The defect, found by researchers from the Universities of Swagֱ�� and Cambridge using a thin material called Hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN), demonstrates spin coherence—a property where an electronic spin can retain quantum information— under ambient conditions. They also found that these spins can be controlled with light.

Up until now, only a few solid-state materials have been able to do this, marking a significant step forward in quantum technologies.

The findings published in , further confirm that the accessible spin coherence at room temperature is longer than the researchers initially imagined it could be.

Carmem M. Gilardoni, co-author of the paper and postdoctoral fellow at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, where the research was carried out, said: “The results show that once we write a certain quantum state onto the spin of these electrons, this information is stored for ~1 millionth of a second, making this system a very promising platform for quantum applications.

“This may seem short, but the interesting thing is that this system does not require special conditions – it can store the spin quantum state even at room temperature and with no requirement for large magnets.”

Hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN) is an ultra-thin material made up of stacked one-atom-thick layers, kind of like sheets of paper. These layers are held together by forces between molecules, but sometimes, there are tiny flaws between these layers called ‘atomic defects’, similar to a crystal with molecules trapped inside it. These defects can absorb and emit light that we can see, and they can also act as local traps for electrons. Because of the defects in hBN, scientists can now study how these trapped electrons behave, particularly the spin property, which allows electrons to interact with magnetic fields. They can also control and manipulate the electron spins using light within these defects at room temperature – something that has never been done before.

Dr Hannah Stern, first author of the paper and Royal Society University Research Fellow and Lecturer at Swagֱ��, said: “Working with this system has highlighted to us the power of the fundamental investigation of new materials. As for the hBN system, as a field we can harness excited state dynamics in other new material platforms for use in future quantum technologies.

“Each new promising system will broaden the toolkit of available materials, and every new step in this direction will advance the scalable implementation of quantum technologies.”

Prof Richard Curry added: “Research into materials for quantum technologies is critical to support the UK’s ambitions in this area. This work represents another leading breakthrough from a University of Swagֱ�� researcher in the area of materials for quantum technologies, further strengthening the international impact of our work in this field.”

Although there is a lot to investigate before it is mature enough for technological applications, the finding paves the way for future technological applications, particularly in sensing technology.

The scientists are still figuring out how to make these defects even better and more reliable and are currently probing how far they can extend the spin storage time. They are also investigating whether they can optimise the system and material parameters that are important for quantum-technological applications, such as defect stability over time and the quality of the light emitted by this defect.

Fast forward to today, and history repeats itself, this time in quantum computing.

Building on the same pioneering method forged by Ernest Rutherford – "the founder of nuclear physics" – scientists at the University, in collaboration with the University of Melbourne in Australia, have produced an enhanced, ultra-pure form of silicon that allows construction of high-performance qubit devices – a fundamental component required to pave the way towards scalable quantum computers.

The finding, published in the journal Communications Materials - Nature, could define and push forward the future of quantum computing.

Richard Curry, Professor of Advanced Electronic Materials at Swagֱ��, said: “What we’ve been able to do is effectively create a critical ‘brick’ needed to construct a silicon-based quantum computer. It’s a crucial step to making a technology that has the potential to be transformative for humankind - feasible; a technology that could give us the capability to process data at such as scale, that we will be able to find solutions to complex issues such as addressing the impact of climate change and tackling healthcare challenges.  

“It is fitting that this achievement aligns with the 200th anniversary of our University, where Swagֱ�� has been at the forefront of science innovation throughout this time, including Rutherford’s ‘splitting the atom’ discovery in 1917, then in 1948 with ‘The Baby’ - the first ever real-life demonstration of electronic stored-program computing, now with this step towards quantum computing.”

One of the biggest challenges in the development of quantum computers is that qubits – the building blocks of quantum computing - are highly sensitive and require a stable environment to maintain the information they hold. Even tiny changes in their environment, including temperature fluctuations can cause computer errors.

Another issue is their scale, both their physical size and processing power. Ten qubits have the same processing power as 1,024 bits in a normal computer and can potentially occupy much smaller volume. Scientists believe a fully performing quantum computer needs around one million qubits, which provides the capability unfeasible by any classical computer.

Silicon is the underpinning material in classical computing due to its semiconductor properties and the researchers believe it could be the answer to scalable quantum computers. Scientists have spent the last 60 years learning how to engineer silicon to make it perform to the best of its ability, but in quantum computing, it has its challenges.

Natural silicon is made up of three atoms of different mass (called isotopes) – silicon 28, 29 and 30. However the Si-29, making up around 5% of silicon, causes a ‘nuclear flip flopping’ effect causing the qubit to lose information.

In a breakthrough at Swagֱ��, scientists have come up with a way to engineer silicon to remove the silicon 29 and 30 atoms, making it the perfect material to make quantum computers at scale, and with high accuracy.

The result – the world’s purest silicon – provides a pathway to the creation of one million qubits, which may be fabricated to the size of pin head.

Ravi Acharya, a PhD researcher who performed experimental work in the project, explained: "The great advantage of silicon quantum computing is that the same techniques that are used to manufacture the electronic chips — currently within an everyday computer that consist of billions of transistors — can be used to create qubits for silicon-based quantum devices. The ability to create high quality Silicon qubits has in part been limited to date by the purity of the silicon starting material used. The breakthrough purity we show here solves this problem."

The new capability offers a roadmap towards scalable quantum devices with unparalleled performance and capabilities and holds promise of transforming technologies in ways hard to imagine.

Project co-supervisor, Professor David Jamieson, from the University of Melbourne, said: “Our technique opens the path to reliable quantum computers that promise step changes across society, including in artificial intelligence, secure data and communications, vaccine and drug design, and energy use, logistics and manufacturing.

“Now that we can produce extremely pure silicon-28, our next step will be to demonstrate that we can sustain quantum coherence for many qubits simultaneously. A reliable quantum computer with just 30 qubits would exceed the power of today's supercomputers for some applications,”

What is quantum computing and how does it work?

All computers operate using electrons. As well as having a negative charge, electrons have another property known as ‘spin’, which is often compared to a spinning top.

The combined spin of the electrons inside a computer’s memory can create a magnetic field. The direction of this magnetic field can be used to create a code where one direction is called ‘0’ and the other direction is called ‘1’. This then allows us to use a number system that only uses 0 and 1 to give instructions to the computer. Each 0 or 1 is called a bit.

In a quantum computer, rather than the combined effect of the spin of many millions of electrons, we can use the spin of single electrons, moving from working in the ‘classical’ world to the ‘quantum’ world; from using ‘bits’ to ‘qubits’.

While classical computers do one calculation after another, quantum computers can do all the calculations at the same time allowing them to process vast amounts of information and perform very complex calculations at an unrivalled speed.

While existing TEMs can image atomic scale structure and chemistry, the time-consuming nature of the technique means the typical regions of interest (ROI) - areas of the sample selected for further analysis - are very limited. The AutomaTEM will resolve this, improving the ability to find and analyse, reducing time incurred while increasing the ROI. As a result, it will accelerate innovation in materials applications for quantum computing, low power electronics, and new catalysts to support the energy transition, all which are currently held back by the limitations of current technology.

The AutomaTEM development is funded through a £9.5 million project supported by Swagֱ��, The Henry Royce Institute, bp and EPSRC, in collaboration with manufacturer Thermo Fisher Scientific. The Swagֱ�� team, led by Professor Sarah Haigh, will merge TEM’s existing atomic scale elemental and chemical mapping capabilities together with emerging developments in automation and data analysis to create the AutomaTEM; an instrument that can acquire huge data sets of local chemical information in days rather than years.

Prof , Professor of Materials Characterisation at Swagֱ�� and Director of the Electron Microscopy Centre (EMC), said: "Understanding atomic detail at the micrometer or millimeter scale is crucial for developing materials for various applications, from catalysis and quantum technologies to nuclear energy and pharmaceuticals.

"This system is not simply another TEM instrument. It will provide new opportunities for atomic scale investigation of materials with less human intervention. For the first time we will be able to enable atomic resolution analysis of hundreds of regions of interest in a matter of hours, providing unprecedented insights into sparse defects and heterogeneous materials." 

Designed with artificial intelligence and automated workflows at its core, the AutomaTEM boasts several cutting-edge features, including:

• Computer control to automatically adjust the sample stage and beam to address specific regions of interest, enabling detailed high-resolution imaging and diffraction-based analysis without continuous operator interaction.
• Machine learning integration to segment lower resolution data and build functional relationships between experimental results, enhancing the identification of novel features. 
• A world-leading Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) system with exceptional collection efficiency, providing precise compositional analysis.
• A new high-performance electron energy loss spectrometer (EELS) design for chemical analysis of diverse species in complex systems.

Custom built, it is being developed in collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific and will arrive in summer 2025. The global laboratory equipment manufacturer has provided Professor Haigh’s team access to the necessary API control, and will supply an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) system with a world-leading collection efficiency of 4.5 srad.

The AutomaTEM will be housed in Swagֱ��'s state-of-the-art (EMC), one of the largest in the UK. The EMC already has 6 transmission electron microscopes (TEMs), 13 scanning electron microscopes (SEMs), and 6 focussed ion beam (FIB) instruments. It supports more than 500 internal users, from 12 different University of Swagֱ�� Departments, and welcomes users from institutes across the world, including Cardiff, Durham, Queen Mary and Swagֱ�� Metropolitan universities, University of Cape Town (SA), Ceres Power, Nexperia, Nanoco, bp, Johnson Matthey, Oxford Instruments, and UKAEA.

AutomaTEM will be available to external users for free proof of principle academic projects for up to 30 per cent of its total use during the first three years to help foster collaboration and advance research capabilities.

, Royal Society University Research Fellow at Swagֱ��, who is leading co-investigator on the project, said: "The faster, more accurate analysis capabilities of AutomaTEM represent a significant leap forward in materials science research.

“With the potential to impact various industries, including aerospace, automotive, and semiconductor, the AutomaTEM aims to support the UK’s position at the forefront of materials science innovation.”

Today’s announcement consolidates Swagֱ��’s reputation at the forefront of advanced materials research. Home to highest concentration of materials scientists in UK academia, it hosts several national centres for Advanced Materials research including the Henry Royce Institute - the UK national institute for Advanced Materials Research; the bp-ICAM, a global partnership to enable the effective application of advanced materials for the transition to net zero; the National Centre for X-ray Computational Tomography; and the National Graphene Institute, the world-leading interdisciplinary centre for graphene and 2D materials research.

Common informal recycling activities for lead-acid batteries used in solar energy systems were recorded to release 3.5-4.7 kg of lead pollution from a typical battery, which is equivalent to more than 100 times the lethal oral dose of lead for an adult.

Off-grid solar technologies are used to provide power to areas lacking traditional grid connections and are crucial for expanding electricity access across sub-Saharan Africa. The private market for off-grid solar electrification technologies is expected to provide electricity access to hundreds of millions of people by 2030, subsidized by global energy companies in the Global North, including the UK. Meanwhile, household scale off-grid solar energy systems in sub-Saharan Africa mostly depend on lead-acid batteries as the most affordable and established energy storage technology.

But the scientists warn that the absence of formal waste management infrastructure presents major human health and environmental risks and urge government intervention immediately.

This research, published today in the journal , was led by Dr Christopher Kinally for his PhD at Swagֱ��, funded by EPSRC.

Dr Kinally said: “The private market for off-grid solar products is a very effective way to increase access to electricity, which is crucial for sustainable development. However, the resulting toxic waste flow is growing rapidly across regions that do not have the infrastructure to safely manage electronic waste.

“Without developing infrastructure, legislation and education around these technologies, there are severe public health risks. Significant social, economic and legislative interventions are required for these solar products to be considered as a safe, low-carbon technology in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Toxic informal waste management practices are known to be common for automotive batteries and electronic waste in low- and middle-income countries, but the environmental and health impacts of these practices have been widely overlooked. Now, efforts to promote sustainable development and electricity access are adding to these life-threatening waste streams.

Dr Kinally recorded that within suburban communities in Malawi, lead-acid batteries from solar energy systems are being refurbished openly on busy market streets by self-taught technicians, who are not aware of the toxicity of the materials they are handling.

He found that batteries are broken open with machetes, lead is melted over charcoal cooking stoves, and improvised lead battery cells are made by hand. In the process, approximately half of the lead content from each battery is leaked into the surrounding environment, releasing the equivalent of more than 100 lethal oral lead doses from a single battery into densely populated communities. 

This is the first data to quantify lead pollution from the informal recycling of lead-acid batteries from solar energy systems.  

Dr Alejandro Gallego Schmid, primary supervisor of the PhD and Senior Lecturer in Circular Economy and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment at Swagֱ��, added: “The problem is not the use a renewable source like solar energy, but the lack of appropriate treatment of the batteries at the end of life. We urgently need further research to reveal the health impacts of the identified flows of toxic pollution from solar batteries.”

Lead is a potent neurotoxin, and very low levels of lead exposure is known to permanently impact a child’s brain development. UNICEF have estimated that 800 million children across low- and middle-income countries have lead poisoning.

This widespread lead pollution is largely driven by improperly managed automotive battery waste and is expected to have substantial health and economic impacts across the Global South yet continues to be overlooked.  

Prior publications from the research team also highlight that the private off-grid solar market suffers from a general lack of supplier accountability and substandard, short-lived and counterfeit off-grid solar products were found to be common in Malawi, exploiting vulnerable energy-poor populations.

A lack of education about how to build and use these solar energy systems, which are particularly vulnerable to damage from improper use, is also severely limiting the lifetimes of batteries in off-grid solar energy systems.

Batteries in Malawi were recorded to often fail within a year, far shorter than the 3-5 year expected lifetime, accelerating the toxic waste flow. Meanwhile, the environmental impacts (including carbon emissions) from manufacturing and replacing short lived lead-acid batteries is compromising the sustainability and environmental benefits of solar energy systems.

Dr Fernando Antoñanzas, co-supervisor of the PhD, added: “This study brings more light on the maintenance and end-of-life phases of small off-grid solar projects, indeed left unattended in most cooperation projects. While informal lead-acid battery recycling offers a short-term solution for electrification for the poorest, at the same time, represents an enormous public health risk across Sub-Saharan Africa."

The research team has also provided policy recommendations for waste management solutions, including changes to how solar energy companies receive investments from the UK and Global North.

describe a force-controlled release system that harnesses natural forces to trigger targeted release of molecules, which could significantly advance medical treatment and smart materials.

The discovery, published today in the journal , uses a novel technique using a type of interlocked molecule known as rotaxane. Under the influence of mechanical force - such as that observed at an injured or damaged site - this component triggers the release of functional molecules, like medicines or healing agents, to precisely target the area in need. For example, the site of a tumour.

It also holds promise for self-healing materials that can repair themselves in situ when damaged, prolonging the lifespan of these materials. For example, a scratch on a phone screen.

Traditionally, the controlled release of molecules with force has presented challenges in releasing more than one molecule at once, usually operating through a molecular "tug of war" game where two polymers pull at either side to release a single molecule.

The new approach involves two polymer chains attached to a central ring-like structure that slide along an axle supporting the cargo, effectively releasing multiple cargo molecules in response to force application. The scientists demonstrated the release of up to five molecules simultaneously with the possibility of releasing more, overcoming previous limitations.

The breakthrough marks the first time scientists have been able to demonstrate the ability to release more than one component, making it one of the most efficient release systems to date.

The researchers also show versatility of the model by using different types of molecules, including drug compounds, fluorescent markers, catalyst and monomers, revealing the potential for a wealth of future applications.

Looking ahead, the researchers aim to delve deeper into self-healing applications, exploring whether two different types of molecules can be released at the same time. For example, the integration of monomers and catalysts could enable polymerization at the site of damage, creating an integrated self-healing system within materials.

They will also look to expand the sort of molecules that can be released.

said: "We've barely scratched the surface of what this technology can achieve. The possibilities are limitless, and we're excited to explore further."

Swagֱ�� scientists are driving research into the capabilities of inorganic high-entropy materials (HEMs). HEMs diverge away from the traditional picture of a material – i.e. something stabilised by creating bonds with other atoms – because their structure, somewhat paradoxically, is stabilised by disorder. It is this disorder makes them a potentially disruptive technology for sustainable energy generation including thermoelectric energy generation, batteries for energy storage, chemical catalysis and electrocatalysis.

Engineering new materials with exciting properties

Led by , Head of the Department of Materials, the team of material scientists is engineering high-entropy materials from the bottom up. By adding a ‘cocktail’ of different metal atoms into the lattice, they are devising materials that are that have never been discovered before, and have some very exciting properties.

Through this work, the team have uncovered a range of capabilities in the materials. For example, their aptitude for electrocatalytic water splitting

Because HEMs contain so many different unique sites within the material, the  materials also have great potential as a disruptive technology in chemical catalysis.

Professor David Lewis explains, “It's almost like combinatorial chemistry at the atomic scale. This can be illustrated with a simple calculation. If one starts to imagine the number of unique sites in a high entropy material which contains six or more different elements, including the three nearest neighbour atoms, you’re looking at combinations in the order of 10³³. Compare that to the amount of known ‘vanilla materials’ as I would call them, well there’s only about 10¹² of those – so you can really start to produce almost unimaginable combinations of active sites within a catalyst. We have also shown that this approach can activate different structural features in electrocatalysts that lie dormant in the parent materials, and with it, improvements in efficiency”

In addition to this Professor Lewis’ team were the first to show how these materials could also exhibit quantum confinement at short (10^-9 m) length scales leading to the .

Looking to the Future

Professor Lewis’ team builds high-entropy materials from the atom up, arguing in a recent that this route, in general, presents the best strategy for ensuring entropic stabilisation. This means the team can control the composition of a material, from the composition of the molecular precursors that were put into the pot at the start. Despite the growth of interest in high entropy materials there still remains many challenges in their characterisation and computational simulation of the systems and Professor Lewis’ research will address these questions going forward.

Professor Lewis says: “There are still a number of outstanding challenges, and the nature of these are very interdisciplinary. I have been lucky enough to be able to collaborate with many other academics all at the same institution that share my interest in these problems. To me, therefore, Swagֱ�� is the ideal place to conduct this research.”

---

is the Head of the Department of Materials at Swagֱ��. His other research interests include synthesis of compound semiconductors and inexpensive alternatives to traditional energy generation materials, 2D materials beyond graphene, and quantum dots.

Read recent papers:

To discuss this research or potential partnerships, contact Professor Lewis via david.lewis-4@manchester.ac.uk.

Carefully controlled inhalation of a specific type of – the world’s thinnest, super strong and super flexible material – has no short-term adverse effects on lung or cardiovascular function, the study shows.

The first controlled exposure clinical trial in people was carried out using thin, ultra-pure graphene oxide – a water-compatible form of the material.

Researchers say further work is needed to find out whether higher doses of this graphene oxide material or other forms of graphene would have a different effect.

The team is also keen to establish whether longer exposure to the material, which is thousands of times thinner than a human hair, would carry additional health risks.

There has been a surge of interest in developing graphene – at Swagֱ�� in 2004 and which has been hailed as a ‘wonder’ material. Possible applications include electronics, phone screens, clothing, paints and water purification.

Graphene is actively being explored around the world to assist with targeted therapeutics against cancer and other health conditions, and also in the form of implantable devices and sensors. Before medical use, however, all nanomaterials need to be tested for any potential adverse effects.

Researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Swagֱ�� recruited 14 volunteers to take part in the study under carefully controlled exposure and clinical monitoring conditions.

The volunteers breathed the material through a face mask for two hours while cycling in a purpose-designed mobile exposure chamber brought to Edinburgh from the National Public Health Institute in the Netherlands.

Effects on lung function, blood pressure, blood clotting and inflammation in the blood were measured – before the exposure and at two-hour intervals. A few weeks later, the volunteers were asked to return to the clinic for repeated controlled exposures to a different size of graphene oxide, or clean air for comparison.

There were no adverse effects on lung function, blood pressure or the majority of other biological parameters looked at.

Researchers noticed a slight suggestion that inhalation of the material may influence the way the blood clots, but they stress this effect was very small.

Dr Mark Miller, of the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Cardiovascular Science, said: “Nanomaterials such as graphene hold such great promise, but we must ensure they are manufactured in a way that is safe before they can be used more widely in our lives.

“Being able to explore the safety of this unique material in human volunteers is a huge step forward in our understanding of how graphene could affect the body. With careful design we can safely make the most of nanotechnology.”

Professor Kostas Kostarelos, of Swagֱ�� and the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) in Barcelona, said: “This is the first-ever controlled study involving healthy people to demonstrate that very pure forms of graphene oxide – of a specific size distribution and surface character – can be further developed in a way that would minimise the risk to human health.

“It has taken us more than 10 years to develop the knowledge to carry out this research, from a materials and biological science point of view, but also from the clinical capacity to carry out such controlled studies safely by assembling some of the world’s leading experts in this field.”

Professor Bryan Williams, Chief Scientific and Medical Officer at the British Heart Foundation, said: “The discovery that this type of graphene can be developed safely, with minimal short term side effects, could open the door to the development of new devices, treatment innovations and monitoring techniques.

“We look forward to seeing larger studies over a longer timeframe to better understand how we can safely use nanomaterials like graphene to make leaps in delivering lifesaving drugs to patients.”

The study is published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology: .It was funded by the British Heart Foundation and the UKRI EPSRC.

Long-term energy storage – or energy storage with a duration of at least ten hours – is key to supporting the low-carbon energy transition and security. It will enable electricity generated by renewables to be stored for longer, increasing the efficiency of these environmentally sustainable technologies and reducing dependency baseload imported gas and coal-fired power plants. It will also help drive the multi-billion global market which is, currently, inadequately served with current market-ready technologies.

HalioGEN Power – a spin-out founded by Swagֱ�� Professor and, with Research Associates Dr Lewis Le Fevre, Dr Andinet Aynalem, and Dr Athanasios Stergiou – has created a technology that has the potential to store energy and efficiently provide power without using critical raw materials.

HalioGEN Power’s team have achieved this by developing a redox-flow battery technology that does not require the use of membrane. By eliminating the need for a membrane, this technology is one of the world’s first long-term storage solutions to negate the use of lithium. Instead, by manipulating the halogen chemistry, the team has been able to create a two-phase system, where the interface between the two phases acts as a membrane.

Unlike current market-established technologies that use lithium metal and can only store energy efficiently for up to four hours, HalioGEN’s redox-flow batteries can store energy for more than ten hours.

In addition, the HalioGEN Power technology requires just one tank and one pump, instead of two for conventional flow batteries. This not only reduces the capital cost of the system, but also reduces the complexity of the battery design.

The new funding is provided by , The German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation, following the successful creation of a lab-based protype by the HalioGEN Power team. The prototype phase took place within the labs, using an initial €1 million investment, also provided by SPRIND.

The €3 million seed funding will now be used to scale and de-risk this protype over the next 18 months, preparing its route for commercial application.

During this 18-month lab-to-market acceleration period, HalioGEN Power will be based in the (GEIC) at Swagֱ��. The GEIC specialises in the commercialisation of new technologies using graphene and other 2D materials. As a GEIC partner, HalioGEN Power will be able to access its world-class facilities and resources, supported by a team of application engineers with broad experience in the development of novel products.

Despite its infancy, HalioGEN Power has already received expressions of interest from various organisations from the UK and Europe, including energy suppliers and energy solution providers, keen to apply its technology and invest in future roll out.

The HalioGEN Power project team will be led by the co-founders, who will each take key roles in the business structure. Dr Lewis Le Fevre will operate as Chief Technology Officer, Dr Andinet Aynalem as Principal Scientist, and Dr Athanasios Stergiou as Senior Scientist, with Professor Robert Dryfe overseeing all activity.

Robert Dryfe, Professor of Physical Chemistry at Swagֱ�� and HalioGEN Power’s co-founder explained: “Our goal is to bring to market a new, disruptive energy innovation that helps address global energy transition and security challenges, while also tackling geo-specific issues that threaten the stability of the grid, such as the so-called ‘dark lulls’ in Germany. These lulls see the country go for up to ten days without significant solar and wind energy generation.

“Our redox-flow battery technology creates long-term storage to navigate issues like this in order to maximise the environmental and economic sustainability of renewable energy systems."

 As part of this development stage, SPRIND will provide financial support and mentorship. SPRIND is part of the German Federal Government and has been set up to support innovators from Germany and neighbouring countries, creating a space where they can take risks. 

In addition, HalioGEN Power will receive ongoing support from the (the Agency), a unique collaboration between eight partners from the public, private and academic sectors in Greater Swagֱ�� (GM), tasked with accelerating carbon emission reductions and transitioning the GM city-region to a carbon-neutral economy by 2038 by connecting innovative low-carbon products and services to end-users

The Agency will support HalioGEN Power in the further development of the business, business plan, and products, from Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 4 to 7, throughout 2024 and 2025, sourcing and introducing potential end user customers and defining a clear route for the technology from prototype to market-ready.

David Schiele, Director of The Energy Innovation Agency said: “The Agency is thrilled to be working with the HalioGEN Power team, and uniquely placed, to help them accelerate development of their innovative battery technology and business throughout 2024 and beyond, by offering access to business development support, and end-users, to support the energy transition with innovative products which make greater use of stored energy from clean renewable energy generation”.

HalioGEN Power is the second spin-out co-created by Professor Robert Dryfe. He also co-founded Molymem, a breakthrough water filtration technology, which has already secured £1 million in investment to scale up its technology.   

Today, the and The announced the nine recipients of the 2024 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK, including three Laureates and six finalists.

and are named among the three Laureates, who will each receive £100,000 in recognition of their work in Chemical Sciences and Physical Sciences & Engineering, respectively.

Now in its seventh year, the awards are the largest unrestricted prizes available to UK scientists aged 42 or younger. The awards recognise research that is transforming medicine, technology and our understanding of the world.

This year’s Laureates were selected by an independent jury of expert scientists from across the UK.

