Topic of Centre: This i4Nano CDT will accelerate the discovery cycle of functional nanotechnologies and materials, effectively bridging from ground-breaking fundamental science toward industrial device integration, and to drive technological innovation via an interdisciplinary approach. A key overarching theme is understanding and control of the nano-interfaces connecting complex architectures, which is essential for going beyond simple model systems and key to major advances in emerging scientific grand challenges across vital areas of Energy, Health, Manufacturing (particularly considering sustainability), ICT/Internet of things, and Quantum. We focus on the science of nano-interfaces across multiple time scales and material systems (organic-inorganic, bio-nonbio interfaces, gas-liquid-solid, crystalline-amorphous), to control nano-interfaces in a scalable manner across different size scales, and to integrate them into functional systems using engineering approaches, combining interfaces, integration, innovation, and interdisciplinarity (hence 'i4Nano'). The vast range of knowledge, tools and techniques necessary for this underpins the requirement for high-quality broad-based PhD training that effectively links scientific depth and application breadth. National Need: Most breakthrough nanoscience as well as successful translation to innovative technology relies on scientists bridging boundaries between disciplines, but this is hindered by the constrained subject focus of undergraduate courses across the UK. Our recent industry-academia nano-roadmapping event attended by numerous industrial partners strongly emphasised the need for broadly-trained interdisciplinary nanoscience acolytes who are highly valuable across their businesses, acting as transformers and integrators of new knowledge, crucial for the UK. They consistently emphasise there is a clear national need to produce this cadre of interdisciplinary nanoscientists to maintain the UK's international academic leadership, to feed entrepreneurial activity, and to capitalise industrially in the UK by driving innovations in health, energy, ICT and Quantum Technologies. Training Approach: The vision of this i4Nano CDT is to deliver bespoke training in key areas of nano to translate exploratory nanoscience into impactful technologies, and stimulate new interactions that support this vision. We have already demonstrated an ability to attract world-class postgraduates and build high-calibre cohorts of independent young Nano scientists through a distinctive PhD nursery in our current CDT, with cohorts co-housed and jointly mentored in the initial year of intense interdisciplinary training through formal courses, practicals and project work. This programme encourages young researchers to move outside their core disciplines, and is crucial for them to go beyond fragmented graduate training normally experienced. Interactions between cohorts from different years and different CDTs, as well as interactions with >200 other PhD researchers across Cambridge, widens their horizons, making them suited to breaking disciplinary barriers and building an integrated approach to research. The 1st year of this CDT course provides high-quality advanced-level training prior to final selection of preferred PhD research projects. Student progression will depend on passing examinable components assessed both by exams and coursework, providing a formal MRes qualification. Components of the first year training include lectures and practicals on key scientific topics, mini/midi projects, science communication and innovation/scale-up training, and also training for understanding societal and ethical dimensions of Nanoscience. Activities in the later years include conferences, pilot projects, further innovation and scale up training, leadership and team-building weekends, and ED&I and Responsible Innovation workshops

The importance of indoor air quality monitoring to safeguard the health of children and vulnerable adults in the UK cannot be overstated. A primary source of indoor air pollution is everyday household products and materials. Many emit harmful non-methane volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as formaldehyde, toluene and phthalates. Even in minute concentrations, these specific compounds can induce a variety of respiratory, neurological, endocrine disorders over prolonged low-level exposures. However, current environmental sensors, including those commercialised by major semiconductor integrated device manufacturers and by specialised gas sensor manufacturers (e.g . Bosch Sensortech, Sensirion, AMS, and others), cannot specifically detect these different toxic gases at an acceptable concentration level and are unable to provide any helpful preventive guidance. The challenges faced by current-generation low-cost VOC sensors arise from empirically optimised sensing films for common sensor architectures. This approach has strong drawbacks as it does not have an overarching design consideration for the optimum permeation of gases or analytes through the sensing material for a maximised response. Crucially, these sensors are non-specific and can only detect the total concentration of VOCs (TVOCs), i.e. the total concentration of a subset of airborne VOCs present in the air, as an overall measure of indoor air quality. However, different TVOC measurement methods depend on VOCs' mixture and can yield substantially different estimated TVOC concentrations. Notably, the toxicity thresholds of the individual VOCs differ by orders of magnitude; the total concentration, therefore, does not provide any useful measure of total toxicity. We will design material building blocks engineered to offer a maximum and selective response to target gas molecules to address this challenge. Then, in an ambitious step, through solution-phase additive manufacturing techniques, we will create large-scale self-assembly of these building blocks to obtain a nano- and micro-level structure mimicking the hierarchy of length scales found in xylems and leaf veins in plants. With multiple levels of interconnected channels, this universal structure has evolved over many million years to ensure mass transport (i.e. fluid permeation) with minimum energy expenditure through the preservation of volumetric flow rate. Our approach will therefore allow highly optimum through-flow of gases to the engineered building blocks, providing a fast, highly sensitive and selective response to these toxic gases. The highly repeatable nature of our additively manufactured sensing thin-film with self-assembled blocks will enable unprecedented device-to-device uniformity. We will exploit this to create a new generation of training algorithms to significantly reduce the traditional sensor training time and cost. We envisage that our materials design and manufacturing pathway based on natural laws will offer x10 to x100 times the state-of-the-art toxic VOC sensors' performance, making indoor air quality monitoring affordable and reliable.