An open-access centre for nanoscale analysis and fabrication
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: Sch of Pharmacy
Abstract
We propose to offer to UK academics free-access to a range of the latest high-resolution microscopy instruments and fabrication facilities, currently located in internationally renowned research groups. This equipment enables the visualization and manipulation of objects, ranging from individual atoms and molecules to complex pharmaceutical and biological materials, to the nanometre scale. These are complemented by the available fabrication facilities which allow the construction of structured objects, also at this scale.Collectively presented as a 'Centre for nanoscale analysis and fabrication', access to this equipment will be made via a single-point contact within the Nottingham Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Centre (nnnc). The contact will be supported by a strong management and technical team to provide an efficient service that is easy to access for UK academics, and able manage and locate the resource available within the Schools and Centres involved. This single-point contact will also provide means to provide and receive feedback from users, to coordinate training activities and to make the most of any future opportunities for research collaboration and exploitation of the gathered data.The service offered includes 80 days of access, supported by 25 days training and analysis per annum. Following analysis/fabrication the centre will help prepare a short report of the involved work for the both the user and for the Centre's records. This report, together with any feedback received will be catalogued and used to produce a 6 six monthly report summarizing equipment usage and the Centre's activities. This, in turn, will be used to inform the Management Group Meeting.
Organisations
Publications
Pegg LJ
(2010)
Enhancing the open-circuit voltage of molecular photovoltaics using oxidized Au nanocrystals.
in ACS nano
Cosgriff S
(2010)
Dimerization and DNA-dependent aggregation of the Escherichia coli nucleoid protein and chaperone CbpA.
in Molecular microbiology
Vengudusamy B
(2011)
Friction properties of DLC/DLC contacts in base oil
in Tribology International
Vengudusamy B
(2011)
Tribological properties of tribofilms formed from ZDDP in DLC/DLC and DLC/steel contacts
in Tribology International
| Description | Free-access to a range of the latest high-resolution microscopy instruments and fabrication facilities, located in internationally renowned research groups, was offered to UK academics. The equipment provided through the facilities enabled the visualization and manipulation of objects, ranging from individual atoms and molecules to complex pharmaceutical and biological materials, to the nanometre scale. This equipment was complemented by access to fabrication facilities which allowed the construction of structured objects, also at this scale. Collectively presented as a 'Centre for nanoscale analysis and fabrication', access to this equipment was made via a single-point contact within the Nottingham Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Centre (nnnc). The contact was supported by a strong management and technical team which aimed to provide an efficient service that was easy to access for UK academics, and able manage and locate the required resource available within the Schools and Centres involved. This single-point contact also provided a means to provide and receive feedback from users, to coordinate training activities and to make the most of any future opportunities for research collaboration and exploitation of the gathered data. The project proved successful at both attracting high quality researchers to the University and allowing them to use the advertised facilities and others (such those on the related 'materials equipment' access project). To our knowledge, all of the requests for access to the facilities were for quick, pump-priming type projects. The work performed has resulted in various outcomes including at least 5 publications in refereed journals (with several more to follow), presentations at UK and international conferences, valuable contributions to PhD student theses, fellowship and research grant applications and industrial collaboration. We are also aware of the possibility of further collaborative research as a result of the project (we continue to receive requests to use the service), and are still in touch with the visiting researchers for follow-up discussions. Several of our users returned to use the service again. |
| Exploitation Route | The funds received only enabled access for researchers based in academia. The funds received did not directly fund a dedicated research project, but rather it funded access for other researchers (predominantly RCUK funded) in academia, to dedicated research equipment. |
| Sectors | Chemicals,Electronics,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | The project proved successful at both attracting high quality researchers to the University and allowing them to use the advertised facilities, and others (such those on the related 'materials equipment' access project). We are also aware of the possibility of further collaborative research as a result of the project (and indeed we continue to receive requests to use the service), and have kept in touch with the visiting researchers for follow-up discussions and inquire as to outcomes. Several of our users returned to use the service again. To our knowledge, all of the requests were for quick, pump-priming type projects. Table one provides a summary of the users of the centre by institution and funding information. The data below also includes information on the outcomes of the project that have been communicated to us thus far. Table one: Users analysed by EPSRC grant-holder, EPSRC student, other academic etc (*indicates new users within the last 12 months, (R) indicates repeat user of the service) Institute Subject EPSRC Remit EPSRC Support Are they a student? Outcomes Loughborough University Microsphere attachment to AFM probe; Adhesion measurement Contribution to a PhD thesis University College London Mechanical and thermal proberty study of protein disks Yes No No International conference poster and oral presentation University of Warwick (R) Liquid imaging of DNA/protein Yes Co-authored paper published in "Molecular Microbiology" 2010 and future collaboration discussed Loughborough University (R) Microsphere attachment to AFM probe; Adhesion measurement Fellowship application (not funded) and possible future collaboration Imperial College London (R) Friction study of lubricant-treated metal surfaces Contribution to a PhD thesis (awarded 2011) Invited lecture at the IoP 5 conference oral presentations (2UK, 3 International) 2 papers published in "Tribology International" 2011 Nottingham Trent University (R) Surface roughness study of coating films Co-authored paper submitted & a second in preparation 2 grant proposals (not funded) Funded Industrial collaboration (Pragmatic Ltd.) * Imperial College London (Juliane Benedet) AFM analyses of tribofilms formed by low and zero SAPS antiwear additives Contribution to a PhD thesis * Wolverhampton (Stacy Handy) Electroplated Brass Panels Yes No Yes Paper in press "Journal of Material Science and Engineering" Abstract submission & international conference presentation (oral/poster) Contribution to a PhD thesis * Warwick (Ross Hatton) Measuring differences in the contact potential of individual chemically functionalised metal nano-particles of different dimensions Paper published in "ACS Nano" 2010 2 x International Conference Oral Presentations Contribution to a PhD thesis (to be submitted 2012) Other collaborative work on-going * Cambridge (Flora Li) Evaluate surface morphology and surface roughness of zinc oxide thin films on silicon substrate Yes Yes Yes Contribution to a PhD thesis * Sussex (Winfried Hensinger) To develop a process to make a planar ion trap on either a silicon or fused quartz substrate * Leicester (Brad Cann) Improving the Micro Chanel Plate (MCP) to improve the functionary and sensitivity of detectors in both unusual and more conventional environments Yes Yes No Contribution to 2 x PhD thesis (to be submitted 2012) International conference poster presentation Other collaborative work on-going * Loughborough (Boris Chesca) Dry and wet etching of YBCO * Newcastle (Daniel Frankel) Fabrication of anode and cathode for a miniature microbial fuel cell for use in a bio hybrid robot Yes * Leeds (Hongyuan Zhao) Surface analysis of diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings and steel sample |
| First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Chemicals,Electronics,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Impact Types | Economic |