Integrated atomic force and confocal fluorescence lifetime imaging microscope with fibre-coupled infrared detector for materials research
Lead Research Organisation:
Loughborough University
Department Name: Materials
Abstract
Our vision for the equipment is to make a step-change in the UK's engineering and physical sciences (EPS) research by establishing an area of niche capability and facilitating world leading materials science. To achieve this, we propose to provide a world leading instrument with a unique configuration for materials research as well as develop a critical mass of academic and industrial users, training the next generation of researchers in state-of-the-art techniques.
We propose to purchase two complimentary pieces of equipment to be assembled and integrated in a single instrument: a multi-purpose atomic force microscope (AFM), and a confocal fluorescence lifetime imaging microscope (CFLIM). The top half is an AFM that enables characterisation of topography, mechanical, and electrical properties at the nanoscale of a wide range of materials, from semiconductors for PV devices to scaffolds for tissue engineering. The bottom half is a high-end confocal microscope which, instead of imaging based on the emission wavelength of the fluorescent labels in the sample, can measure their fluorescence lifetime, which is heavily influenced by the molecular environment. Our instrument presents a world unique feature which is a fibre-couple infrared detector to measure the fluorescent decay of semiconductor materials. There are no other AFM-CFLIM systems in the world with detection in the infrared, therefore our equipment would be one of a kind. Our equipment will become a global reference facility thanks to its unique configuration for materials science and establish a niche of research capability.
The combination of AFM and CFLIM will shed light on key relationships between sets of properties which are not fully understood yet and will lead to the improvement and development of materials. It will benefit multiple research areas, such as: Solar technology and Energy Materials , as it would allow the correlation of crystalline structure, conductivity, and charge carrier lifetime, to maximize the efficiency of PV materials; Polymer Materials and Soft Matter Physics, where the understanding of the relationship between surface properties and the bulk chemical environment will boost the development of better and more sustainable functional coatings; and Biomaterials, as the provision of a full picture of the degradation of carriers and drug delivery will result in longer lasting implants. The instrument will also lead to new science, as the AFM cantilever has the potential for manipulation at the nanoscale. Moreover, we will provide a powerful tool for those industries that currently lack the knowledge that can be provided by the instrument, through our industrial partners that are either supporting this bid directly or partners in the EPRSC grants involved.
We propose to purchase two complimentary pieces of equipment to be assembled and integrated in a single instrument: a multi-purpose atomic force microscope (AFM), and a confocal fluorescence lifetime imaging microscope (CFLIM). The top half is an AFM that enables characterisation of topography, mechanical, and electrical properties at the nanoscale of a wide range of materials, from semiconductors for PV devices to scaffolds for tissue engineering. The bottom half is a high-end confocal microscope which, instead of imaging based on the emission wavelength of the fluorescent labels in the sample, can measure their fluorescence lifetime, which is heavily influenced by the molecular environment. Our instrument presents a world unique feature which is a fibre-couple infrared detector to measure the fluorescent decay of semiconductor materials. There are no other AFM-CFLIM systems in the world with detection in the infrared, therefore our equipment would be one of a kind. Our equipment will become a global reference facility thanks to its unique configuration for materials science and establish a niche of research capability.
The combination of AFM and CFLIM will shed light on key relationships between sets of properties which are not fully understood yet and will lead to the improvement and development of materials. It will benefit multiple research areas, such as: Solar technology and Energy Materials , as it would allow the correlation of crystalline structure, conductivity, and charge carrier lifetime, to maximize the efficiency of PV materials; Polymer Materials and Soft Matter Physics, where the understanding of the relationship between surface properties and the bulk chemical environment will boost the development of better and more sustainable functional coatings; and Biomaterials, as the provision of a full picture of the degradation of carriers and drug delivery will result in longer lasting implants. The instrument will also lead to new science, as the AFM cantilever has the potential for manipulation at the nanoscale. Moreover, we will provide a powerful tool for those industries that currently lack the knowledge that can be provided by the instrument, through our industrial partners that are either supporting this bid directly or partners in the EPRSC grants involved.
Planned Impact
Over the long term, the establishment of a global leading facility and the training of a new generation of researchers in a world leading instrument will result in an increase of the UK economic and research competitiveness. The use of AFM and CFLIM (as separate instruments) for materials science is a relatively new field, in which the UK is starting to establish itself (Kuimova at Imperial), and there is significant scope for developing a niche research capability.
This facility will create impact in a number of high priority areas including energy, sustainable materials and healthcare:
Energy
The success of any economy will increasingly rely on energy security, and the development of a diverse energy portfolio. The understanding and improvement of thermoelectric and PV materials, enabled by the proposed facility, will therefore be an integral part of this strategy. The development of such technology in the UK will see the growth of new energy-related industries.
A reduction in energy usage is arguably one of the key societal challenges for the next century and over the next 5-20 years an improvement in the efficiency of thermoelectric and PV devices could be expected as a result of the activities carried out on this equipment. Given that up to 60% of the energy in fuel burnt (in car engines for example) is lost as waste heat, this improvement could easily save >3% of the UK's annual energy usage. PV devices with improved efficiency will contribute to meet the targets of the UK PV Solar strategy, set to produce 15% of total energy production from renewable sources by 2020.
Sustainable materials
Waste production in the UK is a significant issue with 80% of materials used in manufacturing products ending up as waste, landfill approaching capacity and a 40% increase in consumer waste projected between 2016 and 2020. The development of new sustainable plastics and coatings, enabled by this facility, will help to fulfil the Resources and Waste Strategy for England that the Government set out in December 2018. By harnessing the knowledge generated by the equipment, a new emerging industry on sustainable functional coatings will develop and the UK economy will grow. According to Eurostat, the UK is now third in the EU in value of production (986 M euros) of paints and varnishes after France (1.1B euros) and Germany (1.5B euros). The understanding provided by this instrument will give the UK an impetus over those competitors and allow the country to become a world leader in a new area of functional coatings.
Healthcare
In England alone there are 15m people with long-term conditions who are estimated to account for 70% of the total health and social care spend. Unfortunately, patient long-term medication adherence is typically poor within long-term disease patient populations; only about 50% of patients adhere to their treatment regimes. The development of new medication delivering implants, boosted by the knowledge generated at our facility on new nanocomposite carriers, will improve long term treatment and patient outcomes by reducing the burden directly on patients to follow current strict regimes.
In summary, it is expected that the proposed facility will have national and global impact during its lifetime and into the future across many areas, including those outlined above.
This facility will create impact in a number of high priority areas including energy, sustainable materials and healthcare:
Energy
The success of any economy will increasingly rely on energy security, and the development of a diverse energy portfolio. The understanding and improvement of thermoelectric and PV materials, enabled by the proposed facility, will therefore be an integral part of this strategy. The development of such technology in the UK will see the growth of new energy-related industries.
A reduction in energy usage is arguably one of the key societal challenges for the next century and over the next 5-20 years an improvement in the efficiency of thermoelectric and PV devices could be expected as a result of the activities carried out on this equipment. Given that up to 60% of the energy in fuel burnt (in car engines for example) is lost as waste heat, this improvement could easily save >3% of the UK's annual energy usage. PV devices with improved efficiency will contribute to meet the targets of the UK PV Solar strategy, set to produce 15% of total energy production from renewable sources by 2020.
Sustainable materials
Waste production in the UK is a significant issue with 80% of materials used in manufacturing products ending up as waste, landfill approaching capacity and a 40% increase in consumer waste projected between 2016 and 2020. The development of new sustainable plastics and coatings, enabled by this facility, will help to fulfil the Resources and Waste Strategy for England that the Government set out in December 2018. By harnessing the knowledge generated by the equipment, a new emerging industry on sustainable functional coatings will develop and the UK economy will grow. According to Eurostat, the UK is now third in the EU in value of production (986 M euros) of paints and varnishes after France (1.1B euros) and Germany (1.5B euros). The understanding provided by this instrument will give the UK an impetus over those competitors and allow the country to become a world leader in a new area of functional coatings.
Healthcare
In England alone there are 15m people with long-term conditions who are estimated to account for 70% of the total health and social care spend. Unfortunately, patient long-term medication adherence is typically poor within long-term disease patient populations; only about 50% of patients adhere to their treatment regimes. The development of new medication delivering implants, boosted by the knowledge generated at our facility on new nanocomposite carriers, will improve long term treatment and patient outcomes by reducing the burden directly on patients to follow current strict regimes.
In summary, it is expected that the proposed facility will have national and global impact during its lifetime and into the future across many areas, including those outlined above.
Publications
Marsden C
(2022)
Crosslinked p(MMA) particles by RAFT emulsion polymerisation: tuning size and stability
in Polymer Chemistry
Murdoch TJ
(2023)
One Step Closer to Coatings Applications Utilizing Self-Stratification: Effect of Rheology Modifiers.
in ACS applied polymer materials
Tinkler JD
(2021)
Evaporation-driven self-assembly of binary and ternary colloidal polymer nanocomposites for abrasion resistant applications.
in Journal of colloid and interface science
Tinkler JD
(2022)
Effect of Particle Interactions on the Assembly of Drying Colloidal Mixtures.
in Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids
Woods S
(2023)
Temperature-Responsive Lactic Acid-Based Nanoparticles by RAFT-Mediated Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly in Water
in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
Description | Our consultancy work on antifouling coatings enabled AkzoNobel to understand what processes where taking place in their products when immersed in water. This allowed them to tune their formulation to design a more durable product. A fluorescence-based technique that we developed to screen liquid formulations gathered significant interest form a number of companies working in different sectors - lubricants, personal care, paints. We put together an EPSRC grant with these companies which was not funded, but we are currently looking at new opportunities. Our findings stimulated some industries to have a more science-based approach rather than using trial and error. This will lead in the future to an economy and industry that is more responsive to external factors that require product reformulation. |
First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
Sector | Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | Antifouling coatings - AkzoNobel |
Organisation | AkzoNobel |
Department | AkzoNobel UK |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We have done consultancy work for Akzo Nobel by providing them with consultancy services. We characterised some of their new antifouling paint formulations with our equipment, Specifically, we looked at the distribution of the different components of the paint and how this structure evolves when immersed in seawater for prolonged periods of time. Our AFM was very helpful for them in determining what changes were taking place in their coating. |
Collaborator Contribution | AkzoNobel is providing the samples to be characterized and as much technical knowledge on them as they can share. They paid for a consultancy service and therefore contributed to the running costs of our facility. |
Impact | We have signed an NDA, and therefore we cannot share the results from our collaboration. We expect that our input will help AkzoNobel to formulate more efficient antifouling coatings which will result in less consumption of fuel by cargo ships and therefore a lower carbon footprint. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | CNRS University of Lyon - Polymer colloids |
Organisation | Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 (UCBL) |
Department | Astrophysics Research Centre of Lyon (CRAL) |
Country | France |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We make use of polymer and inorganic nanoparticles synthesized by the groups of Dr Lansalot, Dr D'agosto, and Dr Bourgeat-Lami to produce coatings formulations. We characterize the interactions happening in the dispersions as well as the final structure of the coatings. |
Collaborator Contribution | The groups in Lyon synthesize polymer and inorganic particles based on our needs, tailoring their composition, size, surface chemistry, etc. They also provide a more chemistry-oriented expertise which is very useful for us to understand our results. |
Impact | This collaboration is multidisciplinary across Chemistry/Physics/Materials Science. We have just submitted an article to ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces based on this colalboration. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Loughborough University - sustainable polymers |
Organisation | Loughborough University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We have been collaborating with Dr Fiona Hatton from the Department of Materials characterizing polymers from renewable sources which are synthesized in her lab. |
Collaborator Contribution | They have provided the polymers to be studied as well as the expertise to interpret our data. |
Impact | Full article has been recently submitted to ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Nanomechanical properties of molecular organic frameworks (MOFs) |
Organisation | Loughborough University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We have made nanomechanical measurements on novel elastic crystals based on MOFs, synthesized by Dr Fernandez Mato from the Department of Chemistry. |
Collaborator Contribution | They have provided the elastic crystals as well as all the previous characterization of the samples. |
Impact | We have collected the necessary data for a high impact publication. Dr Fernandez-Mato is now on the process of writing a draft manuscript. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | University of Sheffield - Photovoltaic materials |
Organisation | University of Sheffield |
Department | Department of Physics and Astronomy |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We have made AFM-FLIM measurements and analysis of the samples |
Collaborator Contribution | They have provided samples suited to the requirements of our microscope and expertise to analyse the data correctly. |
Impact | We have been collaborating with Prof Lidzey to develop the correlative AFM-FLIM technique. It is difficult to find suitable samples for this correlative technique, and his group has been providing with photovoltaic thin films which have enabled us to successfully combine AFM and FLIM and start developing protocols. Further to this, we have been trying to look at some new materials from a company he is collaborating with but NDAs are proving to be challenging in this case and it is taking longer than expected to get clearance. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | University of Warwick - Carotid plaques |
Organisation | University of Warwick |
Department | WMG |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We have characterised carotid plaque samples from Warwick using the combined AFM-FLIM technique. We are aiming to learn more about their composition and mechanical properties. |
Collaborator Contribution | They have sent the carotid plaque samples and provided expertise to interpret our results. |
Impact | We have been able to identify domains in the plaques with different mechanical properties and fluorescence lifetimes, which we are in the process of associating with different chemical composition. The results will contribute towards a shared publication between Loughborough and Warwick. This is a multidisciplinary collaboration across Physics, Materials Science, and Biology. |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Visit to Lucideon (online) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Online talk to relevant staff at Lucideon, to showcase the AFM-FLIM facility and discuss possible collaboration with the company. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Visit to Paint Research Association |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | We visited the Paint Research Association and I gave a talk presenting new results and the new AFM-FLIM facility. This resulted in them engaging with us and committing to provide in-kind support for a new proposal which is being written. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |