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Solid-state materials underpin many of the advanced technologies which impact modern life, from silicon chip microprocessors to lithium-ion batteries. Great strides in advancing their performance have been achieved by understanding how the atomic structure of a material determines the properties it displays. In order to accelerate the discovery of the new materials required to address societal challenges such as climate change, the ability to design materials with desirable physical properties, and the synthetic pathways to realise them is vital. The Nobel-prize winning discovery of graphene in 2004 with its remarkable conductivity and strength has ushered in the era of nanostructured materials - materials which have at least one dimension is in the nanometer range - because of their exciting potential to display novel or improved physical properties. However, the complex and disordered atomic arrangements within nanostructured materials currently makes determining how the arrangement of atoms determines their physical properties impossible, because it falls between gaps in current structure characterisation capability. Developing tools to capture and describe nanostructure is, therefore, a crucial scientific challenge. To address this need, this proposal will develop a characterisation platform capable of understanding nanostructure in disordered layered metal oxides. Assembling a team of collaborators from academia, industry and central facilities, the proposed research will use complementary probes to develop models which capture all relevant aspects of the material's structure, from the local arrangement of atoms through to longer length-scale (tens to hundreds of nanometres) features such as pores and channels, providing a comprehensive picture to link to properties. We will then develop experiments which capture structural data when a material is placed under its operational conditions. These experiments track the changes to a material's structure with exquisite sensitivity. Analysing these data sets using our structural modelling platform will unlock the wealth of information contained within them, allowing us to (1) determine which aspects of nanostructure are responsible for a material's physical properties and (2) monitor how atoms assemble into the final layered structure in real-time, thus determining how the reaction conditions conspire to give complex structure. Together, this will deliver a set of "design rules" for obtaining materials displaying particular physical properties. We will demonstrate this approach on the material sodium trititanate, a technologically important material with potential for use as a low-cost, highly sustainable sodium-ion battery anode for grid-storage applications. In the short-term, this project will provide a step-change in the detail available about the structure of nanostructured materials and deliver new understanding of how synthetic conditions, nanostructure and functionality are interwoven. In the longer term, this methodology may have far-reaching implications for a diverse range of fields where nanostructure underpins performance - from carbon nanomaterials for drug delivery to quantum magnetism - as well as for the rational design and optimisation of energy-efficient synthetic processes.

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 UK Government recently set targets for "net zero emissions" and "zero waste" as well as a 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. Even so, the UK currently sources, processes and deploys advanced materials based on unsustainable practices, including the use of fossil fuels and scarce, geologically hindered raw materials. This contributes to over 30% of the UK CO2 emissions, especially considering the import of raw precursors and materials. Our vision is to build our most important functional materials from bio-based resources which are locally available. These materials will lower CO2 emissions, helping the UK to reach the targeted zero emissions by 2050 while boosting high-performance, locally available technologies and creating new industries. They will form the cornerstone for a modern technology-dependent economy. This programme grant brings together the best UK academics and key industrial partners involved in the development of a new supply chain for sustainable materials and applications. We will accelerate novel pathways to manufacture advanced materials out of available UK bioresources while boosting their performance working with stakeholders in key industrial sectors (chemical industry, advanced materials, energy, waste, agriculture, forestry, etc). The combined food, forestry and agricultural waste in the UK amounts to approx.26.5m tonnes each year. There is no valuable economic chain in the UK to allow waste valorisation towards high value-added materials. Yet, by mass, functional materials provide the most viable route for waste utilisation, preferable over waste-to-energy. This Programme Grant will thus enhance the UK's capability in the critical area of affordable and sustainable advanced materials for a zero carbon UK economy, providing multidisciplinary training for the next generation of researchers, and support for a nascent next generation of an advanced materials industry

The cost of lithium-ion batteries is set to rise substantially in the near future, due to limited availability of lithium and the growing furore over "African blood Cobalt", a key material of automotive LIB. Sodium-ion batteries offer a more sustainable future with an inherently safer chemistry but suffer from larger size and weight. This high risk feasibility study seeks to address this by investigating the potential of novel metamaterial-carbon core/shell composites as high energy density, highly cyclable sodium-ion battery anodes to manufacture sodium-ion batteries with no significant energy density loss compared to lithium-ion batteries. We will theoretically screen 100,000+ metamaterials for suitability, and synthesise the most promising ones in nanostructured carbon-composite particles while in parallel raising the manufacturing readiness level of our hard carbon core anode material.