Born in Beverley, located in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England (UK 1983). Andrew studied MChem Chemistry at the University of Hull. Whilst there he obtained a 1st class honours degree and his MChem research project was conducted under the supervision of Dr Steve Archibald. His dissertation title was “the synthesis and characterisation of fluorescent tagged AMD3100 derivatives.” In September 2006 Andrew started his PhD at the University of Manchester, under the supervision of Prof Michael L. Turner at the Organic Materials Innovation Centre and is
currently still working towards its completion. His PhD dissertation title is “the synthesis of poly(phenylenevinylenes) (PPVs) via microwave assisted ring opening metathesis polymerisation.” This new method enables the preparation of a range of narrow polydispersity PPVs by the living polymerisation of cyclophanedienes. Living polymerisations are particularly interesting as they have the potential to form block copolymers with a precise volume fraction. A block copolymer comprising of both an electron donor and electron acceptor block may have the potential to self assemble into a bicontinous microemulsion which would enhance the charge transporting properties if used in an organic photovoltaic device.

Publications

Andrew M. Spring, Chin-Yang Yu, Masaki Horie and Michael L. Turner “MEH-PPV by microwave assisted ring-opening metathesis polymerisation” Chem. Commun., 2009, 2676-2678.

Chin-Yang Yu, Masaki Horie, Andrew M. Spring, Kim Tremel, and Michael L. Turner “Homopolymers and Block Copolymers of p-Phenylenevinylene-2,5- diethylhexyloxy-p-phenylenevinylene and m-Phenylenevinylene-2,5- diethylhexyloxy-p-phenylenevinylene by Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization” Macromolecules, 2009, DOI: 10.1021/ma901966g.

Publications in Preparation

Andrew M. Spring, Chin-Yang Yu, Masaki Horie and Michael L. Turner “DO-PPV in 60 seconds by microwave assisted ring-opening metathesis polymerisation”

Oral Presentations

13th International IUPAC Conference on Polymers and Organic Chemistry (POC09), July 4th-8th 2009, Montreal, Canada. “Poly(Phenylenevinylenes) by Microwave Assisted Ring Opening Metathesis Polymerisation”

Macro young researchers meeting, 21/22nd July 2009, Sheffield, England, UK. “MEH-PPV and DO-PPV by Microwave Assisted Ring Opening Metathesis Polymerisation”

Other Interests

Andrew enjoys playing a relaxing round of golf, studying Chinese language and travelling. He is particularly interested in the cultures of south east Asia and has travelled to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau on numerous occasions. After his Phd
Andrew hopes to continue his studies of mandarin, with the aim to obtaining some formal qualification.