Professor Anthony Green, a Lecturer in Organic Chemistry from Swagֱ��, has been named the Chemical Sciences Laureate for his discoveries in designing and engineering new enzymes, with valuable catalytic functions previously unknown in nature that address societal needs. Recent examples include the development of biocatalysts to produce COVID-19 therapies to break down plastics, and to use visible light to drive chemical reactions. 

Rahul Nair, Professor of Materials Physics at Swagֱ��, was named Laureate in Physical Sciences & Engineering for developing novel membranes based on two-dimensional (2D) materials that will enable energy-efficient separation and filtration technologies. Using graphene and other 2D materials, his research aims to study the transport of water, organic molecules, and ions at the nanoscale, exploring its potential applications to address societal challenges, including water filtration and other separation technologies.

Internationally recognised by the scientific community, the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists are instrumental in expanding the engagement and recognition of young scientists and provide the support and encouragement needed to drive scientific innovation for the next generation.

, Founder and Chairman of Access Industries and Head of the Blavatnik Family Foundation, said: “Providing recognition and funding early in a scientist’s career can make the difference between discoveries that remain in the lab and those that make transformative scientific breakthroughs.

“We are proud that the Awards have promoted both UK science and the careers of many brilliant young scientists and we look forward to their additional discoveries in the years ahead.”

, President and CEO of The New York Academy of Sciences and Chair of the Awards’ Scientific Advisory Council, added: “From studying cancer to identifying water in far-off planets, to laying the groundwork for futuristic quantum communications systems, to making enzymes never seen before in a lab or in nature, this year’s Laureates and Finalists are pushing the boundaries of science and working to make the world a better place. Thank you to this year’s jury for sharing their time and expertise in selecting these daring and bold scientists as the winning Laureates and Finalists of the 2024 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the UK.”

The 2024 Blavatnik Awards in the UK Laureates and Finalists will be honoured at a black-tie gala dinner and award ceremony at Banqueting House in Whitehall, London, on 27 February 2024.

The collaboration will support the development of future engineering talent, as well as drive the development of innovative and sustainable power solutions.

As part of the collaboration, Swagֱ�� and Cummins will conduct cutting-edge research with the aim of accelerating product development of the latest generation of air handling technologies, such as e-turbos for fuel cells, together with fuel injection systems for hydrogen-based power solutions.

Academics and their students will explore the future use of hydrogen in power solutions as part of the collaboration, using world class engineering equipment, test cells and laboratories.

Students will also be given the opportunity to apply their learnings to a practical environment and gain valuable industry experience with Cummins. These placements will be open to all students, irrespective of academic discipline, aligning with the variety of roles available at Cummins.

Dr John Clark, Executive Director for Research & Development at Cummins, said: “It’s fantastic to announce our collaboration with Swagֱ��, with the partnership holding tremendous potential for both of us. It will provide students and researchers with the opportunity to work with an established, international manufacturer and actively contribute to the advancement of power solution technology. It will also help to drive the development of sustainable products, supporting our commitment to powering a more prosperous world.”

Dr Louise Bates, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Swagֱ��, added: “This partnership is a great opportunity for our research community to engage with an international company, developing widely-used technologies and groundbreaking solutions to real-world challenges. Swagֱ�� is committed to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and this partnership presents a very exciting platform for our two organisations to collaborate and address some of the most pressing challenges facing our planet. We look forward to growing our relationship with Cummins and witnessing what we can achieve together.”

The Cummins Engine Components (CEC) site in Huddersfield designs, develops, produces and refurbishes air handling solutions, which are used globally in vehicles and machinery across various markets.  CEC is part of the international engine, power generation and filtration product manufacturer, Cummins, which employs 73,600 worldwide and generated $28.1 billion in revenue last year. This collaboration between Cummins and Swagֱ��, and the development of future air handling solutions for sustainable technologies, will support the manufacturer’s Destination Zero commitment.

The fashion industry is facing several growing social and environmental sustainability issues; from clothing textile waste to the prospect of widespread microfibre pollution (MSF). For the latter, we struggle to even define the problem. Whilst we know that huge amounts of microfibres are entering our ecosystems, we don’t yet know the impact this is having. 

There’s even an issue of public understanding: whilst many associate microfibres with plastics only, microfibers can also be released from natural fibres. These ‘natural fibres’ have usually been coated with another substance to enhance the look and feel of the fabric or add a specific function, such as dyes, softeners or even making them easier to dry. As such, there’s a difference between microfibre – the material that’s been designed – and microfibre, the potential pollutant. 

Consumer and industry questions at the heart of investigations 

Now, a Swagֱ�� team has set out to assess the damage that microfibres are doing to our world, and what might be done to tackle it. Led by , an expert in sustainability in the fashion industry and Executive Board Member of the Sustainable Fashion Consumption Network and , Professor of Catalysis in Swagֱ��’s Chemical Engineering department, with Libby Allen, the team are tackling several key questions. Amongst them, are: 

• What are the current challenges and barriers to microfibre prevention? 
• Could different approaches, like filters, play a role? 
• Could we ‘design out’ waste like microfibres altogether? 
• And where does responsibility lie for this pollution? With the consumer, policy makers, or with the industry? 

This is a problem that is all around us. If you use a tumble-dryer or a washing machine with a filter, you’ll see the ‘lint’ that is collected (the common name for the visible accumulation of textile fibres). Currently you’re advised to put this lint into your household waste – but there are several ways in which these fibres then get released into the environment. Could we instead use the lint as a resource? If not, how should it be disposed of? The team put these consumer questions at the heart of their investigations. 

Material characterisation and social definitions 

Swagֱ��’s research focussed on characterising microfibres to track the differences in their size and determine how best to map their impact. The team – supported by fabric created within Department of Materials, and characterised within Chemical Engineering Department – ran a range of tests tracking the whole of the fabric cycle, through creation and pre-treatments, to washing approaches, and then examined the fabrics and MFP under microscopes to look at how much pollution was released with changing variables, what the size and shape of the microfibres were, and where in the process they might be occurring. This information is needed for informed and effective mitigation strategies to tackle microfibre pollution. 

Alongside, by undertaking qualitative research, they explored how microfibre pollution is defined from an industry perspective and what challenges or solutions are associated with it. Through a programme of in-depth expert interviews, they have found insights to drive the conversation with industry forwards. For example: the need for a clear-cut definition on MFP and a key distinction between what is considered as problem and challenge. 

Developing economically viable solutions 

By leading investigations into MFP, the team aims to propose economically viable solutions in partnership with relevant industries. They’re also investigating how different stakeholders could work together to take actions throughout the entire product lifecycle; plus improving communication practices which provide the consumer with the scientific facts and the practical solutions to take action. 

Dr Claudia E Henninger is a Reader in Fashion Marketing Management, and her research interest is in sustainability, the circular economy, and more specifically collaborative consumption, in the context of the fashion industry. Claudia is also an Executive Board Member of the Sustainable Fashion Consumption Network. 

Related papers: 
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To discuss this research or potential collaborations with Dr Henninger, email Claudia.Henninger@manchester.ac.uk 

Discover how to access our world-leading research and state-of-the-art equipment. Visit our to find out more. 
 

It was facilitated by both , at Swagֱ��, in his role as Faculty Head of Internationalisation for India and Dr Laura Cohen, Royal Academy of Engineering’s (RAEng) Visiting Professor at Royce who is the former CEO of the British Ceramic Confederation (BCC).

Critical metals such as copper, cobalt, gallium, indium, rare earth, and platinum group metals are the raw materials for low-carbon technologies such as wind mill generators, solar panels, batteries, magnets, and EV vehicles, and are critical in the development of low-carbon industries globally.

The Critical Metals Industry includes mining, smelting, processing, and recycling, in which research and innovation plays an important role. UK and India face similar challenges in terms of building supply chain resilience in critical metals as both countries do not have very good sources of critical metals and minerals. They are largely dependent on a few countries for sourcing in their finished forms. There is recognition in both countries on the importance of building supply chain resilience in this area.

Working Party

The workshop saw discussions on future ways forward. There was particular interest identified from the Indian delegation in battery recycling (critical materials for anode cathode, electrolyte); magnets; novel battery technology; using less critical materials; design for end-of-life; photovoltaics; other sustainable materials, and waste streams from mining.

Exploration of materials is a UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) – India priority.

The November workshop follows an earlier  in Spring this year. This earlier meeting had mapped the India landscape to critical minerals strengths, challenges and opportunities for collaboration with the UK.

Mr Sudhendu J. Sinha, Adviser, NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) who led the Indian delegation said, “Critical minerals is an important area of collaboration. It can possibly have focus on raising sensitivity through carefully crafted Awareness Programs, skill upgradation, technological collaboration, knowledge exchange and experience sharing and finally exploring Investment opportunities in the area of critical minerals between India and the UK. We sincerely hope this engagement to rise to meaningful and impactful levels. “

Joshua Bamford, representing the FCOD and Head of Tech and Innovation at the British High Commission New Delhi said, “The UK and Indian governments recognise the strategic importance of securing a sustainable supply of critical materials as well as the need for innovation and investment in the recycling of critical materials in order to drive forward technological transformation and the transition to net zero.

“This workshop has underscored the huge opportunities of continued collaboration between our governments, universities and industry to drive forward new innovations, share expertise and fast track new solutions to market.

“The UK government looks forward to delivering the next steps of this exciting partnership to deliver tangible benefits to the UK and India.”

Dr. Laura Cohen said, “This was a very positive workshop, which demonstrated the huge potential for both countries to work together to translate these priority themes into tangible projects. A good example was the strong interest from a number of Indian battery recycling companies in initial work with Royce/ Swagֱ�� in exploring titanium recycling for battery casing.  

“Both the UK and India delegates were also keen to use the learning from the Royce  project, recognising the importance of ‘application scientists’ in establishing industry needs and connecting this to academic expertise.”

Prof. Aravind Vijayaraghavan added, “It was a pleasure to work with FCDO and Royce to host this delegation in Swagֱ��, where a clear and significant potential was evidenced for both countries to work together to promote the circularity of critical materials. We will look forward to translating these engagement into highly impactful projects and long-term collaborations, as well as to explore joint commercial opportunities in both countries.”

The Workshop included interdisciplinary UK delegates from the Universities of Swagֱ��, Brunel and Surrey, the Henry Royce Institute, FCDO, key Indian technology Institutes and laboratories, Innovate UK as well as a number of Indian businesses who have activities associated with rare metals.

The prestigious award ceremony, held in London on November 9, recognised and celebrated outstanding British entrepreneurship, firmly establishing GIM as a leader in sustainability and innovation.

The Innovator of the Year Awards, hosted by The Spectator, have become a hallmark in the UK's business and investment communities, attracting a growing number of entries each year. The award was well deserving of GIM's groundbreaking work in harnessing the power of graphene to drive sustainability and economic viability.

Earlier this month, GIM, alongside Economic Innovator of the Year finalists, was featured in . The episode delved into their expertise in manufacturing and engineering, with GIM's contributions highlighted from 27:30.

Graphene Innovations Swagֱ�� Ltd

GIM design graphene-based compounds and production systems that allow partners to commercialise graphene-enhanced products at scale, unlocking competitive advantage, sustainability, and cost reduction. Notably, GIM's work in developing graphene-enhanced concrete stands out as a game-changer for the construction industry, where concrete production contributes 8% of global CO2 emissions.

GIM Concrete, a pioneering product by the company, is a fusion of graphene, polymers, and additives. What makes it truly innovative is its manufacturing process, which eliminates 88% of CO2 emissions by abstain from the use of cement. Not only does it address environmental concerns, but GIM Concrete also boasts 4 times the compression strength of traditional concrete, is 30% lighter, and cures in a mere 2 to 4 hours, compared to the 28 days required for traditional concrete.

The company has also developed a sustainable waste upcycling platform, utilising graphene as an additive to transform ground waste tires and plastics. This approach allows for the creation of high-quality, durable products through traditional manufacturing processes, optimising both performance and sustainability.

Graphene Innovations Swagֱ�� Ltd was founded by Dr Vivek Koncherry, an alumnus, with their research and development centre located in Swagֱ��’s (GEIC). 

Vivek expressed his delight saying: “We are honoured to receive the Excellence in Sustainability award and grateful for the supportive environment in Swagֱ��'s graphene ecosystem and the focus of Swagֱ�� on this core area of social responsibility. This recognition exemplifies the collaborative efforts and transformative potential of graphene-based solutions. Personally, my time as a senior research fellow at Swagֱ��, combined with recognising the fundamental role of sustainability in the University’s ethos, inspired me to working with graphene and the GEIC.

"From first proposing a graphene suitcase idea to recycling car tires into graphene floor mats, the journey has been very transformative with exciting future developments now taking place. With this recognition, GIM eagerly anticipates continuing its innovative journey, contributing to a sustainable future, and inspiring others to leverage the graphene ecosystem for positive impact."

What is graphene, and its link to Swagֱ��?

If you've ever used a pencil, you've unwittingly engaged with graphene. Discovered in 2004 by Swagֱ��-based researchers, Professor Andre Geim and Professor Kostya Novoselov, graphene is a one-atom-thick, two-dimensional crystal. Their pioneering work in isolating graphene from graphite earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010. Today, Swagֱ�� known as the home of graphene, remains a hub for graphene research and applications, and GIM stands as a shining example of the city's continued contribution to groundbreaking technological advancements.

