Sir Henry Royce Institute - Liverpool Equipment
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Liverpool
Department Name: Chemistry
Abstract
Our vision is sustainable international leadership in chemical materials design that will allow the UK to discover new step change functional materials, thus driving inward investment and economic growth. This will be driven by scientific excellence, will be strongly integrated with industrial exploitation, and will link together the world premier groups in the UK to maximise return on investment. Operationally, we will use the existing Materials Innovation Factory (MIF) infrastructure and its business model to ensure that this theme operates as a distinct and unique offering that is accessible to external partners in a clearly branded and state-of-the-art space-this will become the Royce @ Laboratory, and it will operate within the broader 11,600 m2 Materials Innovation Factory. By choosing this route, we ensure strong industrial engagement from the outset: at least 110 industrial researchers from at least two major UK companies will be collocated in the same building on 'day one'. Hence, we can demonstrate cross-sector benefit in this Royce Institute theme to our funders and this greatly enhances future prospects for long-term sustainability of the theme and makes a strong contribution to the Northern Powerhouse legacy.
Our vision relies on the integration of experimental and computational methods to both accelerate materials discovery through design and to open up access to new classes of both 'hard' and 'soft' functional material. The new enabling methodology for materials discovery that we will create will be actively transferred to the direct drivers of economic growth within key UK industry partners. Our capital request comprises equipment, such as the high-throughput 'Formulation Engine', that is unique not only in the UK but also globally.
Our vision relies on the integration of experimental and computational methods to both accelerate materials discovery through design and to open up access to new classes of both 'hard' and 'soft' functional material. The new enabling methodology for materials discovery that we will create will be actively transferred to the direct drivers of economic growth within key UK industry partners. Our capital request comprises equipment, such as the high-throughput 'Formulation Engine', that is unique not only in the UK but also globally.
Planned Impact
The Pathways to Impact for this funding will be realised through the collective benefits management activity for The Sir Henry Royce Institute
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Andrew Cooper (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Zhu Q
(2022)
Analogy Powered by Prediction and Structural Invariants: Computationally Led Discovery of a Mesoporous Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Cage Crystal.
in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Zhao ZW
(2021)
Computational Identification of Novel Families of Nonfullerene Acceptors by Modification of Known Compounds.
in The journal of physical chemistry letters
Zhao W
(2022)
Accelerated Synthesis and Discovery of Covalent Organic Framework Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Peroxide Production
in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Zhao W
(2022)
Using sound to synthesize covalent organic frameworks in water
in Nature Synthesis
Zhao K
(2021)
Novel thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials by high-throughput virtual screening: going beyond donor-acceptor design
in Journal of Materials Chemistry C
Zhang B
(2020)
Inverse vulcanization below the melting point of sulfur
in Materials Chemistry Frontiers
Zhang B
(2022)
Inverse vulcanised sulfur polymer nanoparticles prepared by antisolvent precipitation
in Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Yang Y
(2020)
Porous chitosan by crosslinking with tricarboxylic acid and tuneable release
in SN Applied Sciences
Yang H
(2023)
Packing-induced selectivity switching in molecular nanoparticle photocatalysts for hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide production
in Nature Nanotechnology
Description | RCUK have invested in research infrastructure that is housed in the newly formed Materials Innovation Factory at the University of Liverpool. The Materials Innovation Factory is a hub of world class research instrumentation that is maintained by a highly qualified team and is bookable industrial and academic partners. Whilst the research infrastructure had been tendered for and installed during 2017 and through this investment we a developed a world leading hub for materials characterisation. The facility is now used by industrial and academic partners and there is funding available to support equipment and training access. |
Exploitation Route | Too early to say. |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Chemicals Electronics Energy Healthcare Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
Description | The Materials Innovation Factory is a hub of world class research instrumentation that is maintained by a highly qualified team and is bookable industrial and academic partners. The instrumentation enables industrial partners to characterise commercial products in non-academic related projects. |
First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal Economic |
Description | (A-TO-B) - A Theory of Organic Bioelectronics Materials |
Amount | € 2,257,300 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 101020369 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 09/2021 |
End | 09/2026 |
Description | Digital Discovery Platform for Organic Electronics Materials (DiaDEM) |
Amount | € 2,153,808 (EUR) |
Organisation | European Innovation Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 04/2022 |
End | 04/2025 |
Description | Sir Henry Royce Institute - recurrent grant |
Amount | £52,313,935 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/R00661X/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2016 |
End | 03/2023 |
Description | The Royce: Capitalising on the investment |
Amount | £1,006,681 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/S019367/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2018 |
End | 10/2021 |
Description | Formulation Engine Launch Event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | The Formulation Engine is a £3 million bespoke facility that allows users working in the Materials Innovation Factory to create an entirely automated workflow - formulating products, testing properties and analysing functionality. The launch event took place as part of the annual UoL Industry-Chemistry Engagement Meeting (I-Chem) which attracted more than 50 representatives from the research and business community. The purpose was to raise awareness of the system and promote engagement with the MIF. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/materials-innovation-factory/news/articles/formulation-engine-launched-a... |
Description | Hosting a visit of Keir Starmer at the Materials innovation Factory |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Supporters |
Results and Impact | Event to promote the Materials innovation factory and it's activity in chemistry automation and robotics to the government and highlight research activity in he Liverpool City Region. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2023/10/12/keir-starmer-and-rachel-reeves-visit-materials-innovation-fa... |
Description | Industry Tours of the MIF Open Access Area |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | The MIF team has interacted with over 50 companies or government entities during the last year, with engagement from corporates (such as Unilever, Croda, and NSG, others under NDA), SMEs (M&I Materials, LivFUL, Chemspeed, CeSOLs, Labman Automation), the National Formulation Centre (part of the Advanced Manufacturing Catapult), and policy groups such as the Campaign for Science and Engineering. Tours of the Open Access Area have be fundamental to developing relationships and projects using the Royce equipment and beyond. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020 |
Description | Science minister visit |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The MIF was showcased during a campus visit by the science minister, specifically she was shown our open access labs and how the work undertaken by researchers from both academia and industry, using our open access facility, aim to address the sustainability challenge. The visit was hosted by our Academic Director and a Director from our partner Unilever. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Shaping the Future of Royce engagement event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | To develop a strategic focus for applied research in advanced materials and how to supporting innovation across a range of business sectors. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/manchester-hosts-national-summit-to-shape-uks-advanced-mat... |