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STEM Faculty

Meet the people who make up STEM Faculty.

Daniel Payne

Daniel Payne

Lecturer In Chemistry

life-health-and-chemical-sciences

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I am a Lecturer in Chemistry in the School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences (LHCS). I am an active researcher in organic chemistry and materials science specialising in organic molecules and materials that produce singlet oxygen (a reactive oxygen species) for use as photosensitizers for the treatment of various cancers using photodynamic therapy. The focus of my research group is to develop functional molecules that can be incorporated into nano- and macro-scale functional materials without loss in activity for the desired function. This would allow for a bottom-up design approach for functional materials and would provide a single component system with tailorable and tuneable physical properties. The over-arching aim is the development of design rules to produce a toolkit of synthetic modifications to convert functional molecules into tailored functional materials via aggregation events.

Prior to joining the Open University in 2023, I spent five years working as a research fellow in Japan on the design and synthesis of novel macrocyclic compounds, singlet oxygen photosensitisers and the design and production of organic functional materials and prior to this was working in contract research for the pharmaceutical industry on the development of synthetic routes towards novel anti-cancer drugs.

PhD Opportunities 

Current PhD opportunities in the School of Life, Health and Chemical Science are advertised here: Current PhD opportunities | Life, Health and Chemical Sciences

If you would be interested to carry out a PhD in my group then please email me for more information. You can also watch the video below by Scott Andrew, a current student in my group, who talks about his research, experiences at the OU and his advice for potential PhD students.

Latest publications

Displaying 10 of 43 publications

  • Ishihara, S., Ghosh, A., Mori, T., Chahal, M. K., Payne, D. T., Saeki, A., Hyakutake, T. and Nakanishi, T., 2026, ‘Luminescent core-isolated solvent-free liquids as a soft material platform for optical gas sensing’, Chemical Science, 17 pp. 5934–5943., https://oro.open.ac.uk/108365/.
  • Ilieva, V., Payne, D., Rashwan, T., Kingston, R., Barton, T., Oakley, J. and Macey, M., 2025, ‘Wastewater bioremediation potential’, in Geomicrobiology Network Research In Progress Meeting 2025, 07-08 Oct 2025, Natural History Museum, London, UK., https://oro.open.ac.uk/106075/.
  • James, T. D., Brittain, W. D. G., Payne, D. T., Cresswell, A. J., Minami, T. and Elmes, R. B. P., 2025, ‘Editorial: Catalysis and sensing for our environment’, Frontiers in Chemistry, Volume 13, https://oro.open.ac.uk/105438/.
  • Maji, S., Hynek, J., Nakada, K., Hori, A., Minami, K., Labuta, J., Chahal, M. K., Payne, D. T., Richards, G. J., Kumar Shrestha, L., Ariga, K., Yamauchi, Y., Yoshikawa, G. and Hill, J. P., 2025, ‘Molecular Nanoarchitectonic Sensing Layer for Analysis of Volatile Fatty Acids in Bioreactor Headspaces Using a Nanomechanical Sensor’, Advanced Materials Technologies, 10(17), https://oro.open.ac.uk/105440/.
  • Gupta, R. K., Nakanishi, T. and Payne, D. T., 2025, ‘Alkyl‐π Liquids as Condensed‐State Singlet Oxygen Photosensitizers’, Chemistry – A European Journal, 31(33), https://oro.open.ac.uk/104204/.
  • Hynek, J., Payne, D. T., Shrestha, L. K., Chahal, M. K., Ma, R., Dong, J., Katsuhiko, A., Yusuke, Y. and Hill, J. P., 2024, ‘Mild selective photochemical oxidation of an organic sulfide using OxP-polyimide porous polymers as singlet oxygen generators’, Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, 25(1), https://oro.open.ac.uk/104086/.
  • Hill, J. P., Payne, D. T., Sun, K., Matsushita, Y., Nakata, A., Mishra, P., Uchihashi, T., Nakanishi, W., Ariga, K., Nakayama, T. and Kawai, S., 2023, ‘On-Surface Translational Activity of Porphyrin Chromophore Molecules’, in Moresco, Francesca and Joachim, Christian eds. Single Molecule Mechanics on a Surface. Advances in Atom and Single Molecule Machines. Springer, Cham, pp. 83–103., https://oro.open.ac.uk/95740/.
  • Hynek, J., Chahal, M. K., Payne, D. T., Liyanage, A., D’Souza, F. and Hill, J. P., 2023, ‘Design rules for oxoporphyrinogen (‘OxP’) as a versatile chromophore for efficient singlet oxygen generation’, Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines, 27(07n10), pp. 1108–1118., https://oro.open.ac.uk/95739/.
  • Chahal, M. K., Sumita, M., Labuta, J., Payne, D. T., Hill, J. P., Yamauchi, Y., Nakanishi, T., Tanaka, T., Kataura, H., Koga, K., Miyamura, H., Kon, Y., Hong, D. and Ishihara, S., 2023, ‘Selective Detection of Toxic C1 Chemicals Using a Hydroxylamine-Based Chemiresistive Sensor Array’, ACS Sensors, 8(4), pp. 1585–1592., https://oro.open.ac.uk/95738/.
  • Chahal, M. K., Maji, S., Liyanage, A., Matsushita, Y., Tozman, P., Payne, D. T., Jevasuwan, W., Fukata, N., Karr, P. A., Labuta, J., Shrestha, L. K., Ishihara, S., Ariga, K., D’Souza, F., Yoshikawa, G., Yamauchi, Y. and Hill, J. P., 2023, ‘Persistent microporosity of a non-planar porphyrinoid based on multiple supramolecular interactions for nanomechanical sensor applications’, Materials Chemistry Frontiers, 7(2), pp. 325–332., https://oro.open.ac.uk/87007/.