NETWORK on Complex Inorganic Materials: Crystal Growth, Inhibition and Dissolution - Linking Experiment and Theory

The field of dissolution, growth and inhibition of inorganic solids, often containing complex molecular ionic species such as carbonates, sulphates, phosphates or nitrates, is currently one of the major areas of interest in solid state research. New opportunities are emerging in both theory and experiment that require extensive collaboration to be properly exploited. Various microscopic and spectroscopic experimental techniques are now capable of resolving surface structure at the atomic level, such as scanning tunnelling (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and others, while the procurement of new high performance computing resources, such the EPSRC Teraflop facility to be available in January 2003, will afford the capability of modelling the complex large-scale processes necessary to simulate real systems. As a result, the solid state community is now making considerable progress in investigating and elucidating the fundamental processes underlying the macroscopic behaviour of these complex inorganic materials. We therefore propose to set up an interdisciplinary network encompassing both experimentalists and theoreticians, principally in the U K but with a strong input from international members.