Core Capability for Chemistry Research: Supporting Research Excellence in Chemistry at the University of Bath
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bath
Department Name: Chemistry
Abstract
The Department of Chemistry at the University of Bath is a leading research school in Chemistry, with a diverse and substantial portfolio of excellent research. This is augmented by strong links outside the discipline and across a range of partners, which is enabled by an outward looking approach to collaboration, with heavy involvement in major national and international collaborations as both leader and partner. Bath Chemistry also has strong industrial links.
The high quality and volume of Bath Chemistry research is supported by access to modern laboratory and equipment space, augmented by a recent increase in available laboratory space on the Bath campus showing the recognition of this quality and volume by the University. However, with recent dramatic increases in research activity, there is an urgent need to update and extend the portfolio of equipment available to our researchers. Taking a strategic view of these requirements, we have identified four main areas where equipment enhancements will have a high immediate impact on our research capabilities and outputs. These are a single crystal X-ray diffraction suite, a 400MHz NMR spectrometer, a MALDI-TOF/TOF Mass Spectrometer and a UHPLC Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer. The recently delivered expansion of chemistry research space is well suited to hosting these core equipment enhancements, whose installation will be further supported by the University.
These pieces of core Chemistry equipment would offer not only much more capacity for our large and rapidly growing research effort, but this provision will also open up new areas of investigation for our researchers and their many collaborators.
The high quality and volume of Bath Chemistry research is supported by access to modern laboratory and equipment space, augmented by a recent increase in available laboratory space on the Bath campus showing the recognition of this quality and volume by the University. However, with recent dramatic increases in research activity, there is an urgent need to update and extend the portfolio of equipment available to our researchers. Taking a strategic view of these requirements, we have identified four main areas where equipment enhancements will have a high immediate impact on our research capabilities and outputs. These are a single crystal X-ray diffraction suite, a 400MHz NMR spectrometer, a MALDI-TOF/TOF Mass Spectrometer and a UHPLC Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer. The recently delivered expansion of chemistry research space is well suited to hosting these core equipment enhancements, whose installation will be further supported by the University.
These pieces of core Chemistry equipment would offer not only much more capacity for our large and rapidly growing research effort, but this provision will also open up new areas of investigation for our researchers and their many collaborators.
Planned Impact
The Impact of these investments by EPSRC will be immediate and significant.
Since existing equipment facilities in Chemistry at the University of Bath are heavily subscribed, enhanced provision will immediately enable an expansion of high quality outputs, and in supporting the delivery of a wide range of programmes
The investment will enhance our capacity to contribute towards the many successful collaborative programmes in which we are involved and, crucially, will support an expansion of these, in both academic and industrial contexts.
An extensive training programme and events targeted at problem-solving will benefit current and potential industrial and SME end-users.
The Bath chemistry research themes are all supported by the proposed equipment enhancements, and these offer potential impact in critical priority areas. Many of the programmes that will be supported by the enhanced equipment will involve existing (or new) industrial partnerships.
New application areas will be developed with the new capabilities offered by the enhancement project, allowing new partnerships to form around new science and technology challenges.
Advances enabled by this project will thus contribute to UK productivity and competitiveness.
Since existing equipment facilities in Chemistry at the University of Bath are heavily subscribed, enhanced provision will immediately enable an expansion of high quality outputs, and in supporting the delivery of a wide range of programmes
The investment will enhance our capacity to contribute towards the many successful collaborative programmes in which we are involved and, crucially, will support an expansion of these, in both academic and industrial contexts.
An extensive training programme and events targeted at problem-solving will benefit current and potential industrial and SME end-users.
The Bath chemistry research themes are all supported by the proposed equipment enhancements, and these offer potential impact in critical priority areas. Many of the programmes that will be supported by the enhanced equipment will involve existing (or new) industrial partnerships.
New application areas will be developed with the new capabilities offered by the enhancement project, allowing new partnerships to form around new science and technology challenges.
Advances enabled by this project will thus contribute to UK productivity and competitiveness.
Organisations
Publications
Cowper P
(2016)
Azulenesulfonium Salts: Accessible, Stable, and Versatile Reagents for Cross-Coupling
in Angewandte Chemie
Cowper P
(2016)
Azulenesulfonium Salts: Accessible, Stable, and Versatile Reagents for Cross-Coupling.
in Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English)
Cruickshank D
(2016)
Polymorphism of the azobenzene dye compound methyl yellow
in CrystEngComm
Jones A
(2016)
The Effect of Local Crystalline Environment on Hydrogen Atom Behavior in Molecular Complexes of a Proton Sponge
in Crystal Growth & Design
Jones A
(2014)
Engineering short, strong hydrogen bonds in urea di-carboxylic acid complexes
in CrystEngComm
Jones C
(2019)
Living in the salt-cocrystal continuum: indecisive organic complexes with thermochromic behaviour
in CrystEngComm
Kirk S
(2017)
Synthesis of Zn II and Al III Complexes of Diaminocyclohexane-Derived Ligands and Their Exploitation for the Ring Opening Polymerisation of rac -Lactide
in European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry
RodrÃguez Ortega MP
(2014)
Synthesis and structural study of precursors of novel methylsilanediols by IR and Raman spectroscopies, single-crystal X-ray diffraction and DFT calculations.
in Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy
Saunders L
(2016)
Crystal engineering urea organic acid hydrogen bonded networks with solvent inclusion properties
in CrystEngComm
Saunders L
(2018)
Tuning charge-assisted and weak hydrogen bonds in molecular complexes of the proton sponge DMAN by acid co-former substitution
in CrystEngComm
| Description | Core Capability equipment grant; all funded instruments fully installed and have been operating successfully since 2014, contributing to a large number of outputs across the full range of chemistry research by academics in Bath and their collaborators. By the nature of this award many of these key findings are delivered within projects funded by other sources, including many EPSRC and other UKRI grants, which benefit from the core capability. |
| Exploitation Route | Core Capability equipment grant; all funded instruments fully installed, commissioned and operational across the full range of chemistry research by academics in Bath and their collaborators. Installed in 2014, outputs, findings and follow-ups continue to emerge from the new equipment. Reflecting its success, the CCAF Facility in which the instruments are embedded has recently been merged with the Microscopy and Analysis Suite to create the Bath Materials and Chemicals Characterisation (MC2) Facility. MC2 contributes to a wide range of publications per annum (100s) across the Department of Chemistry and more widely within the University of Bath. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | As a key item of core chemistry capability equipment, and embedded in the CCAF Chemical Characterisation and Analysis Facility at the University of Bath, the equipment has benefited non-academic users (industry, etc) both collaboratively and in a limited amount of direct commercial work. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |