Paul Wilde trained as an electrochemist and completed a PhD on the photoelectrochemistry of semiconductors and a postdoctoral fellowship in the area of enzyme electrodes before moving on to second postdoctoral stint in the USA that involved using the electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) to study ion and solvent motion in polymer films on electrodes. He was an Assistant, then Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa in Canada before returning to Imperial College.

His current research interests involve studies of electrodes modified with self assembled monolayers of thiols (using cyclic voltammetry and the electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance) including the employment of electrochemical methods to prepare mixed monolayers (where more than one thiol is attached to the surface) of controlled composition. A further interest is the use of laser spectroscopy (Second Harmonic Generation) to study semiconductor and metal electrolyte interfaces and in particular to examine the growth and removal of oxide films where there is a duplex or multilayered structure of oxides with different oxidation states and properties. He is also working in the area of nanoparticle synthesis, examining ways in which metal nanoparticles with enhanced catalytic properties can be prepared.

Wong EHJ, May GL, Wilde CP, 2013, Oxidative desorption of thiols as a route to controlled formation of binary self assembled monolayer surfaces, Electrochimica Acta, Vol:109, ISSN:0013-4686, Pages:67-74 Le TT, Wilde CP, Grossman N, et al., 2011, A simple method for controlled immobilization of proteins on modified SAMs, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol:13, ISSN:1463-9076, Pages:5271-5278 Shalom D, Wootton RCR, Winkle RF, et al., 2007, Synthesis of thiol functionalized gold nanoparticles using a continuous flow microfluidic reactor, Materials Letters, Vol:61, ISSN:0167-577X, Pages:1146-1150 Baten SMA, Taylor AG, Wilde CP, 2007, A second harmonic generation study of the oxidation of copper electrodes, Electrochemistry Communications, Vol:9, ISSN:1388-2481, Pages:2393-2396 Hayes P, Taylor AG, Levitt JA, et al., 2003, An in situ second harmonic generation study of the electrochemical oxidation of silicon in fluoride media, Electrochemistry Communications, Vol:5, ISSN:1388-2481, Pages:883-886