Paul Francis McMillan (3 June 1956 – 2 February 2022) was a British chemist who held the Sir William Ramsay Chair of Chemistry at University College London.[1] His research considered the study of matter under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure, with a focus on phase transitions, amorphisation, and the study of glassy states. He has also investigated the survival of bacteria and larger organisms (tardigrades) under extreme compression, studies of amyloid fibrils,[2] the synthesis and characterisation of carbonitride nanocrystals and the study of water motion in confined environments. He has made extensive use of Raman spectroscopy together with X-ray diffraction and neutron scattering techniques.
McMillan worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Arizona State University, where he installed one of the first micro-beam Raman spectroscopy instruments in the US. He used Raman spectroscopy to study high pressure minerals and materials. He was hired to a teaching position at Arizona State University in 1983, and promoted to Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1993.[3] He was appointed Director of the Center for Solid State Science in 1997 and was named Presidential Professor of the Sciences.[3] In 2000 he was awarded the Brunauer Cement Award of American Ceramic Society.[5] In 2000, McMillan returned to the United Kingdom, where he was made Professor of Solid State Chemistry at University College London, an appointment jointly held with the Royal Institution.[3] McMillan has also held visiting positions at the Universités of Nantes and Rennes, the Ecole Normale Supérieure and Université Claude Bernard.[citation needed]
McMillan's research involved the exploration of solid state chemistry under extreme high pressure and high temperature conditions using diamond anvil cells.[6] New compounds and materials are prepared and studied at up to a million atmospheres and thousands of degrees Celsius using spectroscopy and synchrotron X-ray diffraction.[7] He studied the properties and structure of liquids, amorphous solids and biological molecules at high pressure.[6] McMillan has contributed across numerous fields and has published work relating to solid state inorganic/materials chemistry, high pressure-high temperature research,[8] amorphous solids and liquids,[9] vibrational spectroscopy,[10] synchrotron X-ray and neutron scattering, mineral physics, graphitic carbonitrides,[11] battery materials and the response of bacteria to high pressures.[12]