INSPIRE Physical Sciences: A synergy for next generation materials science

Growing concerns regarding the cost of energy as well as the sustainability of the current industrial and economic infrastructure in front of global population increase have made the development of transformative, sustainable technologies capable of supporting improved industrial and economic models an urgent priority of mankind as a whole. Crucial for these technological developments is the definition and understanding of novel materials which, as previously happened in human history, could unlock new scientific and technological horizons and positively impact across society, economy and politics. These elements have turned research in transformative, multifunctional materials into a priority of funding agencies and Industry both in UK and world-wide.

Very recently, a new class of multifunctional materials, topological insulators, has started to receive scientific attention due to their appealing physical properties with potential applications in a broad range of areas as diversified as energy storage, biosensing and quantum computing. The scientific interest in these materials originate from the realisation that, unlike the vast majority of known materials, topological insulators can conduct current extremely well (even as well as superconductors) through their surfaces but not through their bulk. Furthermore, due to quantum mechanical laws governing the relationship between the (crystal) momentum and spin of electrons in a solid, the surfaces of topological insulators could be used to transport information without the need of moving charge (as it happens in contemporary electronics devices) with the net result of no energy or information dissipation.

The breadth of the scientific challenges accompanying research in topological insulators, and the potentially ground-breaking impact that their development could generate in very diverse technological fields readily define one of the contemporary frontiers in interdisciplinary research at the boundary between Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Medicine and Health Sciences. This in turn calls for a multidisciplinary research approach and, almost immediately, uncovers two limitations of the current research structure in the limited connections existing between diversified research communities, and in the lack of a common language to allow effective knowledge transfer and organisation.

Prompted by these considerations, and compatibly with the available budget, we will take topological insulators as a case study of multifunctional material to establish a multi-disciplinary research platform and pioneer:
(i) The creation of a common research language by bringing together researchers with diversified skill sets and expertise in solid state and surface chemistry, magnetism and biosensing, electron microscopy, computational chemistry, catalysis and photocatalysis, electron transport and superconductivity.
(ii) Novel and self-contained research protocols in materials science where all the steps including synthesis, doping, surface analysis, electron transport measurement and first principles interpretation of data will be executed with the aim of favouring expertise mixing and practice-based understanding of the actual limitations and potential of the methods used by one project partner in the research field of the others.
(iii) Novel research in the potential of chemical doping for improved topological insulators, and in their chemical stability to environmental agents.
(iv) Preliminary study about the potential of multiferroic material for (photo-)catalytic application for a future grant application.

At the end of the grant, the platform will have defined a common language and acquired a broad range of expertise and the cohesion needed to develop full scale grants that will not be limited to modification of already existing (however interesting) materials, but will tackle research in novel, sustainably generated, environmentally non-hazardous multifunctional materials.

By bringing together researchers with diversified skill sets and expertise in solid state and surface chemistry, magnetism and biosensing, electron microscopy, computational chemistry, catalysis and photocatalysis, electron transport and superconductivity, the proposed programme aims to define a common language for multi-disciplinary research in fundamental and applicative materials science, and to fine-tune effective interaction and discussion protocols for knowledge transfer across Physical Sciences research interfaces. The immediate impact of this will be two-fold: on the one hand it will create an experienced and effective platform to coordinate the available expertise and engage with extra skill-sets required to maximise the scientific impact the research. On the other, we will be able to share the acquired experience on research at the interfaces of EPSRC remits between different fields with other researchers both in UK and overseas. This will be accomplished through our dissemination plan which involves academic engagement (starting from our INSPIRE competitors), and showcase of our transformative approach, experience and recognised mistakes to R&D departments of the many and diversified commercial partners of the Host Institutions as well as to European initiatives with interests in multi-disciplinary energy research (www.eera-set.eu).

Given the scientific interest in topological insulators and multiferroics materials, systems in strong focus worldwide due to their potential for applications in as many and diversified fields as Energy, Biosensing, Quantum Computing, Catalysis and Photo-catalysis, at the end of the grant the platform will have defined a common language, integrated the broad range of expertise available, and matured the cohesion needed to develop full scale grants targeting innovative research in materials science by deployment of transformative, truly multi-disciplinary programmes. Once more, the long term impact of this will be two-fold: on the one hand, and based on preliminary results to be gathered in the course of the project, the platform will have developed an advantage over -arguably less multi-disciplinary- competitors to propose innovative and transformative research in the considered fields (topological insulators and multiferroics). On the other, by scientific dissemination of the preliminary results and presentation of the impact of knowledge exchange across interfaces, the platform will be well placed to potentially shift existing paradigms on collaborative research across the Physical Sciences.

The unprecedented opportunity of bringing together extremely diversified fields, the applicants' self-evident intention of overcoming scientific language barriers, and the prospect of identifying more opportunities for research than recognised so far (due to time and budget limitations) will be other impacts of the project. Once more, we intend to maximise it through the proposed travel programme and dissemination plan.

Within the limitations of the available budget, the proposed programme targets also generation of new fundamental insight into the preparation, nanoengineering, functioning and chemical degradation of novel topological insulators and multiferroics. The recognised potentials of these systems for energy storage, biosensing and quantum computing adds extra potential impact to the project in that scientific advances would be certainly felt by the scientific and industrial communities with interest in those areas, and from there, from the whole society. Once more, advances to be generated in the course of the scientific programme will be made available through our scientific and industrial dissemination plan.

To contribute to public understanding of the scientific agenda and of the potential of multi-disciplinary research programmes, the most notable scientific results of the project will be made available on the web in a form suitable to the general public.