Energy storage is a tremendous research focus of our time and plays a vital role in tackling climate change and enabling a low carbon economy. It is the technology that will accelerate the transition to electric vehicles and facilitate the efficient utilisation of renewable energy in the grid scale applications. Today's massive production of Li-ion batteries (LIBs) has resulted in the supply risk of Li and Co, which would place future UK battery industry subject to external market and geopolitical forces. There is an immediate need to exempt from the over-reliance on LIBs through developing the next generation batteries that are based on earth-abundant elements. K-ion batteries (KIBs) offer cost-effectiveness and environmental sustainability, as they are based on K (2.09% abundance in the earth's crust, vs. 0.002% Li) and a Co-free system. KIBs possess the advantages of K having the closest reduction potential to Li (-2.92 V vs. -3.04 V) and being able to reversibly intercalate into graphite, which makes it possible to achieve high energy density and directly utilise the existing LIB manufacturing facilities. In practical applications such as grid-level storage where considerations of cell weight and size take a back seat to cost-per-kWh, KIBs represent a very attractive candidate. Building on our previous work on KIBs, our ambition is to develop high-performance KIBs and unlock the potential of KIBs as the next generation batteries. The major challenge of developing KIBs is the large size of K-ion because it causes kinetic difficulties to store K-ion. This project presents the design of electrode materials' structural defects, in accordance with the time scales of K-ion kinetics, to achieve high performance of KIBs. We will study crystalline structures that have directional pathways for K-ion insertion and diffusion at a long-range time scale, which allows to achieve high energy density. More importantly, we will investigate the approach of creating oxygen vacancies that allows a fast K-ion knetics at a short-range time scale and therefore a high power density. Simultaneously, developing KIBs requires the understanding of the complex processes occurring within the electrodes. We will perform materials characterisation and chemical analysis to understand the benefits of oxygen vacancies, especially the spatial effect of the vacancies, and acquire much-needed clarity on the fundamental chemistry of reversible K-ion storage, which is important as the development of KIBs is still in its infancy. This will suggest promising avenues for the improvement of KIB electrode materials in a wide range and generate the knowledge that could be transferred to other energy applications. The novelty in the approach is fundamentally different from the previous considerations of enhancing charge transport in the field of KIBs. The project includes the following: (i) Explore titanium niobium oxides (TNOs) as a new type of KIB anodes to reversibly store K-ion, which will identify promising materials put through as the model materials for the design of OVs. (ii) Create and control oxygen vacancies located in the surface or towards the bulk of TNOs and investigate the spatial effect of the vacancies on the enhancement of electrode power density. (iii) Perform in-situ and ex-situ characterisations of anodes with and without oxygen vacancies to best characterise, understand and explain the K-ion kinetics upon the designed structural engineering. (iv) Demonstrate KIB full-cell prototypes in a lab scale based on the advantages of performance, low-cost and environmental sustainability of the anodes (TNOs) developed in the project and the state-of-the-art cathodes (Prussian blue analogues). (v) Engage with all stakeholders in the UK's battery industry and be an advocate for KIBs.

Red soils cover 20% of each of China and India, the most populated countries on earth, as well as large areas of developing countries in southeast Asia, Africa and South America. They form in sub-tropical climates where excessive leaching from rainwater has produced an infertile, unstable soil that is very vulnerable to mismanagement, climate change and pollution such as acid rain. In China, red soils support about 40% of the population, made possible through the intensive use of fertilisers to boost crop yields. This farming system is unsustainable; fertilisers reaching groundwater, freshwater and the atmosphere pose a significant environmental threat, and soil degradation through intensive cultivation can result in tens of tonnes of soil being eroded each year from a hectare of land into water courses during the intensive monsoonal, spring rains. Red soil management for agriculture affects local farmers who depend on them for their livelihood, the surrounding population who need them for food, China because of dependence for national food production and globally because of the area red soils covers, their importance for food production and the large environmental footprint. Although extensive research has studied red soils, particularly related to management for agricultural sustainability, the integrated effects of various affected aspects of the critical zone, as well as the wider environmental impacts are poorly understood. In this proposal we adopt a critical zone approach, to reach beyond soil processes to encompass the atmosphere above, geology and groundwater below, surrounding freshwater and vegetation. By definition, the critical zone is the constantly evolving boundary layer at the surface of the earth where rock, soil, water, air and living organisms interact. Two essential components are essential for delivery. First, we have the major advantage of the Sunjia Critical Zone Observatory (CZO), the only international CZO in China where soil and water data have been collected since 2002. Second, we have assembled a team of Chinese and UK scientists who integrate a range of specialisations in soil science, with atmospheric, geological, hydrological and agronomical sciences. A skill gap identified amongst the Chinese partners in terrestrial environmental modelling is filled by the UK team, with training and joint positions proposed that will develop this capability in China. We build on existing Sunjia CZO monitoring by incorporating subsurface and atmospheric processes not included in the past. Further experiments in the lab and the field will allow us to explore impacts of environmental threats such as climate change, water scarcity and acid rain. We span from processes involved in weathering minerals, how these minerals interact with life to form soils, and how we can optimise these processes in soil evolution for the benefit of the environment and food security. These processes then enhance our understanding of hydrological and erosion impacts in red soils induced by different management practices. Detailed monitoring of these processes in the Sunjia CZO and other red soil areas provides data that inform our modelling of ecosystem processes. This process benefits immensely from a critical zone monitoring data-set for red soils that will span almost 20 years by the end of the project. The new science generated in this project, particularly the modelling outputs, provides valuable data for policy decisions in China about the management of red soils. We provide training to project partners in interdisciplinary science that is essential to CZO research and will benefit the research capabilities of the Chinese team. Moreover, we bring new skills to the Chinese team in terrestrial modelling. Coupled with our intended outcome of more sustainable food production from red soils, our training and government agency engagement ensures delivery of OECD Official Development Assistance from this project.

