Dr Peter Portius

Dr Peter Portius

School of Chemistry
Associate Professor

Contact details

Email
p.portius@bham.ac.uk
Address
School of Chemistry
ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Peter Portius joined the School of Chemistry in 2025 as an Associate Professor. His research ranges from synthetic and coordination chemistry to spectroscopy applied to main group chemistry and energetic materials. The research aims not only at the discovery, chemical synthesis and characterisation of novel energetic materials for a sustainable future, but also  addresses  fundamental problems in energetic materials research, such as devising accurate methods for predicting properties based on chemical structure.

Qualifications

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, 2012
  • PhD (doctorate of natural sciences), Humboldt University of Berlin, 2002
  • Diploma (Chemistry), Humboldt University of Berlin, 1996
  • Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Biography

Peter Portius obtained a Diploma in Chemistry from the Humboldt University of Berlin in 1996. He was awarded a PhD for his work on the synthesis, reactivity and characterisation of low-valent germanium compounds carried out under the supervision of Prof Alexander Filippou. In 2002, he moved to the UK to carry out postdoctoral research with Mike George at Nottingham University. Supported by a Feodor Lynen (Alexander von Humboldt Society) and Marie Curie (EU) fellowships, he investigated the reactivity of transition metal alkane sigma complexes using time-resolved IR spectroscopies, matrix isolation and high-pressure methods. After a period at the University of Bonn, he took up an EPSRC advanced research fellowship in 2007 at Sheffield, where he established his research into nitrogen-rich compounds and metal-based energetic materials synthesis and chemical characterisation. In 2011 he became a Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry at Sheffield University and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2023. In 2025, he was appointed Associate Professor in the School of Chemistry at Birmingham.

Research

  • Synthesis and characterisation of complexes of p-block element in unusual oxidation states
  • Discovery of novel molecular energetic materials, solid fuels and propellant oxidisers
  • Coordination chemistry of explosophoric ligands
  • Energy-dense, endothermic nitrogen-rich and oxygen-rich molecules, compounds and materials
  • Initiatory energetic materials
  • Structure determination and structure–property relationships involving crystalline energetic materials
  • Mechanisms of high-rate combustion reactions
  • Photochemistry and photophysics of nitrogen-rich compounds

Research Activity

Peter’s research specialises in the discovery, synthesis and physico-chemical characterisation of novel energetic molecules, compounds and materials. Results of this work have impact in sustainability and the replacement of harmful or polluting energetic materials. He is involved in efforts to solving the fundamental problem in energetic materials research: how to predict properties based on chemical structure and morphology and vice versa, which needs precise experimental data. His group explores the chemical space of fuels and oxidisers relevant in efforts to finding candidate components for solid fuels and rocket propellants, and replace existing ones with the aim to lessen environmental impact.

Other activities

  • Member of the Centre of Excellence in Energetic Materials (CoEEM)
  •  Member of the scientific advisory board of the International Explosives Conference
  •  Member of the EPSRC Peer Review College

Publications

I. L. Christopher, X. Liu, H. J. Lloyd, C. L. Bull, N. P. Funnell, P. Portius, A. A. L. Michalchuk, S. R. Kennedy, C. R. Pulham*, C. A. Morrison* "Tuning energetic properties through co-crystallisation – a high-pressure experimental and computational study of nitrotriazolone: 4,4’-bipyridine” Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 26 (2024), 16859-16870.

B. Westwater, H. J. Lloyd, I. J. Vitorica-Yrezabal, A. Fong, P. McMaster, M. Sloan, B. M. Coaker, C. R. Pulham, P. Portius "Synthesis and characterization of the mixed-ligand coordination polymer Cu3Cl(N4C-NO2)2" Dalton Trans. 49 (2020) 14975-14984.

R. Campbell, S. Konar, S. Hunter, C. Pulham, P. Portius* “Labile Low-Valent Tin Azides: Syn­­theses, Structural Characterization, and Thermal Properties” Inorg. Chem. 57 (2018) 400–411.

P. Portius, A. C. Filippou, M. Davis, G. Schnakenburg, K.-D. Wehrstedt Lewis Base Adducts of Silicontetraazide”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 49 (2010) 8013–8016.

G. E. Ball, C. M. Brookes, A. J. Cowan, T. A. Darwish, M. W. George, H. K. Kawa­na­mi, P. Portius, J. P. Rourke “A delicate balance of complexation vs. acti­vation of alkanes interacting with [Re(Cp)(CO)(PF3)] studied with NMR and time-resolved IR spectroscopy” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104 (2007) 1853–6932.

A. C. Filippou, P. Portius, G. Schnakenburg “The Hexaazidosilicate(IV) Ion: Syn­thesis, Pro­perties and Molecular Structure” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 124 (2002) 12396–12397.