Matthew Bird

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Chemistry Division
Bldg. 555
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000

(631) 344-2859
mbird@bnl.gov

Research | Education | Appointments | Publications

Research Activities

Electron- and Photo-Induced Processes for Molecular Energy Conversion

Charge and exciton transport in conjugated polymers, microwave conductivity and pulse radiolysis experimental techniques, radiation chemistry, charge escape in low polarity environments

Bioinspired Light-Escalated Chemistry (BioLEC) EFRC

Mechanistic studies involving reactive and short-lived intermediates relevant to new photocatalytic systems in the BioLEC Energy Frontiers Research Center

Education

MSci./BA 2005 (Physics) University of Cambridge, UK
Ph.D. (Physics) 2010 University of Cambridge, UK

Professional Appointments

Chemist (RS-5) Chemistry Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 2025 - present
Associate Chemist (RS-4) Chemistry Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory,  2020 - 2024
Assistant Chemist (RS-3) Chemistry Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 2015 - 2020
Research Associate Chemistry Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 2010 - 2015

Selected Publications

• Xu EY, Castanedo A, Shin NY, et al (2025) Quantitative Determination of Electronic Effects in Free Radicals through Open-Shell Hammett Substituent Constants. Journal of the American Chemical Society 147:21735–21742. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c04058
• Kudisch M, Hooper RX, Valloli LK, et al (2025) Photolytic activation of Ni(II)X2L explains how Ni-mediated cross coupling begins. Nature Communications 16:. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60729-x
• Shin NY, Tsui E, Reinhold A, et al (2022) Radicals as Exceptional Electron-Withdrawing Groups: Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution of Halophenols Via Homolysis-Enabled Electronic Activation. Journal of the American Chemical Society 144:21783–21790. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.2c10296
• Till NA, Oh S, MacMillan DWC, Bird MJ (2021) The Application of Pulse Radiolysis to the Study of Ni(I) Intermediates in Ni-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reactions. Journal of the American Chemical Society. doi: 10.1021/jacs.1c04652
• Bird MJ, Pearson MA, Asaoka S, Miller JR (2020) General Method for Determining Redox Potentials without Electrolyte. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A 124:5487–5495. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpca.0c02948
• Bird MJ, Cook AR, Zamadar M, Asaoka S, Miller JR (2020) Pushing the limits of the electrochemical window with pulse radiolysis in chloroform. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 22:14660–14670. doi: 10.1039/d0cp01948h
• Burke JH, Bird MJ (2019) Energetics and Escape of Interchain-Delocalized Ion Pairs in Nonpolar Media. Advanced Materials 31:1806863. doi: 10.1002/adma.201806863
• Bird MJ, Bakalis J, Asaoka S, Sirringhaus H, Miller JR (2017) Fast Holes, Slow Electrons, and Medium Control of Polaron Size and Mobility in the DA Polymer F8BT. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 121:15597–15609. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b04602
• Zaikowski L, Mauro G, Bird M, Karten B, Asaoka S, Wu Q, Cook AR, Miller JR (2014) Charge Transfer Fluorescence and 34 nm Exciton Diffusion Length in Polymers with Electron Acceptor End Traps. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 119:7231–7241. doi: 10.1021/jp510095p
• Bird MJ, Reid OG, Cook AR, Asaoka S, Shibano Y, Imahori H, Rumbles G, Miller JR (2014) Mobility of Holes in Oligo- and Polyfluorenes of Defined Lengths. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 118:6100–6109. doi: 10.1021/jp5010874