Nanoanalysis for Advanced Materials and Healthcare

This proposal seeks funding to deliver enhanced capability for characterising and assessing advanced nanomaterials using three complementary, leading edge techniques: Field-emission microprobe (EPMA), combined Raman/multiphoton confocal microscope (Raman/MP) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). This suite of equipment will be used to generate a step-change in nanoanalysis capability for a multi-disciplinary team of researchers who together form a key part of Strathclyde's new Technology and Innovation Centre (TIC). The equipment will support an extensive research portfolio with an emphasis on functional materials and healthcare applications. The requested equipment suite will enable Strathclyde and other UK academics to partner with other world-leading groups having complementary analytical facilities, thereby creating an international collaborative network of non-duplicated facilities for trans-national access. Moreover the equipment will generate new research opportunities in advanced materials science in partnership with the National Physical Laboratory, UK industry and academia.

The creation and exploitation of new technologies for biological and nanoscale material characterization often underpins developments that have a far-reaching impact at multiple levels of society including governmental, academic, the commercial sector, as well as the wider public.

In areas such as developing new nanomaterials for biomedical diagnostic and therapeutic applications, there remains a huge gulf between concept and translation into clinical applications. This equipment will enable studies to be performed with increasing sensitivity, speed and complexity for cell and tissue imaging and time-based measurements. As well as promoting fundamental understanding on how to better diagnose and track disease progress and along side more effective drug and vaccine delivery, this equipment will help address industrial and societal concerns on nanoparticle safety and potential environmental impact.

At a commercial level, potential beneficiaries in the shorter term include companies who are interested in the development and testing of a wide array of different chemical and bionanomaterials for sensing and medical applications. Instrumentation companies who are keen to integrate new technologies such as light sources, detection and imaging equipment for biomedical applications are also potential beneficiaries. During both the instrument facility construction and its subsequent use we will work with our UK-based partners in these areas to demonstrate new measurement and application possibilities.

In the longer term, the ability to demonstrate more effective healthcare technologies has tremendous potential for both society and the generation of new intellectual property. For example, the discovery and rational design of new and more effective materials for medical treatment can be made improved by speeding up the cycle between design and understanding the response at the cellular and tissue level. This will be promoted by utilising less invasive methods capable of faster and more accurate disease monitoring.