Dr Joanne Sharp (she/her)

School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering

EPSRC Open Fellow

joanne.h.sharp@sheffield.ac.uk

Sir Robert Hadfield Building

Full contact details

Dr Joanne Sharp
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD

Profile

I am currently working on an EPSRC Open Fellowship that runs until 2031 on defects in beryllide materials for fusion. Before this I had a long and peripatetic early career stage. I started in electron microscopy technique development during my PhD at Cambridge (awarded 2010), then did analytical electron microscopy at the University of Sheffield for 10 years working on almost the whole solid periodic table, from ceramics to coatings to alloys and then some more on alloys.

After that I worked on beryllium and its alloys for fusion at the University of Huddersfield, using in-situ ion irradiation to find out what happened on the nanoscale when it was irradiated with helium. The answer was so interesting I wrote a fellowship project to figure it out. In between Huddersfield and this fellowship, I also worked on steels at Birmingham and various other fusion materials with UKAEA.

Research interests

My research centres on understanding defects in the crystal structure of titanium beryllide, a candidate material to help dynamically generate more fuel in large nuclear fusion reactors as they operate. These crystal defects change with temperature so we need to research the nature and effects of these changes, to make sure that the material will stay safe and stable in the breeder modules that contain them in any event such as a building fire that makes them exceed their normal operating temperature.

Key research interests:

Nuclear fusion
Nuclear materials
Radiation effects on materials
Electron microscopy
Transmission electron microscopy
Diffraction

Publications

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Featured publications

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All publications

Journal articles

Donnelly SE, Greaves G, Granberg F, Sharp J, Milston AH, Hinks JA & Nordlund K (2025) Self-ion-irradiation-induced grain formation in nickel. Journal of Nuclear Materials, 605, 155588-155588.
Sharp J, Kuksenko V, Gaisin R, Greaves G, Hinks J, Vladimirov P & Donnelly S (2024) Investigation of the microstructure of He+ ion-irradiated TiBe12 and CrBe12 using ex-situ transmission electron microscopy. Journal of Nuclear Materials, 588, 154812-154812.
Xu Y, Qi J, Nutter J, Sharp J, Bai M, Ma L & Rainforth WM (2021) Correlation between the formation of tribofilm and repassivation in biomedical titanium alloys during tribocorrosion. Tribology International, 163, 107147-107147.
Sirvent P, Garrido MÁ, Sharp J, Rainforth WM & Poza P (2020) Improving the oscillating wear response of cold sprayed Ti-6Al-4V coatings through a heat treatment. Surface and Coatings Technology, 399. View this article in WRRO
Magnus C, Sharp J, Ma L & Rainforth WM (2020) Ramification of thermal expansion mismatch and phase transformation in TiC-particulate/SiC-matrix ceramic composite. Ceramics International, 46(12), 20488-20495. View this article in WRRO
Sharp J, Müller IC, Mandal P, Abbas A, Nord M, Doye A, Ehiasarian A, Hovsepian P, MacLaren I & Rainforth WM (2019) Characterisation of a high-power impulse magnetron sputtered C/Mo/W wear resistant coating by transmission electron microscopy. Surface and Coatings Technology, 377. View this article in WRRO
Magnus C, Cooper D, Sharp J & Rainforth WM (2019) Microstructural evolution and wear mechanism of Ti3AlC2 – Ti2AlC dual MAX phase composite consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). Wear, 438-439. View this article in WRRO
Freeman FSHB, Sharp J, Xi J & Todd I (2019) Influence of solidification cell structure on the martensitic transformation in additively manufactured steels. Additive Manufacturing, 30. View this article in WRRO
Magnus C, Sharp J & Rainforth WM (2019) The lubricating properties of spark plasma sintered (SPS) Ti3SiC2 MAX phase compound and composite. Tribology Transactions, 63(1), 38-51. View this article in WRRO
Freeman FSHB, Lincoln A, Sharp J, Lambourne A & Todd I (2019) Exploiting thermal strain to achieve an in-situ magnetically graded material. Materials and Design, 161, 14-21. View this article in WRRO
Guan D, Gao J, Sharp J & Rainforth WM (2018) Enhancing ductility and strength of nanostructured Mg alloy by in-situ powder casting during spark plasma sintering. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 769, 71-77. View this article in WRRO
Miskevich E, Alshammari FK, Yang WG, Sharp J, Baco S, Leong Z, Abbas QA & Morley NA (2018) Artificial multiferroic structures using soft magnetostrictive bilayers on Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)-PbTiO3. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 51. View this article in WRRO
Dapor M, Masters R, Ross I, Lidzey DG, Pearson AJ, Abril I, Garcia-Molina R, Sharp J, Uncovsky M, Vystavel T , Mika F et al (2018) Secondary electron spectra of semi-crystalline polymers – a novel polymer characterisation tool?. Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena, 222, 95-105. View this article in WRRO
Guan D, Nutter J, Sharp J, Gao J & Rainforth W (2017) Direct observation of precipitation along twin boundaries and dissolution in a magnesium alloy annealing at high temperature. Scripta Materialia, 138, 39-43. View this article in WRRO
Guan D, Rainforth W, Gao J, Sharp J, Wynne B & Ma L (2017) Individual effect of recrystallisation nucleation sites on texture weakening in a magnesium alloy: Part 1- double twins. Acta Materialia, 135, 14-24. View this article in WRRO
Muller IC, Sharp J, Rainforth WM, Hovsepian P & Ehiasarian A (2017) Tribological response and characterization of Mo-W doped DLC coating. Wear, 376/7(Part B), 1622-1629. View this article in WRRO
Qian F, Sharp J & Rainforth WM (2016) Microstructural evolution of Mn-based maraging steels and their influences on mechanical properties. Materials Science and Engineering A, 674, 286-298. View this article in WRRO
Qian F, Sharp J & Rainforth WM (2016) Characterisation of L21-ordered Ni2TiAl precipitates in FeMn maraging steels. Materials Characterization, 118, 199-205. View this article in WRRO
Guan D, Rainforth WM, Sharp J, Gao J & Todd I (2016) On the use of cryomilling and spark plasma sintering to achieve high strength in a magnesium alloy. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 688, 1141-1150. View this article in WRRO
Reeves N, Sharp J, Beltran Mir H, Rainforth WM & West AR (2016) Spinel–rock salt transformation in LiCoMnO4−δ. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 472(2185). View this article in WRRO
Yang WG, Morley NA, Sharp J, Tian Y & Rainforth WM (2016) Strain-mediated converse magnetoelectric coupling strength manipulation by a thin titanium layer. Applied Physics Letters, 108(1). View this article in WRRO
Yang W-G, Morley NA, Sharp J & Rainforth WM (2015) Giant electric field tunable magnetic properties in a Co50Fe50/lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate multiferroic heterostructure. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 48(30). View this article in WRRO
Gao J, Sharp J, Guan D, Rainforth WM & Todd L (2015) New compositional design for creating tough metallic glass composites with excellent work hardening. Acta Materialia, 86, 208-215. View this article in WRRO
Hata S, Miyazaki H, Miyazaki S, Mitsuhara M, Tanaka M, Kaneko K, Higashida K, Ikeda K, Nakashima H, Matsumura S , Barnard JS et al (2011) High-angle triple-axis specimen holder for three-dimensional diffraction contrast imaging in transmission electron microscopy. Ultramicroscopy, 111(8), 1168-1175.
Barnard JS, Eggeman AS, Sharp J, White TA & Midgley PA (2010) Dislocation electron tomography and precession electron diffraction – minimising the effects of dynamical interactions in real and reciprocal space. Philosophical Magazine, 90(35-36), 4711-4730.
Sharp JH, Barnard JS & Midgley PA (2010) Obstacles and optimisation in weak-beam dark-field tomography of defects. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 241, 012007-012007.
Hata S, Kimura K, Gao H, Matsumura S, Doi M, Moritani T, Barnard JS, Tong JR, Sharp JH & Midgley PA (2008) Electron Tomography Imaging and Analysis of γ′ and γ Domains in Ni‐based Superalloys. Advanced Materials, 20(10), 1905-1909.
Barnard JS, Sharp J, Tong JR & Midgley PA (2006) Three-dimensional analysis of dislocation networks in GaN using weak-beam dark-field electron tomography. Philosophical Magazine, 86(29-31), 4901-4922.
Barnard JS, Sharp J, Tong JR & Midgley PA (2006) High-Resolution Three-Dimensional Imaging of Dislocations. Science, 313(5785), 319-319.
Barnard JS, Sharp J, Tong JR & Midgley PA (2006) Weak-beam dark-field electron tomography of dislocations in GaN. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 26, 247-250.

Conference proceedings

Reeves-McLaren N, Hong M, Alqurashi H, Xue L, Sharp J, Rennie AJ & Boston R (2018) The Spinel LiCoMnO4: 5V cathode and conversion anode. Energy Procedia, Vol. 151 (pp 158-162). Sheffield, UK, 11 September 2018 - 11 September 2018. View this article in WRRO
Guan D, Rainforth WM, Sharp J & Gao J (2017) Thermal Stability of Cryomilled Mg Alloy Powder. Magnesium Technology 2017 (pp 225-233). San Diego, California, 26 February 2017 - 26 February 2017. View this article in WRRO
Sharp J, Muller IC, Mandal P, Abbas A, West G, Rainforth WM, Ehiasarian A & Hovsepian P (2015) Cross sectional TEM analysis of duplex HIPIMS and DC magnetron sputtered Mo and W doped carbon coatings. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 644. Manchester, UK View this article in WRRO
Zeng P, Sharp J, Rana A, Thompson R, Rainforth WM & Cook RB (2015) Sub-surface characterisation of tribological contact zone of metal hip prostheses. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 644 (pp 012029-012029)
Barnard JS, Sharp JH, Hata S, Mitsuhara M, Kaneko K & Higashida K (2012) 3-dimensional imaging of dislocation microstructures by electron beams. MRS Proceedings, Vol. 1421
Sharp JH, Barnard JS, Kaneko K, Higashida K & Midgley PA (2008) Dislocation tomography made easy: a reconstruction from ADF STEM images obtained using automated image shift correction. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 126 (pp 012013-012013)

Teaching activities: I will be looking for PhD students later in 2026 - watch this space!

Professional activities and memberships

Member of Institute of Physics
Member of the IoP's Electron Microscopy and Analysis Group committee