The centre, led Dr Mauricio A Álvarez, will train the next generation of AI researchers to develop AI methods designed to accelerate new scientific discoveries – specifically in the fields of astronomy, engineering biology and material science.

The University will be working in partnership with The University of Cambridge, and is one of 12 Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) in Artificial Intelligence (AI) based at 16 universities, announced by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) today (31 October).

The investment by UKRI aims to ensure that the UK continues to have the skills needed to seize the potential of the AI era, and to nurture the British tech talent that will push the AI revolution forwards. 

£117 million in total has been awarded to the 12 CDTs and builds on the previous UKRI investment of £100 million in 2018.

Doctoral students at Swagֱ�� will be provided with a foundation in Machine Learning and AI and an in-depth understanding of the implications of its application to solve real-world problems.

The programme will also cover the areas of responsible AI and equality, diversity and inclusion.

Dr Mauricio A Álvarez, Senior Lecturer in Machine Learning at Swagֱ��, said: "We are delighted to be awarded funding for this new AI CDT. Swagֱ�� is investing heavily in AI research and translation, and the CDT will complement other significant efforts in research through our AI Fundamentals Centre at the University and innovation via the Turing Innovation Catalyst. Our partnership with Cambridge will also enable us to educate experts capable of generalising and translating nationally to stimulate the development and adoption of AI technology in high-potential, lower AI-maturity sectors.

“Modern science depends on a variety of complex systems, both in terms of the facilities that we use and the processes that we model. AI has the potential to help us understand these systems better, as well as to make them more efficient.

“The AI methods we will develop will apply to a wide range of challenges in complex systems, from transport systems to sports teams. We are partnering with a diverse pool of industry collaborators to address these challenges jointly."

Dr Julia Handl, Professor in Decision Sciences at Swagֱ��, said: “This CDT is a fantastic opportunity to bring together researchers from a wide spectrum of disciplines, from across all three of Swagֱ��’s Faculties, to ensure we can develop innovative solutions that are appropriate to the complexity and uncertainty of real-world systems. The involvement of the Faculty of Humanities is crucial in ensuring such systems are effective and inclusive in supporting human decision makers, and in delivering the centre’s cross-cutting theme of increasing business productivity, supported by collaboration with the Productivity Institute, the Masood Enterprise Centre and a range of industry partners.”

UKRI Chief Executive, Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, said: “The UK is in a strong position to harness the power of AI to transform many aspects of our lives for the better. Crucial to this endeavour is nurturing the talented people and teams we need to apply AI to a broad spectrum of challenges, from healthy aging to sustainable agriculture, ensuring its responsible and trustworthy adoption. UKRI is investing £117 million in Centres for Doctoral Training to develop the talented researchers and innovators we need for success.”

Dr Kedar Pandya, Executive Director, Cross-Council Programmes at UKRI, said: “This £117 million investment, will involve multiple business and institutional partners for the Centres of Doctoral Training. These include well-known brands such as IBM, Astra Zeneca, and Google, as well as small to medium sized enterprises that are innovating in the AI field. A further £110 million has been leveraged from all partners in the form of cash or in-kind contributions such as use of facilities, resources or expertise.”

The first cohort of UKRI AI CDT students will start in the 2024/2025 academic year, recruitment for which will begin shortly.

In an article published by the University’s policy engagement unit Policy@Swagֱ�� to coincide with the 20th annual Recycle Week, Lindsay Pressdee, Dr Amy Benstead and Dr Jo Conlon highlight that, of the one million tonnes of textiles disposed of every year in this country, 300,000 tonnes end up in landfill or incineration with figures suggesting 10 per cent of global CO2 emissions may come from the fashion industry. 

And they warn that the damage inflicted by discarded sportswear is often overlooked, “despite an over-reliance on polyester garments, which are harmful to the environment as the fabric releases microfibres and takes hundreds of years to fully biodegrade.”

Pressdee, Benstead and Conlon stress the importance of establishing “sustainable behaviour throughout the supply chain” and praise the European Commission for proposing an “extended producer responsibility (EPR)” for textiles in the EU which “aims to create appropriate incentives to encourage producers to design products that have a reduced environmental impact at the end of their life.”

This contrasts with the UK where, they argue, “tackling sustainability in the fashion industry has lost its place on the political agenda.”

Swagֱ�� academics contend that there has been “disappointing lack of progress from the UK Government” following the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee’s Fixing Fashion report in 2019.

They continue: “This report included a call for the use of EPR as well as other important recommendations such as a ban on incinerating or landfilling unsold stock that can be reused or recycled and a tax system that shifts the balance of incentives in favour of reuse, repair and recycling to support responsible companies. We urge the Government to think again and drive forward the Committee’s recommendations in order to put sustainable fashion back on the political agenda.”

Pressdee, Benstead and Conlon also criticise Ministers for abolishing the standalone GCSE in textiles which provided many young people with the ability to mend clothing such as football kits instead of throwing them away.

They write: “We are therefore calling on the Government to reintroduce textiles as part of the school curriculum to engage young people in sustainable materials and equip them with the basic skills required to repair clothes.”

Swagֱ�� has launched a new project dedicated to tackling the impact of textile waste in the football industry through the provision of workshops tasked with transforming surplus football shirts into unique reusable tote bags, whilst educating local communities on the environmental impacts of textile waste and how to extend the life of garments. The initiative aims to provide a fun, responsible way to keep kits in circulation while shining a light on the problem.

‘Game changers, a new approach to tackling sportswear garment waste’ by Lindsay Pressdee, Dr Amy Benstead and Dr Jo Conlon is available to read on the . 

• Light alloys are ideal in aircraft and car manufacturing – providing lightweight materials that improve the vehicle’s efficiency, while reducing emissions
• However, they are quick to corrode. Previously, corrosion performance was managed using chemical surface treatments but these treatments are now banned due to carcinogenic qualities, and industry is facing huge, unexpected costs to maintain materials - until an efficient alternative is found.
• Researchers at Swagֱ�� are developing high-performance smart coatings, that not only protect the alloy from corrosion but also – once compromised, for example by a scratch – have the capability to ‘self-heal’
• This environmentally friendly coating technology could be the key to improving the long-term performance of lightweighting components, which is critical to ensuring the future energy-efficient vehicles and supporting a sustainable consumption of resources.

Light alloys, such as aluminium, magnesium and titanium, are materials with a very low density, ideal for use in manufacturing aircraft and cars. Lightweight, they can improve a vehicle’s energy efficiency, while reducing emissions, and are especially important in the manufacture of electric vehicles, where batteries extremely heavy.

When alloying elements such as copper are added, mechanical performance is improved - but corrosion resistance is decreased. This trade-off means it’s difficult to have a single strategy that improves all elements at the same time. Traditionally, the corrosion performance was optimised using chemical surface treatments. But due to their highly toxic, carcinogenic properties, they are now banned.

In their place, traditional passive coatings are the only alternatives. But because they only work as a physical barrier to the environment, once they fail, they no longer protect the material underneath. Which means the industry is bearing the unexpected cost of replacing corroding light alloys more frequently.

An environmental and economically sustainable solution

To address this challenge, researchers at Swagֱ�� are pioneering a new technology: a high-performance, environmentally-friendly smart coatings, that not only protect the allow from corrosion but once compromised – for example by a scratch – have the capability to ‘self-heal’, correcting this fail and regenerating a new, protective layer.

Smart coatings can interact with the environment, and respond selectively to specific triggers such as mechanical fractures, or changes in temperature and humidity, for example.

The technology isn’t new – it’s been achieved in organic coatings such as paint, which can have, for example, hydrophobic properties and provide anti-corrosion. But they have low thermal stability and wear-resistance; for example, you can easily scratch a car painted with conventional paint. This means they can’t be used in something as vital as the engine of a car, the landing gear of an aeroplane or the rotor system of a helicopter – these materials will fail in extreme environments.

The team of materials experts, led by Dr Beatiz Mingo, Senior Lecturer and Royal Academy of Engineering Fellow, based at the Henry Royce Institute at Swagֱ��, are exploring two key considerations: Can we transfer these active functionalities, which have so far been restricted to organic materials, to ceramics, which are much more resistant and robust? and is it possible to manufacture ceramic coatings with anti-corrosion and self-healing properties?

Establishing a breakthrough in self-healing ceramic

Using a technique called Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO), Dr Mingo’s team is looking to achieve active multi-functionalisation of ceramic coatings.

By developing a method to encapsulate corrosion inhibitors into nano-containers, which fit into the holes caused by porosity in the ceramic – normally a bad thing in coatings – her team has proven that ceramic coatings can provide corrosion protection and self-healing on demand.

Through their research, they’ve discovered a thermally stable nano-container, able to interact with the inhibitor, and sensitive to a specific trigger. Various materials fit this criteria, for example halloysite nanotubes, which have a pH release trigger (pH changes can occur at the onset of corrosion).

By inserting this nano-container into the pores in a ceramic coating, they’ve pioneered a process that means, when corrosion starts, the pH change triggers the release of inhibitors from the nano-containers. These then precipitate on top of the metallic substrate, ‘healing’ the fault by generating new corrosion protection.

A technology to revolutionise transport – and health

With this fundamental breakthrough established, Dr Mingo’s team is now refining the process to create a single-step approach, where it’s possible to functionalise coating at the same time as synthesising it, to make this process far more effective.

But this pioneering advance is not just a game changer for transport – ensuring providing a coating technology capable of improving the long-term performance of lightweighting components – but has potential in health care.

For example, magnesium can be used as a biomaterial to manufacture bio-absorbable pins and screws for broken bones, which can be allowed to degrade and be absorbed into the body. However, magnesium corrodes rapidly. Using the same principles, Dr Mingo’s technology could devise a way of applying a coating on top of the magnesium implant, to delay this process and match the time that it takes for the bone to heal.

Swagֱ��’s Dr Beatriz Mingo – RAEng Engineers Trust Young Engineer of the Year 2022 – will collaborate with Dr Isabel Sousa from CICERO-Aveiro Institute of Materials – the best ranked materials science research unit in Portugal (Portuguese Science Foundation) – to develop a technology that has the potential to serve as the foundation for the next generation of biomedical implants with enhanced properties. 

Biodegradable materials for orthopaedic implants, such as screws, nails, or staples are of increasing clinical interest due to their ability to dissolve naturally after the bone has healed. This removes the need for additional surgical interventions to remove the implant, and the risk of further complication that this can cause. 

Magnesium, with its bone-like density and biocompatibility, is considered the ideal material. However, its rate of degradation is extremely high and currently does not last the complete bone healing period.  

The new project, funded by the Royal Society and starting this September, Dr Mingo and Dr Sousa aim to create a solution by developing a smart multilayer coating for magnesium substrates, in which each layer offers a specific functionality.  

The ceramic layer increases the implant life, matching the rate of biodegradation to that of the bone healing time; while the organic top-coat loaded with encapsulated antibiotics, simultaneously releases antibiotic molecules in-situ where infections are most likely to occur.  

Dr Beatriz Mingo, Senior Lecturer and Royal Academy of Engineering Fellow at Swagֱ��, explains: “Our proposed technology has the potential to provide a foundation that transforms the future use of biomedical implants, creating an application that both optimises the healing process through the release of antibiotics, while eradicating the need for follow up surgeries – an additional risk of infection – to remove the implants. This will positively impact society by providing shorter treatment times for patients while relieving the financial burden of the NHS.” 

The research grant is part of Royal Society initiative to stimulate international collaborations with leading scientists.  As part of the grant, Dr Mingo’s group members will visit the Univeristy of Aveiro to develop biodegradable gelatine capsules containing antibiotic agents and Dr Sousa will visit Swagֱ�� to incorporate these particles into coatings formed on magnesium based components. 

Dr Beatriz Mingo is a materials  scientist at Swagֱ��, whose research focuses on environmentally friendly surface treatments for light alloys.  

In addition to this project announced today, she is also developing high-performance smart materials that can release corrosion inhibitors in response to the change in pH that accompanies the start of the corrosion process. Her research could extend the lifetime of lightweight components used in transport, which will help to create energy-efficient vehicles and support sustainable consumption of resources.  

is one of Swagֱ��’s - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest challenges facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons 

Nanofluidics, the study of fluids confined within ultra-small spaces, offers insights into the behaviour of liquids on a nanometer scale. However, exploring the movement of individual molecules in such confined environments has been challenging due to the limitations of conventional microscopy techniques. This obstacle prevented real-time sensing and imaging, leaving significant gaps in our knowledge of molecular properties in confinement.

A team led by Professor Radha Boya in the Department of Physics at Swagֱ�� makes nanochannels which are only one-atom to few-atom thin using two-dimensional materials as building blocks.

Prof Boya said: “Seeing is believing, but it is not easy to see confinement effects at this scale. We make these extremely thin slit-like channels, and the current study shows an elegant way to visualise them by super-resolution microscopy.”

The study's findings are published in the journal .

