Fiona C. Meldrum is a British scientist who is a Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Leeds[1] where she works on bio-inspired materials and crystallisation processes.
[3] She joined the University of Bath for her postgraduate studies, working on bio-inspired systems where she completed her PhD on nanoscale synthesis in 1992.
[4] Meldrum was appointed a postdoctoral research fellow at Syracuse University, where she worked on nanoparticle assembly with Janos Fendler.
[14][15] Meldrum looks to use biology to guide crystal growth, demonstrating precipitation with mould and via an amorphous precursor phase.
[7][16][17] She also looked how water-soluble block copolymers can influence the crystallisation of barium sulfate and calcium carbonate.
[22] The choice of additive is guided by genetic algorithms, resulting in the production of crystals with desired properties.
[23][24] She has evaluated how the surface topography impacts ice crystallisation, showing acute geometries give rise to a confined crystalline, which is followed by the formation of a bulk phase.