Jacob specialises in materials science and nanotechnology: nanomaterials synthesis, advanced characterisation, electrochemistry, and microfabrication.
Jacob specialises in the design, synthesis, fabrication, and characterisation of functional materials across the atomic, nano- and microscale. His research spans nanomaterials, electrochemistry, electrocatalysis, surface engineering, sensing, and microfabrication, with particular expertise in relating material composition and structure to functional performance. His PhD research focused on hierarchical nanoporous carbon materials for electrochemical energy storage and electrocatalysis. This work included the synthesis of micro-, meso-, and macroporous carbons, heteroatom doping, incorporation of atomically dispersed transition-metal species, and the synthesis and immobilisation of platinum-group metal nanoparticles. His research examined how nanoscale structure, porosity, surface chemistry, and metal–support interactions can be engineered to improve electrochemical performance. His current research includes the development of nanoporous gold substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), encompassing nanomaterial fabrication, surface modification, Raman spectroscopy, and quantitative evaluation of sensing performance, sensitivity, and reproducibility.
Industry
Through his work with WearOptimo, Jacob contributes to the development and fabrication of wearable microsystems. His work includes cleanroom microfabrication, wafer processing, precision wafer dicing, surface modification, process development, and microscale materials characterisation, providing experience in translating materials research into functional device architectures. Jacob has also worked as a Materials Engineer at Fortescue on Direct Electrochemical Reduction (DER), an emerging approach for the direct electrochemical conversion of iron ore to metallic iron for zero-emissions iron production. His work contributes to materials and electrochemical research supporting the development of this technology. His technical expertise encompasses a broad range of materials synthesis, fabrication and advanced characterisation techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and electrochemical characterisation. Across these areas, his research is unified by the engineering of material structure and chemistry from the atomic scale through to functional devices, combining fundamental materials science with applications in energy, sensing, and emerging technologies.
Key Publications
Earnshaw, J.; Ashok, A.; Leong, K. K.; Kim, J.; Kim, M.; Yamauchi, Y. 2D Mesoporous Carbon with Hollow Turtle Shell‐Like Morphology for Resolving Restacking Effect. Small 2025, 21 (4), 2406174. DOI: 10.1002/smll.202406174.
Earnshaw, J.; Kim, D.; Kim, J.; Yamauchi, Y.; Kim, M. In situ doped cobalt sub-nanometer clusters in hierarchically porous carbon for enhanced oxygen reduction reaction performance. Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2025, 13 (48), 42289-42297. DOI: 10.1039/D5TA06567D.
Kim, M.; Xin, R.; Earnshaw, J.; Tang, J.; Hill, J. P.; Ashok, A.; Nanjundan, A. K.; Kim, J.; Young, C.; Sugahara, Y.; Na, J.; Yamauchi, Y. MOF-derived nanoporous carbons with diverse tunable nanoarchitectures. Nature Protocols 2022, 17 (12), 2990-3027. DOI: 10.1038/s41596-022-00718-2.
Kim, M.; Wang, C.; Earnshaw, J.; Park, T.; Amirilian, N.; Ashok, A.; Na, J.; Han, M.; Rowan, A. E.; Li, J.; Yi, J. W.; Yamauchi, Y. Co, Fe and N co-doped 1D assembly of hollow carbon nanoboxes for high-performance supercapacitors. Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2022, 10 (45), 24056-24063, DOI: 10.1039/D2TA06950D.
Kim, M.; Xu, X.; Xin, R.; Earnshaw, J.; Ashok, A.; Kim, J.; Park, T.; Nanjundan, A. K.; El-Said, W. A.; Yi, J. W.; Na, J.; Yamauchi, Y. KOH-Activated Hollow ZIF-8 Derived Porous Carbon: Nanoarchitectured Control for Upgraded Capacitive Deionization and Supercapacitor. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2021, 13 (44), 52034-52043. DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c09107.