The partnership with the EPFL team allowed for optical probing of these systems, uncovering hints of liquid ordering induced by confinement.

Thanks to an unexpected property of boron nitride, a graphene-like 2D material which possesses a remarkable ability to emit light when in contact with liquids, researchers at EPFL's Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology (LBEN) have succeeded in directly observing and tracing the paths of individual molecules within nanofluidic structures.

This revelation opens the door to a deeper understanding of the behaviours of ions and molecules in conditions that mimic biological systems.

Professor Aleksandra Radenovic, head of LBEN, explains: "Advancements in fabrication and material science have empowered us to control fluidic and ionic transport on the nanoscale. Yet, our understanding of nanofluidic systems remained limited, as conventional light microscopy couldn't penetrate structures below the diffraction limit. Our research now shines a light on nanofluidics, offering insights into a realm that was largely uncharted until now."

This newfound understanding of molecular properties has exciting applications, including the potential to directly image emerging nanofluidic systems, where liquids exhibit unconventional behaviours under pressure or voltage stimuli.

The research's core lies in the fluorescence originating from single-photon emitters at the hexagonal boron nitride's surface.

Doctoral student Nathan Ronceray, from LBEN, said: “This fluorescence activation came unexpected as neither hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) nor the liquid exhibit visible-range fluorescence on their own. It most likely arises from molecules interacting with surface defects on the hBN crystal, but we are still not certain of the exact mechanism,”

Dr Yi You, a post-doc from Swagֱ�� engineered the nanochannels such that the confining liquids mere nanometers from the hBN surface which has some defects.

Surface defects can be missing atoms in the crystalline structure, whose properties differ from the original material, granting them the ability to emit light when they interact with certain molecules.

The researchers further observed that when a defect turns off, one of its neighbours lights up, because the molecule bound to the first site hopped to the second. Step by step, this enables reconstructing entire molecular trajectories.

Using a combination of microscopy techniques, the team monitored colour changes to successfully demonstrate that these light emitters emit photons one at a time, offering pinpoint information about their immediate surroundings within around one nanometer. This breakthrough enables the use of these emitters as nanoscale probes, shedding light on the arrangement of molecules within confined nanometre spaces.

The potential for this discovery is far-reaching. Nathan Ronceray envisions applications beyond passive sensing.

He said: “We have primarily been watching the behaviour of molecules with hBN without actively interacting with, but we think it could be used to visualize nanoscale flows caused by pressure or electric fields.

“This could lead to more dynamic applications in the future for optical imaging and sensing, providing unprecedented insights into the intricate behaviours of molecules within these confined spaces.”

The project received funding from the European Research Council, Royal Society University Research Fellowship, Royal Society International Exchanges Award and EPSRC New Horizons grant.

Bioprinting involves using specialised 3D printers to print living cells creating new skin, bone, tissue or organs for transplantation.

The technique has the potential to revolutionise medicine, and specifically in the realm of space travel, bioprinting could have a significant impact.

Astronauts on extended space missions have an increased health risk due to the absence of gravity and exposure to radiation. This makes them susceptible to diseases such as osteoporosis caused by loss of bone density and can cause injuries, such as fractures, which currently can’t be treated in space.

By harnessing bioprinting capabilities in space, researchers aim to protect the health of space explorers.

Currently, bioprinting machines rely on Earth’s gravity to function effectively. The new research by Swagֱ��, funded by a £200,000 grant from the UK Space Agency and supported by the European Space Agency, seeks to understand how to optimise the bioprinting process for conditions experienced in space, such as lack of gravity.

Dr Marco Domingos, Senior Lecturer in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at Swagֱ��, said: “This project marks a significant leap forward in bioprinting technology and by addressing the challenges posed by microgravity, we are paving the way for remarkable advancements in medicine and space exploration.”

Libby Moxon, Exploration Science Officer for Lunar and Microgravity, added: “Swagֱ��’s pioneering project investigating a novel approach for bioprinting in space will help strengthen the UK’s leadership in the areas of fluid mechanics, soft matter physics and biomaterials, and could help protect the health of astronauts exploring space around the Earth, Moon and beyond.

“We’re backing technology and capabilities that support ambitious space exploration missions to benefit the global space community, and we look forward to following this bioprinting research as it evolves.”

Eventually, the team, including Dr Domingos, Prof Anne Juel and Dr Igor Chernyavsky, will take their findings to a bioprinting station being developed on board the International Space Station, which will allow researchers to print models in space and study the effects of radiation and microgravity.

Dr Domingos said: “The first challenge is figuring out how to print anything where there is no gravity. There are few facilities in the UK that are suitable to study the bioprinting process within an environment that matches that of space – they are either too small, or the time in which microgravity conditions are applies are too short. Hence, it is important to print in space to advance our knowledge in this field.

“By combining the principles of physics with bioprinting at Swagֱ��, we hope to come up with a solution before taking it to the International Space Station for testing.”

The project will take place over two years at the Bioprinting Technology Platform based at the Henry Royce Institute on Swagֱ��’s campus.

It hopes to develop beyond the challenge of microgravity to address further challenges of preserving, transporting and processing cells in space.

A decade ago, scientists at Swagֱ�� demonstrated that graphene is permeable to protons, nuclei of hydrogen atoms. The unexpected result started a debate in the community because theory predicted that it would take billions of years for a proton to permeate through graphene’s dense crystalline structure. This had led to suggestions that protons permeate not through the crystal lattice itself, but through the pinholes in its structure.

Now, writing in , a collaboration between the University of Warwick, led by Prof Patrick Unwin, and Swagֱ��, led by Dr Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo and Prof Andre Geim, report ultra-high spatial resolution measurements of proton transport through graphene and prove that perfect graphene crystals are permeable to protons. Unexpectedly, protons are strongly accelerated around nanoscale wrinkles and ripples in the crystal.

The discovery has the potential to accelerate the hydrogen economy. Expensive catalysts and membranes, sometimes with significant environmental footprint, currently used to generate and utilise hydrogen could be replaced with more sustainable 2D crystals, reducing carbon emissions, and contributing to Net Zero through the generation of green hydrogen.

The team used a technique known as to measure minute proton currents collected from nanometre-sized areas. This allowed the researchers to visualise the spatial distribution of proton currents through graphene membranes. If proton transport took place through holes as some scientists speculated, the currents would be concentrated in a few isolated spots. No such isolated spots were found, which ruled out the presence of holes in the graphene membranes.

Drs Segun Wahab and Enrico Daviddi, leading authors of the paper, commented: “We were surprised to see absolutely no defects in the graphene crystals. Our results provide microscopic proof that graphene is intrinsically permeable to protons.”

Unexpectedly, the proton currents were found to be accelerated around nanometre-sized wrinkles in the crystals. The scientists found that this arises because the wrinkles effectively ‘stretch’ the graphene lattice, thus providing a larger space for protons to permeate through the pristine crystal lattice. This observation now reconciles the experiment and theory.

Dr Lozada-Hidalgo said: “We are effectively stretching an atomic scale mesh and observing a higher current through the stretched interatomic spaces in this mesh – mind-boggling.”

Prof Unwin commented: “These results showcase SECCM, developed in our lab, as a powerful technique to obtain microscopic insights into electrochemical interfaces, which opens up exciting possibilities for the design of next-generation membranes and separators involving protons.”

The authors are excited about the potential of this discovery to enable new hydrogen-based technologies.

Dr Lozada-Hidalgo said, "Exploiting the catalytic activity of ripples and wrinkles in 2D crystals is a fundamentally new way to accelerate ion transport and chemical reactions. This could lead to the development of low-cost catalysts for hydrogen-related technologies."

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. 

The UK disposes of one million tonnes of textiles every year, 300,000 tonnes of which end up in landfill or incineration. Some figures suggest 10% of global CO2 emissions come from the fashion industry. 

The football sector is a huge contributor to this - approximately 2.45 million Liverpool and 1.95 million Swagֱ�� United sports shirts were sold worldwide in 2021 alone. 

The new project, KIT:BAG by RÆBURN, will work with local sportswear suppliers and the local community transform surplus football shirts into unique reusable tote bags, while educating them of the environmental impacts of textile waste and how we can extend the life of our garments. 

It aims to provide a fun, responsible way to keep kits in circulation while shining a light on the large-scale problem in the industry. 

Lindsay Pressdee, Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Fashion Marketing & Branding Communication at Swagֱ��, said: “Developing meaningful sustainable business models and consumer behaviours remains a key issue within the fashion sector and raises serious environmental concerns.  

“This project focuses on the overlooked area of sportswear; how we can extend the life of these polyester garments and avoid them going into landfill or incineration, through the key principle of community education. 

“The initiative aligns with Swagֱ��'s objectives of promoting sustainability and social responsibility and by collaborating with Raeburn Design, which follows the REMADE sustainable ethos, we have an excellent opportunity to raise awareness and address this issue.” 

Christopher Raeburn, Creative Director at RÆBURN, added: “As our business has evolved, we’ve tried, tested and proven our “Remade, Reduced, Recycled” motif can be scaled and translated into other industries outside of fashion, such as architecture, furniture design, film and cultural placemaking. 

“KIT:BAG by RAEBURN marks our newest venture: bringing circular design solutions to the sports industry. We’re excited to have the University of Swagֱ�� on board as our research partner for this project. Together, we’ve set out a roadmap and a masterplan, now we’re inviting industry leaders to join us on this journey.” 

While many solutions are emerging to tackle the problem of sustainable fashion, the size of the problem relating to official sportswear remains unknown.  

As research partners, academics from the Department of Materials at Swagֱ�� will focus on advancing current knowledge and generating new knowledge in this area. The researchers, including Lindsay Pressdee, Dr Amy Benstead,  Dr Jo Conlon and student intern Lena Bartoszewicz, will look at post-consumer waste, diverting it from landfill and repurposing it into a new usable product - a key part of the circular design model. 

Lindsay added: “The waste of sportwear is a hidden problem – we know that football teams can have on average three kits per season, but we do not know how many people have in their homes, shoved in their wardrobes, or put away in their lofts.  

“The problem requires a multifaceted approach and any change requires collaboration with consumers, sports clubs, garment recycling schemes, sports brands and producers. 

“It is difficult to distinguish who is responsible, so we must consider both the sustainable production and consumption of products – a key principle of which is education.” 

KIT:BAG by RÆBURN will launch on Thursday, 27 July with a party at The Lab E20 – Raeburn’s creative workspace in London. This will be followed by a community event for children and families on Saturday, 29 July.  

The team plan to extend this to Swagֱ��, where they will invite the local community to various workshops and have a go at making their own reusable bags.

Despite being made entirely of layers of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern, natural graphite is not as simple as one may think. The manner in which these atomic layers stack on top of one another can result in different types of graphite, characterised by different stacking order of consecutive atomic planes.   The majority of naturally appearing graphite has hexagonal stacking, making it one of the most “ordinary” materials on Earth. The structure of graphite crystal is a repetitive pattern. This pattern gets disrupted at the surface of the crystal and leads to what's called 'surface states', which are like waves that slowly fade away as you go deeper into the crystal. But how surface states can be tuned in graphite, was not well understood yet.

Van der Waals technology and twistronics (stacking two 2D crystals at a twist angle to tune the properties of the resulting structure to a great extent, because of moiré pattern formed at their interface) are the two leading fields in 2D materials research. Now, the team of NGI researchers, led by Prof. Artem Mishchenko, employs moiré pattern to tune the surface states of graphite, reminiscent of a kaleidoscope with everchanging pictures as one rotates the lens, revealing the extraordinary new physics behind graphite.

In particular, Prof. Mishchenko expanded twistronics technique to three-dimensional graphite and found that moiré potential does not just modify the surface states of graphite, but also affects the electronic spectrum of the entire bulk of graphite crystal. Much like the well-known story of The Princess and The Pea, the princess felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds. In the case of graphite, the moiré potential at an aligned interface could penetrate through more than 40 atomic graphitic layers.

This research, published in the latest issue of , studied the effects of moiré patterns in bulk hexagonal graphite generated by crystallographic alignment with hexagonal boron nitride. The most fascinating result is the observation of a 2.5-dimensional mixing of the surface and bulk states in graphite, which manifests itself in a new type of fractal quantum Hall effect – a 2.5D Hofstadter’s butterfly.

Prof. Artem Mishchenko at Swagֱ��, who has already discovered the said: “Graphite gave rise to the celebrated graphene, but people normally are not interested in this ‘old’ material. And now, even with our accumulated knowledge on graphite of different stacking and alignment orders in the past years, we still found graphite a very attractive system – so much yet to be explored”. Ciaran Mullan, one of the leading authors of the paper, added: “Our work opens up new possibilities for controlling electronic properties by twistronics not only in 2D but also in 3D materials”.

Prof. Vladimir Fal’ko, Director of the National Graphene Institute and theoretical physicist at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, added: “The unusual 2.5D quantum Hall effect in graphite arises as the interplay between two quantum physics textbook phenomena – Landau quantisation in strong magnetic fields and quantum confinement, leading to yet another new type of quantum effect”.

The same team is now carrying on with the graphite research to gain a better understanding of this surprisingly interesting material.

