Dr. Maryam Alsufyani

Dr. Maryam Alsufyani completed her undergraduate studies in chemistry from Taibah University in Madina, Saudi Arabia, in 2016. She then crossed the road to continue her master’s studies in chemical science at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia in 2018. Maryam then earned her PhD from the University of Oxford in 2023, where she devoted the remainder of her academic career to the field of organic chemistry. Maryam’s DPhil research involved designing and synthesizing semiconducting polymers for organic electronic applications such as organic thermoelectric generators for clean energy generations, and organic electrochemical transistors for biomedical sensing. Her research aimed to improve the air stability of semiconducting polymers achieved by deliberately designing and synthesizing electron-deficient n-type polymers with a sufficiently large electron affinity and a subsequent thermodynamically unfavorable reaction with ambient species.

Maryam’s research in Tim Swager’s group will focus on detecting per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), in aqueous environments at concentrations of parts per trillion (ppt). PFAS, commonly found in many consumer products, are associated with cancer and other health issues, as recognized by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Maryam’s research will involve designing and synthesizing highly fluorinated novel polymers and dyes as the sensing elements to facilitate PFAS partitioning from water into polymers. Our detection/sensing method follows a fluorescent sensing approach, which is a quick, portable, and low-cost PFAS sensing device, as opposed to current EPA detection methods that rely on solid-phase extraction from water and subsequent analysis by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, which are time-consuming, expensive, and require complex specialized equipment and qualified staff.