Tides, planetary waves and gravity waves play major roles in establishing the thermal structure and general circulation of the mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT) region of the atmosphere (70 - 120 km). For example, the summer mesopause region is the coldest place in the atmosphere due to the meridional circulation induced by gravity wave dissipation. Less well known and understood are the equally important roles that waves play in vertical constituent transport, which is a fundamental atmospheric process that has profound effects on the chemistry and composition of the atmosphere below the turbopause at around 105 km. Atmospheric gravity waves are generated by a variety of mechanisms (e.g. orographic forcing, convection, wind shears) in the troposphere and stratosphere. As the waves propagate upwards their amplitudes grow because of the exponentially falling air pressure, causing a fraction of the waves to become superadiabatic and "break". Wave-breaking is the main source of turbulence in the MLT. A final fraction of the wave spectrum can survive and penetrate into the thermosphere. Waves, and the turbulence they generate, contribute to vertical constituent transport by inducing large-scale advection, eddy transport through turbulent mixing, dynamical transport associated with dissipating, non-breaking waves and chemical transport associated with perturbed chemistry. Recently, compelling evidence has emerged that dynamical and chemical transport is significantly underestimated in global chemistry-climate models. The vertical fluxes of Na and Fe atoms, produced from ablating meteors, have recently been measured by the ground-based lidar technique and are 5 to 10 times larger than in a state-of-the-art climate model. The higher fluxes are supported by astronomical models of dust evolution in the solar system. There is also a significant deficit in the modelled concentrations of O atoms and O3 in the MLT. The most likely reason for these apparent model deficiencies is that a fraction of the gravity wave spectrum is not explicitly captured in models because the wavelengths are smaller than the model horizontal grid-scale (typically > 100 km), and these small waves make a major contribution to vertical transport. The computational cost of increasing the horizontal resolution to include small-scale wave transport effects directly in global models - especially incorporating chemistry - is currently prohibitive. The aim of the WAVECHASM project is to produce a parameterization which can be used to calculate all components of vertical transport in a global model. The project will proceed in four stages. First, we will run a global model with the facility to increase the horizontal resolution regionally down to ~ 14 km, in order to demonstrate the importance of short wavelength waves. In the second step we will parameterise a recent mathematical treatment of dynamical and chemical transport, which shows that these transport terms can be computed in a relatively straightforward way from the wave spectrum in each model grid box. For the third stage we will assemble a data-base of measurements of the vertical fluxes of Na, Fe (in some cases) and heat at 6 lidar stations, the Na density at 16 stations, and satellite measurements of Na and other MLT constituents (e.g. O, O3, NOx, CO2). In the final stage, the new global model with wave transport will be run for 20 years (covering the period of these observations), to study the impact of wave transport on the global distribution and seasonal variations of the important, chemically active species. Once the vertical flux of Na atoms can be reconciled with the abundance of Na in the layer around 90 km, we will obtain an accurate estimate of the amount of interplanetary dust entering the atmosphere, and thus constrain astronomical models of dust evolution in the solar system and improve our understanding the impacts of this dust throughout the atmosphere.