Image credit: Prof. Jun Yin (co-author of the paper) 

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. #ResearchBeacons

Pictured above: Water-graphene quantum friction (Credits: Lucy Reading-Ikkanda / Simons Foundation) 

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. #ResearchBeacons

Professor Allan Matthews, Swagֱ�� Professor of Surface Engineering and Tribology in the , and affiliated to the , has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society for his substantial contribution to the advancement of science.

The Royal Society said that Prof Matthews' ground-breaking research into surface engineering has been “agenda-setting, prolific and pivotal since the 1980s".

He joins eighty outstanding researchers, innovators and communicators from around the world who have been elected as the newest Fellows of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences and the oldest science academy in continuous existence.

Allan join the ranks of Stephen Hawking, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Lise Meitner, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and Dorothy Hodgkin.

Professor Philip Withers, Chief Scientist, Henry Royce Institute said:

"I am delighted that Allan has been elected a Fellow.  His work on the development and fundamental understanding of advanced coatings, particularly for materials and components operating under demanding environments is world leading academically as well as being of great industrial impact.

"Coatings are a key focus area for the Henry Royce Institute and Allan is moving the selection of appropriate coatings from a post-production sticking plaster art-form to a systematic and digitised process that is integral to the whole product design process."

Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society said: 

“I am delighted to welcome our newest cohort of Fellows.

"These individuals have pushed forward the boundaries of their respective fields and had a beneficial influence on the world beyond.

“This year’s intake have already achieved incredible things, and I have no doubt that they will continue to do so. I look forward to meeting them and following their contributions in future.”

Professor Allan Matthews is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is Professor of Surface Engineering and Tribology in the Department of Materials and Director of the EPSRC NetworkPlus in Digitalised Surface Manufacturing. Until June 2020, he served a four-year term as Director of the BP International Centre for Advanced Materials (ICAM). He spent his early career in the UK aerospace industry with Hawker Siddeley Dynamics, then British Aerospace Dynamics Group, before returning to academia and completing a PhD at the University of Salford in advanced plasma-based coating processes for the deposition of ceramic coatings for industrial applications.

, specifically part of the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), also involves five world-leading industrial partners in the area of engineering for sustainable development: , , , and .

The RECYCLE project (REthinking low Carbon hYdrogen production by Chemical Looping rEforming) will construct and test a fully integrated innovative hydrogen production pilot unit at Swagֱ��. 

The technology is based on chemical looping reforming using fixed bed reactors which allow modular units and cost-effective solutions for hydrogen production using different feedstocks, with inherent carbon dioxide capture and separation at high purity. 

The final demonstration is planned for the second half of 2024 in the pilot area of the at Swagֱ��.

The UK is leading the industrial revolution to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In the recently published , the UK government is expecting to have two gigawatts of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity in operation or construction by 2025 and 10 gigawatts in 2030, subject to affordability and value for money. In this context, the RECYCLE project in Swagֱ�� represents an opportunity to to show continued innovation in the development of resilient and cost effective solutions for a low carbon future.

Dr Vincenzo Spallina, Senior Lecturer at Swagֱ�� and Principal Investigator of the RECYCLE project, said: “The carried out during Phase 1 demonstrated great potential for low carbon hydrogen in the UK market and it has huge implications for several industrial stakeholders. This project will demonstrate its feasibility at a pre-commercial scale to increase awareness of the next steps towards commercial implementation.  

“The demonstration plant will be installed in the James Chadwick Building where we are currently renovating the existing pilot hall area to establish the for Research and Innovation on sustainable process technologies. Our students will have the fantastic opportunity to see the next-generation hydrogen plant in operation as a unique teaching and learning experience. “

Professor Alice Larkin, Head of the School of Engineering at Swagֱ��, added: “Our University is committed to achieving zero carbon emissions by 2038 as part of its and supported by activity through our  Advanced Materials and Energy research beacons. This collaborative project will boost the prestige of our academic community to secure clean and sustainable development through Science and Innovation in close partnerships with industries."

Silvian Baltac, Associate Partner and Industrial Decarbonisation lead at Element Energy, an ERM Group company, said: “We are delighted to continue supporting the University of Swagֱ�� and the RECYCLE Consortium with the Phase II of the project. Element Energy, a leading low-carbon consultancy, will help develop the go-to-market strategy for the RECYCLE technology, as well as support the Consortium with strategic communications and engagement, ensuring learnings from the project are disseminated with industry, academia, and the wider energy sector.”

Mark Wickham, CEO of HELICAL ENERGY, commented: “Our business is fully committed to achieving zero carbon emissions by 2038, by helping to develop and build neutral and negative carbon emissions technologies. This exciting collaborative project with the University of Swagֱ�� and industry partners will broaden our knowledge and experience in translational energy and build upon the work we are currently doing with other universities on carbon capture and hydrogen from biogenic fuels. RECYCLE is a fantastic innovative project that will make a significant contribution to carbon neutrality."

Les Newman, Engineering & Consulting Managing Director at Kent, said: “We are delighted to be part of this cutting-edge project.  It is aligned with Kent’s purpose to be a catalyst for energy transition and an exciting addition to our blue hydrogen project portfolio.  We look forward to working with the University of Swagֱ�� and the consortium partners to advance the progress of this novel low-carbon hydrogen and carbon capture technology."

Suzanne Ellis, Innovation Director for Catalyst Technologies at Johnson Matthey, said: “Johnson Matthey works with partners around the world to apply our expertise in synthesis gas, process technology and catalysis to enable a transition to a net zero future. We are delighted to be part of this consortium led by University of Swagֱ��, exploring the potential for this promising next generation technology to be moved through to industrial impact, whilst also inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers.”

Hugues Foucault, CO₂ Capture R&D manager from TotalEnergies, said: “TotalEnergies  is supporting R&D in the Chemical Looping Combustion technology and it is involved in the Phase 2 of the RECYCLE project to technically and economically assess this process of blue hydrogen production with inherent carbon dioxide capture."

Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance Lord Callanan said: “Hydrogen, known as the super fuel of the future, is critical to delivering UK energy security and clean, sustainable growth. 

“I’m delighted that we have awarded funding to Swagֱ�� so that they can build and test their first-of-a-kind hydrogen technology. This will generate opportunities for UK businesses to export their expertise around the world whilst supporting our ambition to have amongst the cheapest energy in Europe.”

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero provides dedicated leadership focused on delivering security of energy supply, ensuring properly functioning markets, greater energy efficiency and seizing the opportunities of net zero to lead the world in new green industries.

The funding from the Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply 2 programme comes from the  department’s  £1 billion , which provides funding for low-carbon technologies and systems and aims to decrease the costs of decarbonisation helping enable the UK to end its contribution to climate change.

Maybe you have one bin or many boxes. You might even have a compost caddy. Whatever your setup, chances are that at some point you’ve been left wondering what should go where and if a particular item is indeed recyclable or if it should just go in the main dustbin.

Research from Wrap, a climate action charity, has found that 82% of UK households regularly add at least one item to their recycling collection that’s not accepted locally. And data from recycling facilities shows that .

This can include electrical goods, nappies and food, though it more commonly involves packaging caked in remnants of what was – still covered in peanut butter or jam, toothpaste tubes, juice cartons, greasy takeaway packaging, damp cardboard and glittery birthday cards. Plastic pots, tubs, trays and bottle tops along with metal lids may also count as contaminants – depending on where you live.

And that’s a big part of the problem. Because what is and isn’t recyclable varies a lot from area to area. In the UK, there are 39 different bin collection regimes across . Rules aren’t aligned in terms of what is and isn’t collected for recycling or how items should be prepared: washed or rinsed, crushed or not, lids on or off. It’s different everywhere.

Our into the complexities of the UK’s found all these different rules and requirements have created a lot of confusion in terms of what should and shouldn’t be recycled. In some instances, this confusion can even result in people to recycle at all.

Breaking it down

We’re also now confronted with lots of multi-material packaging – those envelopes with plastic windows and also cake boxes and .

While some might try and “unengineer” such items to try and separate the different material components, others make a judgement based on what something is mostly made of, meaning items can then end up in the wrong bins. If indeed you even have to separate your recyclables by type where you are. Told you it was confusing.

Then there’s also the fact that many large retailers and organisations now provide collection points to recycle certain types of plastics, such as bread bags, crisp packets and pet food pouches, (which can’t usually go in household recycling bins).

Though in principle these schemes are good, they can lead to confusion, with people thinking that if these items are collected for recycling elsewhere, they can go in the recycling bin at home.

Crackdown on confusion

In response to the issue of contaminated recycling, the UK government has plans to crack down on “” by asking people to be more careful about what they put in their bins. Wishcycling is when people optimistically stick items in the recycling bin hoping they can be collected when in reality they can’t.

This forms part of a wider review of England’s recycling collection based on a consultation which was launched in 2021 by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on how to improve the consistency of recycling in both homes and businesses.

Defra has said it wants to make recycling easier and more consistent so that all councils collect the same materials. This is to be welcomed, as our research has found that across all regions alongside that people can understand would make it easier for householders to know they are doing the right thing.

We also found that people want a simpler system as they want to recycle more. As part of our research, we heard from people who held back plastic milk bottle tops to donate to schemes that promised to recycle them as they were not collected by their local authority. Others were storing plastic fruit netting for fear of it not being appropriately dealt with and ending up causing environmental harm.

Some were driving bin bags full of plastics out of their local authority areas to other locations where family members and friends could feed them into their household recycling collections. All of this indicates that there is clearly a thirst to recycle, limit environmental harm and live more sustainably.

Tackling the confusion around what can and can’t be recycled is also needed because it’s adding to plastics’ bad reputation. Waste professionals we’ve worked with have told us that negative consumer perceptions and the move away from plastics aren’t always helpful because alternatives can carry larger environmental footprints. Though a contentious point, it’s recognised that .

Sorting out our broken recycling system is an important step if we really want to be a greener and more environmentally conscious society.

, Research Associate, Sustainable Consumption Institute and Sustainable Innovation Hub, ; , Senior Lecturer in Sociology, , and , Post Doctoral Research Associate, Materials Engineering,

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

"The history of membrane development spans more than 100 years and has led to a revolution in industrial separation processes," says Professor Rahul Raveendran Nair, Carlsberg/Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair and study team leader. "In recent years, there has been some effort towards making membranes that mimic biological structures, particularly their ‘intelligent’ characteristics."

Now, in research published today in , scientists explain how they have developed intelligent membranes that can alter their properties depending on the environment and remember how permeable they were before. This means the membranes can adapt to different conditions in their environment and, more importantly, memorise their state, a feature which can be exploited in many different applications.

 A phenomenon known as hysteresis is the most common expression of memory or intelligence in a material. It refers to the situation where a system's current properties are dependent and related to its previous state. Hysteresis is commonly observed in magnetic materials. For example, a magnet may have more than one possible magnetic moment in each magnetic field depending on the field the magnet was subjected to in the past. Hysteresis is rarely seen, however, in molecular transport through artificial membranes.

"Coming up with simple and effective clean water solutions is one of our greatest global challenges. This study shows that fundamental molecular level insights and nanoscale materials offer great potential for the development of 'smart' membranes for water purification and other applications," said Professor Angelos Michaelides of the University of Cambridge.

In this work, the Swagֱ�� team in collaboration with scientists from University of Cambridge, Xiamen University, Dalian University of Technology, University of York, and National University of Singapore has developed intelligent membranes based on MoS₂ (a two-dimensional material called molybdenum disulphide) that can remember how permeable they were before. The researchers have shown that the way ions and water infiltrate the membranes can be regulated by controlling the external pH.

The membranes mimic the function of biological cell membranes and display hysteretic ion and water transport behaviour in response to the pH, which means they remember what pH they were exposed to before. “The memory effects we have seen are unique to these membranes and have never been observed before in any inorganic membranes,” said co-first author Dr Amritroop Achari of the University of Swagֱ��.

The researchers demonstrated that the biomimetic effect could be used to improve autonomous wound infection sensing. To do this, they placed the membranes in artificial wound exudate, which simulates the liquid produced by wounds, and subjected them to changes in pH. The membranes only allowed permeation of the wound exudate at pH levels relevant to an infected wound, thus allowing them to be used as sensors for infection detection. The researchers say the new membranes can also be used in a host of other pH-dependent applications, from nanofiltration to mimicking the function of neuronal cells.

Co-author Professor Kostya Novoselov, Langworthy Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Swagֱ�� and a professor at the Centre for Advanced 2D Materials, National University of Singapore said, “The uniqueness in this membrane is that its hysteretic pH response can be seen as a memory function, which opens a lot of interesting avenues for the creation of smart membranes and other structures. Research in this direction can play a pivotal role in the design of intelligent technologies for tomorrow.”

Pictured above: Artist's view of intelligent membranes with memory effects, courtesy R.Nair

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. #ResearchBeacons

Materials that strongly change their resistivity under magnetic fields are highly sought for various applications and, for example, every car and every computer contain many tiny magnetic sensors. Such materials are rare, and most metals and semiconductors change their electrical resistivity only by a tiny fraction of a percent at room temperature and in practically viable magnetic fields (typically, by less than a millionth of 1 %). To observe a strong magnetoresistance response, researchers usually cool materials to liquid-helium temperatures so that electrons inside scatter less and can follow cyclotron trajectories.  

