, waves and patterns. Understanding the coupling of chemical reaction with transport processes is of fundamental importance in electrochemical technologies, fast moving consumer goods, reaction engineering and understanding many biological processes. Her group also develop MRI contrast agents and probes for the visualisation of chemical reactions/processes and disease biomarkers.

Other activities

Member of the Executive Committee of the International Division of Spatially Resolved Magnetic Resonance. She was the first woman to chair this Executive Committee (2017 - 2021).
Elected Member of the Board of Trustees for the International Euromar Conference (2021 – 24)
Member of International Scientific Reviewer Panel for the Australian National Imaging Facility (2021 – 24).
Member of the Scientific Steering committee for the Division of Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media - Groupement Ampere (2009 - 11 and 2014 -16)
Chair of the Royal Society of Chemistry NMR Discussion Group (NMRDG) (2023-25)
Member of Editorial Board for Scientific Reports (Nature)
Member of Advisory Editorial Board of Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry