Sir Martyn Poliakoff is a British chemist, working on gaining insights into fundamental chemistry, and on developing environmentally acceptable processes and materials. The core themes of his work are supercritical fluids, infrared spectroscopy and lasers. He is a research professor in chemistry at the University of Nottingham. His group comprises several members of staff, postdoctoral research fellows, postgraduate students and overseas visitors. As well as carrying out research at the University of Nottingham, he is a lecturer, teaching a number of modules including green chemistry. Poliakoff became popularly known in the late 2000s and early 2010s as the main figure of the YouTube channel Periodic Videos.
Poliakoff was educated at Westminster School followed by King's College, Cambridge, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1969, and a PhD in 1973, for research supervised by J.J. Turner. While an undergraduate at Cambridge, Poliakoff met and became close friends with Tony Judt, who later became a historian and writer.
Career and research
In 1972, Poliakoff moved to Newcastle University and in 1979 was appointed a lecturer at the University of Nottingham, where he was subsequently promoted to professor in 1991. His research has been funded by the EPSRC. Poliakoff is a global leader in the field of green chemistry with a specific interest in the applications of supercritical fluids. These highly compressed gases possess properties of gases and liquids that permit interesting chemical reactions without the need for organic solvents, which endanger both health and the environment. His contributions have enabled the development of supercritical carbon dioxide and water solvent systems to replace traditional organic solvents at the industrial scale. As foreign secretary and vice-president of the Royal Society from 2011 to 2016, he worked to represent and further the impact of UK science around the world.
Popular science
Poliakoff is the narrator in most of a series of over 600 short videos called The Periodic Table of Videos, a popular science project produced by Brady Haran, originally intended to familiarize the public with all 118 elements of the periodic table. The project has since expanded to cover molecules; there are also several special videos about other chemical topics. He hit the news for calculating that the FIFA World Cup Trophy could not have been made from solid gold as it would be too heavy to raise aloft. Poliakoff showed some videos at IUPAC's elements inauguration in the Central Club of Scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.
Poliakoff has a daughter, Ellen Poliakoff, a psychology lecturer at the Manchester University; and a son, Simon Poliakoff, head of physics at Dame Alice Owen's School. Martyn Poliakoff produced a web eulogy of close friend Tony Judt in 2010.