The first viable large scale fuel cell systems were the liquid electrolyte alkaline fuel cells developed by Francis Bacon. Until recently the entire space shuttle fleet was powered by such fuel cells. The main difficulties with these fuel cells surrounded the liquid electrolyte, which was difficult to immobilise and suffers from problems due to the formation of low solubility carbonate species. Subsequent material developments led to the introduction of proton-exchange membranes (PEMs e.g. Nafion(r)) and the development of the well-known PEMFC. Cost is a major inhibitor to commercial uptake of PEMFCs and is localised on 3 critical components: (1) Pt catalysts (loadings still high despite considerable R&D); (2) the PEMs; and (3) bipolar plate materials (there are few inexpensive materials which survive contact with Nafion, a superacid). Water balance within PEMFCs is difficult to optimise due to electro-osmotic drag. Finally, PEM-based direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) exhibit reduced performances due to migration of methanol to the cathode (voltage losses and wasted fuel).Recent advances in materials science and chemistry has allowed the production of membrane materials and ionomers which would allow the development of the alkaline-equivalent to PEMs. The application of these alkaline anion-exchange membranes (AAEMs) promises a quantum leap in fuel cell viability. The applicant team contains the world-leaders in the development of this innovative technology. Such fuel cells (conduction of OH- anions rather than protons) offer a number of significant advantages:(1) Catalysis of fuel cell reactions is faster under alkaline conditions than acidic conditions - indeed non-platinum catalysts perform very favourably in this environment e.g. Ag for oxygen reduction.(2) Many more materials show corrosion resistance in alkaline than in acid environments. This increases the number and chemistry of materials which can be used (including cheap, easy stamped and thin metal bipolar plate materials).(3) Non-fluorinated ionomers are feasible and promise significant membrane cost reductions.(4) Water and ionic transport within the OH-anion conducting electrolytes is favourable electroosmotic drag transports water away from the cathode (preventing flooding on the cathode, a major issue with PEMFCs and DMFCs). This process also mitigates the 'crossover' problem in DMFCs.This research programme involves the development of a suite of materials and technology necessary to implement the alkaline polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (APEMFC). This research will be performed by a consortium of world leading materials scientists, chemists and engineers, based at Imperial College London, Cranfield University, University of Newcastle and the University of Surrey. This team, which represents one of the best that can be assembled to undertake such research, embodies a multiscale understanding on experimental and theoretical levels of all aspects of fuel cell systems, from fundamental electrocatalysis to the stack level, including diagnostic approaches to assess those systems. The research groups have already explored some aspects of APEMFCs and this project will undertake the development of each aspect of the new technology in an integrated, multi-pronged approach whilst communicating their ongoing results to the members of a club of relevant industrial partners. The extensive opportunities for discipline hopping and international-level collaborations will be fully embraced. The overall aim is to develop membrane materials, catalysts and ionomers for APEMFCs and to construct and operate such fuel cells utilising platinum-free electrocatalysts. The proposed programme of work is adventurous: however, risks have been carefully assessed alongside suitable mitigation strategies (the high risk components promise high returns but have few dependencies). Success will lead to the U.K. pioneering a new class of clean energy conversion technology.

The first viable large scale fuel cell systems were the liquid electrolyte alkaline fuel cells developed by Francis Bacon. Until recently the entire space shuttle fleet was powered by such fuel cells. The main difficulties with these fuel cells surrounded the liquid electrolyte, which was difficult to immobilise and suffers from problems due to the formation of low solubility carbonate species. Subsequent material developments led to the introduction of proton-exchange membranes (PEMs e.g. Nafion(r)) and the development of the well-known PEMFC. Cost is a major inhibitor to commercial uptake of PEMFCs and is localised on 3 critical components: (1) Pt catalysts (loadings still high despite considerable R&D); (2) the PEMs; and (3) bipolar plate materials (there are few inexpensive materials which survive contact with Nafion, a superacid). Water balance within PEMFCs is difficult to optimise due to electro-osmotic drag. Finally, PEM-based direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) exhibit reduced performances due to migration of methanol to the cathode (voltage losses and wasted fuel).Recent advances in materials science and chemistry has allowed the production of membrane materials and ionomers which would allow the development of the alkaline-equivalent to PEMs. The application of these alkaline anion-exchange membranes (AAEMs) promises a quantum leap in fuel cell viability. The applicant team contains the world-leaders in the development of this innovative technology. Such fuel cells (conduction of OH- anions rather than protons) offer a number of significant advantages:(1) Catalysis of fuel cell reactions is faster under alkaline conditions than acidic conditions - indeed non-platinum catalysts perform very favourably in this environment e.g. Ag for oxygen reduction.(2) Many more materials show corrosion resistance in alkaline than in acid environments. This increases the number and chemistry of materials which can be used (including cheap, easy stamped and thin metal bipolar plate materials).(3) Non-fluorinated ionomers are feasible and promise significant membrane cost reductions.(4) Water and ionic transport within the OH-anion conducting electrolytes is favourable electroosmotic drag transports water away from the cathode (preventing flooding on the cathode, a major issue with PEMFCs and DMFCs). This process also mitigates the 'crossover' problem in DMFCs.This research programme involves the development of a suite of materials and technology necessary to implement the alkaline polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (APEMFC). This research will be performed by a consortium of world leading materials scientists, chemists and engineers, based at Imperial College London, Cranfield University, University of Newcastle and the University of Surrey. This team, which represents one of the best that can be assembled to undertake such research, embodies a multiscale understanding on experimental and theoretical levels of all aspects of fuel cell systems, from fundamental electrocatalysis to the stack level, including diagnostic approaches to assess those systems. The research groups have already explored some aspects of APEMFCs and this project will undertake the development of each aspect of the new technology in an integrated, multi-pronged approach whilst communicating their ongoing results to the members of a club of relevant industrial partners. The extensive opportunities for discipline hopping and international-level collaborations will be fully embraced. The overall aim is to develop membrane materials, catalysts and ionomers for APEMFCs and to construct and operate such fuel cells utilising platinum-free electrocatalysts. The proposed programme of work is adventurous: however, risks have been carefully assessed alongside suitable mitigation strategies (the high risk components promise high returns but have few dependencies). Success will lead to the U.K. pioneering a new class of clean energy conversion technology.