Now a research team led by Professor Sir Andre Geim has found that good old graphene that seemed to be studied in every detail over the last two decade exhibits a remarkably strong response, reaching above 100% in magnetic fields of standard permanent magnets (of about 1,000 Gauss). This is a record magnetoresistivity among all the known materials.

Speaking about this latest graphene discovery, Sir Andre Geim said: “People working on graphene like myself always felt that this gold mine of physics should have been exhausted long ago. The material continuously proves us wrong finding yet another incarnation. Today I have to admit again that graphene is dead, long live graphene.”

To achieve this, the researchers used high-quality graphene and tuned it to its intrinsic, virgin state where there were only charge carriers excited by temperature. This created a plasma of fast-moving “Dirac fermions” that exhibited a surprisingly high mobility despite frequent scattering. Both high mobility and neutrality of this Dirac plasma are crucial components for the reported giant magnetoresistance.

“Over the last 10 years, electronic quality of graphene devices has improved dramatically, and everyone seems to focus on finding new phenomena at low, liquid-helium temperatures, ignoring what happens under ambient conditions. This is perhaps not so surprising because the cooler your sample the more interesting its behaviour usually becomes. We decided to turn the heat up and unexpectedly a whole wealth of unexpected phenomena turned up”, says Dr Alexey Berdyugin, the corresponding authors of the paper.

In addition to the record magnetoresistivity, the researchers have also found that, at elevated temperatures, neutral graphene becomes a so-called “strange metal”. This is the name given to materials where electron scattering becomes ultimately fast, being determined only by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. The behaviour of strange metals is poorly understood and remains a mystery currently under investigation worldwide.

The Swagֱ�� work adds some more mystery to the field by showing that graphene exhibits a giant linear magnetoresistance in fields above a few Tesla, which is weakly temperature dependent. This high-field magnetoresistance is again record-breaking.

The phenomenon of linear magnetoresistance has remained an enigma for more than a century since it was first observed. The current Swagֱ�� work provides important clues about origins of the strange metal behaviour and of the linear magnetoresistance. Perhaps, the mysteries can now be finally solved thanks to graphene as it represents a clean, well-characterised and relatively simple electronic system.

“Undoped high-quality graphene at room temperature offers an opportunity to explore an entirely new regime that in principle could be discovered even a decade ago but somehow was overlooked by everyone. We plan to study this strange-metal regime and, surely, more of interesting results, phenomena and applications will follow”, adds Dr Leonid Ponomarenko, from Lancaster University and one of the leading Nature paper authors.

In response to the findings, Helen has called for an overhaul of the full plastic supply chain, as well as for the recycling system to be simplified using knowledge gained from studying consumer practices. “As consumers, we may often feel blamed for our excess packaging waste and the dirge of single-use plastic. On the contrary, our research shows that the majority of households want to do the right thing – indeed, many of the households we interviewed had found alternative routes of recycling for items the local authority would not recycle."

“However, consumers are limited by complex and unclear messaging, restrictions regarding what can and cannot be recycled and the huge array of packaging. Our trial shows that a ‘one bin’ approach across the UK would improve recycling by simplifying waste management for consumers, driven by standardisation across the system. It’s clear that the willingness for change is there – now the onus is on industry and government to capitalise on this enthusiasm with action.”

As part of the report, the team has developed an interactive tool that helps industry and policy stakeholders to think practically about what greater standardisation and consistency across manufacturing and processing will involve. It provides information and guidance on plastic waste and allows for a clear overview of the currently most sustainable choices for different plastics.

Funding for the project was granted as part of UK Research & Innovation’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund - Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging - this aims to establish a portfolio of academic-led research and development to address known problems and knowledge gaps in relation to plastic packaging.

Awarded via the (EPSRC), it follows an initial £258m government investment made over the course of five years to establish key infrastructure required by the advanced materials sector. Royce aims to support the growth of world-recognised excellence in UK materials research, accelerating commercial exploitation and delivering positive economic and societal impact.

The new funding will enable the Institute to accelerate translational research in advanced materials targeting our biggest challenges, providing access to research capabilities, identifying opportunities for collaboration between businesses and researchers and developing the next generation of materials scientists.

During his first official visit in his new role as Business Secretary, Grant Shapps said: ‘R&D investment is a critical way to turbocharge Britain’s growth. Growing an economy fit for the future means harnessing the full potential of advanced materials, making science fiction a reality by supporting projects from regenerative medicine to robots developing new recycling capabilities, right across the country - including here in the heart of Swagֱ��.

'Today’s £95 million investment will do just that, bringing together the brightest minds across our businesses and institutions to help future-proof sectors from healthcare to nuclear energy.’

Professor David Knowles, Royce CEO said: ‘Royce and its partners across the UK, along with the advanced materials community, is very pleased to be able to confirm this Phase ll EPSRC funding. Innovation in advanced materials underpins a wider range of our industrial sectors and is fundamental to our economic growth.

‘Our Partnership offers a unique combination of materials science expertise, state-of-the-art laboratories and fantastic collaboration spaces for the advanced materials community. As we enter our Phase ll operations we are focused now, more than ever, on working with the community to identify the key challenges and opportunities ahead of us and supporting the translation of innovative research into the viable products and systems needed to ensure a sustainable future for us all.’

EPSRC Executive Chair Professor Dame Lynn Gladden said: ‘Advanced materials are crucial to driving growth across our key industries, from energy and transport to health, and ensuring they are sustainable for the future. This funding will build on the success of the Henry Royce Institute so far, to unleash the potential of this transformative technology for the benefit of the economy and the environment.’

University of Swagֱ�� President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell said: ‘I am delighted that the fantastic work of the Royce in this sector has been recognised by this major award from EPSRC, further reinforcing Swagֱ��’s place at the epicentre of this revolutionary area of research and development.’

Advanced Materials

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest challenges facing the planet.

Advanced materials and manufacturing were identified in the government’s  as one of seven technology families in which the UK has globally competitive R&D and industrial strength.

To encourage more recycling, some countries are taxing single-use plastic products containing less than 30% recycled plastic material. But aside from a manufacturer’s word, there isn’t an easy way to verify this.

Now, researchers reporting in have developed a simple, fraud-resistant technique to evaluate the recycled content of new plastic products. They added a fluorescent tag to plastic resins, successfully tracking the recycled content in products made with a variety of plastics and colours.

After reducing and reusing, recycling is the last line of defence for keeping plastic out of landfills or the environment. To encourage plastic recycling, some countries have shifted the responsibility to producers for incorporating these “post-consumer materials” in new products, such as single-use items and packaging. Whereas the U.K. is taxing plastic products with little recycled content, other countries, such as Italy and Spain, plan to impose taxes soon on products that contain no recycled content.

However, approaches to verify these amounts aren’t always accurate, potentially leading to fraud and public mistrust. One solution could be to tag recycled plastics with the fluorescent molecule 4,4,-bis(2-benzoxazolyl)stilbene (BBS), and then track the tagged recycled feedstocks into their resulting products. BBS’s fluorescence intensity and colour vary when different levels are present, and it’s inexpensive and approved for food contact applications. So, Michael Shaver and colleagues wanted to see how BBS could be used to measure the recycled content of single-use plastic products.

The researchers mixed small amounts of BBS into melted high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and then mixed that with virgin HDPE resin, simulating 0 to 100% recycled content materials. As the amount of BBS tagged-HDPE rose in the samples, the fluorescence intensity shifted toward a greener hue of blue under a UV light.

The marked plastic had a unique fluorescence behaviour, which the researchers suggest would be hard for someone with fraudulent intentions to replicate. Next, the team developed a simple digital image analysis technique that converted the material’s fluorescence into the percentage of recycled content.

“In tests, the method could identify the recycled content in other real-world plastics, including recycled milk bottles with additives, coloured HDPE, polypropylene and poly(ethylene terephthalate). The BBS strategy could be applied to a variety of single-use plastic products without impacting their appearance or quality,” says Professor Michael Shaver.

The authors acknowledge support from the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials, the Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub and the Swagֱ�� Institute of Biotechnology.

The authors have filed a patent on this technology in the U.K.

Reported in the journal , a group of scientists from Swagֱ�� and Stuttgart universities have successfully prepared and characterised long-sought actinide-actinide bonding in an isolable compound.

The majority of the Periodic Table is metals, so the field of metal-metal bonding is a vast area of research after nearly 180 years of investigations, with applications spanning understanding electronic structure, catalysis, chemistry at metal surfaces, magnetism, and bio-inorganic chemistry. Bulk materials can be difficult to study, so there is great interest in studying molecular compounds possessing metal-metal bonding, since such species can be more straightforwardly studied in detail and they constitute models that represent molecular fragments of bulk materials.

Though metal-metal bonding is extremely well developed for transition metals and main group elements, which has served as the foundation of the above applications, it has remained virtually unknown for the actinide elements, with examples restricted to spectroscopically observed transients or fundamental diatomics in microscopic-scale trapping experiments. Furthermore, making predictions about elements in the relativistic regime at the foot of the Periodic Table is highly challenging. Thus, experimental realisation of actinide-actinide bonding in routinely isolable molecules has been one of the top targets of synthetic actinide chemistry for decades.

The researchers succeeded in preparing a reduced, that is electron-rich, trithorium cluster. Had conventional reducing reagents been used the result would have been missed, because those heterogeneous reagents produce the trithorium cluster slowly, so only trace quantities are present at any one time due to decomposition during extended reaction times. However, the key to success was using a soluble homogeneous reducing reagent that gives almost instantaneous reactions affording the trithorium cluster in high isolated yield before it can decompose.

Professor Steve Liddle, co-Director of the (CRR) at Swagֱ��, led the research. He said: “By using just the right reducing agent combined with the right synthetic precursor, we were able to isolate a complex that would otherwise have certainly eluded us, which raises the interesting question of whether other actinide-actinide bonding has evaded the field before but could now be accessible.”

Surprisingly, using a range of characterisation techniques, the researchers found that at the heart of the molecule there resides two paired electrons in a cloud of electron density that is shared equally between the three thorium atoms. This very rare situation is called sigma-aromatic bonding, and its report here extends this type of bonding to a record sixth principal atomic quantum shell and to the seventh row of the periodic table.

The trithorium cluster is notable on two further counts. Firstly, it contains actinide-actinide bonding that can be made at scale and isolated, which will permit wider development and understanding of it and its chemistry, opening up this new field. Secondly, the sigma-aromatic bonding runs counter to the vast majority of prior theoretical predictions and experimentally realised metal-metal bonding, highlighting the difficulties of making predictions about relativistic systems.

Fellow CRR co-Director Professor Nikolas Kaltsoyannis led the computational analysis. He said: “The chemical bonding in this beautiful molecule is exquisitely unexpected, underscoring just how unpredictable the actinide elements can be.”

The ability to now make and isolate actinide-actinide bonded compounds, whose reactivity and properties can be now straightforwardly examined, opens up opportunities to grow this new area of metal-metal bond chemistry, for example providing models for bulk actinide materials and potentially new quantum behaviours.

Swagֱ�� will take a key role alongside the (NPL) other partners to stimulate and support the rapid growth of the UK’s machinery manufacturing sector as it transitions to highly integrated digital solutions with sophisticated automated and autonomous robotic systems. It will enable invention, realise innovation, and increase the adoption of new machinery and robotics through UK equipment manufacturers.

This funding has been provided through UK Research and Innovation’s flagship Strength in Places Fund (SIPF). This funding provides the stimulus for AMPI in its journey to become a pivotal UK intervention, centred around existing capabilities and research excellence across the North of England. The support provided through AMPI and its partner organisations will provide benefit to businesses across the region, positively impacting direct and indirect local employment, as well as UK industry export.

Professor Luke Georghiou, the University’s Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for business engagement and commercialisation, has said: “We greatly welcome the opportunity AMPI gives us to work with NPL and our other partners to apply our strengths in advanced materials and related technologies to support leading-edge innovation. Bringing together these capabilities will support manufacturers in driving up productivity and making Rochdale and the North of England more generally a globally competitive hub for the sector.”

In the longer term, AMPI is expected to grow the UK’s advanced machinery capability to a £2bn export capacity within 10 years establishing over 30,000 high value manufacturing sector jobs.

NPL will manage the programme and will be working in partnership with Rochdale-based precision machine tool maker Precision Technologies Group (Holroyd), Fives Landis, Wayland Additive, CR Solutions, Rochdale Development Agency, Advanced Machinery & Productivity Initiative Ltd, University of Huddersfield’s Centre for Precision Technologies (CPT), University of Leeds’ Institute of Design, Robotics and Optimisation, Swagֱ��’s Departments of Materials and Electrical and Electronic Engineering and University of Salford’s Centre for Autonomous Systems & Advanced Robotics (ASAR).

