Rate My Professor A. J. (Jim) McQuillan

A. J. (Jim) McQuillan is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Sciences Division, at the University of Otago. He obtained his BSc (Hons) and PhD from the University of Otago and was appointed Professor in 2010. A Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (FRSNZ) since 2008 and Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry (FNZIC), McQuillan has made pioneering contributions to surface spectroscopy. In 1973, while at the University of Southampton, he conducted the first surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) experiments on roughened silver electrodes, contributing to the discovery of this technique. SERS enhances Raman signals from molecules adsorbed on silver nanoparticles by factors up to a million-fold, enabling detection of single molecular layers. This has revolutionized applications in forensic analysis, drug detection, pharmaceutical development, and authentication of artworks. In 2013, the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) recognized this achievement with a National Chemical Landmark blue plaque at Southampton's Chemistry Department.

At the University of Otago, McQuillan's research developed attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) methods using thin films of hydrous metal oxide particles deposited on internal reflection prisms. These in situ techniques probe adsorption processes and surface chemical reactions under aqueous conditions, providing molecular-level insights into interfacial phenomena. Applications include titanium dioxide photocatalysis in solar cells, antimonate adsorption to iron oxides, phosphate interactions with TiO2, cation exchange by Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms, and spore surface characterization of Geobacillus species. He co-authored the IUPAC Technical Report 'Experiments on adsorption at hydrous metal oxide surfaces using attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATRIRS)' in 2009. Other key publications encompass 'Mechanisms of Cation Exchange by Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms' (Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2008), 'Characterization of spore surfaces from a Geobacillus sp. isolate by pH dependence of surface charge and infrared spectra' (Journal of Applied Microbiology, 2010), and studies on photocatalytic processes on TiO2 such as 'In Situ Infrared Spectroscopy of Glyoxylic Acid Adsorption and Photocatalysis on TiO2' (Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2000) and 'Phosphate Adsorption onto TiO2 from Aqueous Solutions' (Langmuir, 1999). McQuillan received the 2013 T.K. Sidey Medal from the Royal Society of New Zealand for outstanding scientific research in electromagnetic radiation. He presented his Inaugural Professorial Lecture in 2010, titled 'From sticky molecules to microbes: Reflections on wet surface chemistry.'