The North of England has an active and high concentration of industrial expertise in the design, development and manufacture of complex machinery. This machinery is used in a wide range of industries to manufacture products such as pharmaceuticals, food and drink, and automotive components. The North of England also has some of the world's leading academics in industrial research, including robotics, advanced materials, automation, metrology and artificial intelligence.

In the first industrial revolution it wasn’t the wool or cotton that made the North of England prosper but the machines and the way the wool and cotton was spun and woven in the mills. As we enter the fourth industrial revolution, AMPI and the associated consortium is focussed on developing world leading machinery innovation, automation and production capabilities needed to ensure the productivity, security, and prosperity of the manufacturing sector across Greater Swagֱ�� and West Yorkshire and for the UK economy as a whole.

Science Minister Amanda Solloway said, “Manufacturing has always been key to creating jobs and spreading opportunity. Today’s £22.6 million investment, which could create up to 560 high skilled jobs across West Yorkshire and Greater Swagֱ��, shows that as we move into a world where industry adopts more automated and autonomous robotic systems, this is still the case. This investment is part of the Innovation Strategy we have published today, which outlines how we plan to harness the skills and ingenuity of every corner of the UK in order to cement our status as a global Science Superpower.”

Dr Peter Thompson FREng, CEO, NPL “We are delighted to be leading a strong consortium of industrialists and academics who will be working together to develop the next generation of advanced machinery in a region rich in industrial capability and full of future potential. Measurement is vital to all advanced technology and it is particularly important for the accurate and reliable operation of advanced machinery and the quality of its outputs. Measurement is also a critical enabler for business growth, improving efficiency and productivity, providing confidence through verified products and quality control, as well as faster product development. We are ready to apply our world-leading metrology, the science of measurement, to industrial and applied innovation and to provide confidence in the data associated with this by evaluating uncertainty, providing traceability, and enabling reliable decision-making. NPL’s leadership of this programme is a demonstration of our commitment to deliver impact across the UK, supporting the UK Government’s levelling up agenda.”

Gareth Edwards, AMPI Programme Director, NPL “As the lead of this programme I am delighted to be working with such a strong and passionate consortium of experts. Collaboration and partnership will be at the heart of this initiative and we look forward to engaging with the advanced machinery community as we move forward. Through this programme the team will deliver ground-breaking innovation, provide a platform for UK industry to develop its ideas and be a beacon of diversity and opportunity for people coming into the field.

Dr Tony Bannan OBE, CEO of Precision Technologies Group (Holroyd) “Manufacturing is not only a key driver of economic growth, but also an essential part of the UK economy, contributing £192bn per annum. In short, it’s vital we stay ahead of the game. The UK is the world’s ninth largest manufacturer [Source: Make UK, 2019]. Through AMPI our aim is to help ensure UK manufacturing is equipped to lead the way in the creation of tomorrow’s intelligent, integrated manufacturing technologies – as well as the materials those machine tools will use. We believe that the creation of a new, highly accessible centre for innovation in specialised machinery and machine tool technologies and productivity will help put UK manufacturers of all sizes ahead of their counterparts in Europe and beyond, by focusing on the development of advanced manufacturing processes that don’t exist today.”

Councillor John Blundell cabinet member for economy and communications and board member at the Rochdale Development Agency, “As one of the first industrialised towns in Britain and with a reputation for innovation in manufacturing, Rochdale is the ideal location for AMPI,” The institute will generate wealth, improve skills and deliver prosperity for both Rochdale and the North of England.”

Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, UK Research and Innovation’s Chief Executive said: "UK Research and Innovation funding through the Strength in Places Fund brings researchers, industry and local leadership together in outstanding collaborative programmes that catalyse significant economic growth. The projects funded in this round are excellent illustrations of how local partnerships in research and innovation can contribute to building an inclusive knowledge economy for the UK."

is one of Swagֱ��’s - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest challenges facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

Perovskite solar cells have attracted interest because, unlike silicon solar cells, they can be mass produced through roll-to-roll processing. Additionally, they are light and colourful, with the versatility to be used in non-traditional settings such as windows and contoured roofs. However, up until now, application has been impacted by potential environmental risks. Perovskite solar cells contain lead, a cumulative toxin, and if the cells get damaged, lead ions may leak.

Taking lessons from nature, Professor Brian Saunders and Dr David Lewis have devised a way to eliminate the lead release from broken cells. Using a bioinspired mineral called hydroxyapatite, a major constituent of human bone, they have created a ‘failsafe’ which captures the lead ions in an inorganic matrix. As a result, if cells are damaged, toxins are stored in an inert mineral, rather than released in the environment.

In a dual success, The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council ()-funded project found that through the addition of hydroxyapatite, the efficiency of perovskite solar cell increased to around 21%. This compares to around 18% efficiency for control cells with no added hydroxyapatite. An increased efficiency in panels means more energy can be generated and at a lower cost.

The research team hope that the cells will bring forward the large-scale application of perovskite solar cell technology. Professor Brian Saunders, Professor of Polymer and Colloid Chemistry at the , Swagֱ��, said: “Up until now, the substantial lead component in perovskite solar cells has been a potential environmental concern. If the solar cells are damaged, for example by hail, the ions may leak.

“By creating an in-device fail-safe system, we have devised a way to contain toxic ions in damaged perovskite cells. Through increasing the inherent safety of perovskite solar cells, we hope our research will provide a helping hand to the wider deployment of solar technology as we strive to achieve net zero CO₂ emissions.”

Dr David Lewis, Deputy Head of Department and Reader in Materials Chemistry, added, “We embarked on this research as we were committed to eliminating an environmental risk. That commitment has resulted in increasing both the sustainability and the efficiency of perovskite solar cells. We hope these dual outcomes will increase the viability for homes and businesses, worldwide, to host and use solar technology.”

The research was reported in: ‘Bioinspired scaffolds that sequester lead ions in physically damaged high efficiency perovskite solar cells’ in .

is one of Swagֱ��’s - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest challenges facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

The weaving of threads having diameters ranging from several millimetres (reeds, plant fibres, etc.) to a few microns (wool, cotton, synthetic polymers, etc.) has underpinned progress through the ages, from stone-age humans making nets to catch fish and weave cloth to keep themselves warm to the modern textiles we all use every day.

Now, for the first time, a team of scientists at Swagֱ�� have developed a way to weave molecular threads in two-dimensional layers. In doing so they have produced a 2D-molecularly-woven fabric that has a thread count of 40-60 million (for comparison, the finest Egyptian linen has a thread count of around 1500 – thread count is the number of strands per inch).

Weaving has many applications, for birds who weave twigs to build their nests, and humans who use it to make nets for fishing, baskets to carry things in, and fabrics to clothe ourselves. Plastics are made of long molecular strands called polymers, and the research team wanted to find a way of weaving those strands to make molecularly woven fabrics which could have exceptional strength and flexibility in the same way as linen sheets differ from individual threads of cotton.

The collaborative team used chemistry to weave the strands. Metal atoms and negatively charged ions work in tandem to weave together small molecular building blocks made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur atoms. The woven building blocks then join together like pieces of a jigsaw to form single sheets of woven molecular strands in a fabric just 4 millionth of a millimetre thick (4 nanometres). At the moment the largest piece of fabric made is just 1 mm in length. Obviously that’s extremely small, but it’s actually larger than the first flakes of graphene when that was first made.

Professor David Leigh said: “Weaving molecular strands in this way leads to new and improved properties. The fabric is twice as strong as the unwoven strands and when pulled to breaking point it tears like a sheet rather than clumps of strands detaching. The woven material also acts like a net, allowing small molecules to pass through it while trapping larger molecules in the tiny mesh.

“This is the first example of a layered molecularly woven fabric. Weaving molecular strands offers a new way of altering the properties of plastics and other materials.

“The number of strands and strand-crossings was measured by shining X-rays on the building blocks. The strands bend the path of the X-rays through the material by a specific amount, enabling researchers to measure how many strands there are per inch. The measurement shows the material has a thread count of 40-60 million strands per inch. In comparison, the finest Egyptian linen has a thread count of around 1500. The team also measured the thickness of the molecularly woven fabric using a special instrument called an atomic force microscope, which has a probe tip so sharp that it has a single atom at the end. Each layer of the molecularly woven fabric is just 4 nanometres thick; that’s 10,000x thinner than a human hair!”

The research was reported in: ‘’ in the journal Nature. The team behind the work involved four different research groups from across the University. Professor David Leigh’s team from the made the molecularly woven fabric. Professor Bob Young’s team from the and carried out atomic force microscopy studies to determine its structure and material properties.

Dr George Whitehead from the Department of Chemistry carried out X-ray crystallography experiments to locate the precise position of atoms in the material’s building blocks. Professor Sarah Haigh from the Department of Materials, used electron microscopy to image the molecularly woven fabric. PhD student Paige Kent and Professor Rob Dryfe used the material as a molecular net, trapping big molecules in the woven mesh while smaller molecules passed through freely.

The announcement follows the award of funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to establish a Network+ to underpin the UK government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

The foundation industries – which span the glass, ceramics, metals, paper, cement and bulk chemicals sectors – are worth £52 billion to the UK’s economy, produce 28 million tonnes of materials per year and accounts for 10 per cent of the UK’s total CO₂ emissions.

In line with the there is a need to reduce carbon emissions to 80 per cent below the levels that were seen in 1990 by 2050 – while the stress on global supply chains in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis has further demonstrated the importance of re-use and recycling in the manufacturing sector.

It is paramount therefore, for the UK’s foundation industries to innovate in order to remain internationally competitive.

The Network+ in Transforming the Foundation Industries consortium – which is led by the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with the Universities of Leeds, Swansea and Swagֱ�� – will coordinate a unified UK-wide approach to tackle these challenges by bringing together expertise and best practice in the fields of materials, engineering, bulk chemicals, manufacturing, physical sciences, informatics, economics, circular economy and the arts and humanities.

Professor Bill Sampson of at Swagֱ��, said: “The Network+ will catalyse engagement not just between academics and industry, but crucially it provides a platform for that engagement to span the sectors of the foundation industries, building a community to meet the challenges of truly sustainable high volume materials manufacture.”

Furthermore, the Network+ will underpin the to establish a unified identity, a community focused on interdisciplinary science and promote cross-sectoral solutions

The Network+ will grow by catalysing interactions across academic, industrial, regulatory and policymaking stakeholders to co-create novel solutions that transform and reinvigorate these sectors. In addition to workshops, knowledge transfer, outreach and dissemination, the network will test concepts and guide the development of innovative outcomes by issuing calls for projects totalling £1.4 million to the wider academic community.

Professor Ian Reaney from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Director of the Network+, said: “An economy is only as sustainable as the materials it is built on. The environmental, social and economic impact of industrial processing and manufacturing can be substantial, and yet positive changes to these practices can be simple and effective if applied across a sector. Our goal with the Network+ in Transforming the Foundation Industries is to help the UK stay at the forefront of sustainable manufacturing.”

Chris McDonald, CEO of the Materials Processing Institute and Chair of the Network+ Independent Advisory Panel, commented: “As chair of the Independent Advisory Panel for the Network+ in Transforming the Foundation Industries, I am keen to work alongside the management team to help create a sense of identity and community in the foundation industries to promote our mutual goal of achieving sustainable long-term manufacturing in the United Kingdom.”

Professor Susan Bernal Lopez of the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds, and Deputy Director of the Network+, added: “Times of crisis, while deeply unsettling, also open the opportunity to reflect and identify strategies to enable our industries and society to do better, and to be better. Foundation industries have historically played a key role underpinning every aspect of our daily lives, while constantly adjusting to the changes of time and needs, driving unique innovation.

"This Network + has the ambitious goal to bring together multidisciplinary stakeholders to identify holistic pathways enabling transformation of these industries in response to the unique challenges of our time.”

Advanced materials

is one of Swagֱ��’s - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

Scientists have successfully produced synthetic spider silk to create a new biodegradable glue alternative.

The University of Swagֱ��-based researchers found that their homemade synthetic spider silk glue works as well as commercially available adhesives without being environmentally harmful.

The glue was made by coaxing harmless bacteria to produce spider silk in addition to their normal proteins. The bacteria could then be fed sugar and nutrients to produce the spider silk glue through fermentation. The process is similar to the fermentation of beer but with spider silk glue being made instead of alcohol.

Research published today in the journal , shows the spider silk glue was found to be especially good at sticking glass together with an initial adhesive strength rating of 6.28MPa (Megapascals), when compared with a commercial speciality glass glue has a strength of 11.9MPa. The new breakthrough opens the door to a range of sustainable alternatives to an industry which is worth billions of dollars annually.

Dr Aled Roberts from the who led the research said: “We found evidence that the mechanism of adhesion was due to unfolding of the protein and reorganisation into a dense hydrogen-bonded structure rich in what are known as ‘β-sheets’.

“This was interesting because natural spider silk has been shown to undergo a similar transformation into a β-sheet rich structure as spiders spin their silk – and is understood to be what makes spider silk so strong and tough. Kevlar® also gets its strength from a densely hydrogen-bonded network.”

Natural proteins were commonly used as glues before synthetic adhesives were developed. Collagen (from animal hooves), casein (from cheese) and gluten (from grain) were all used as glues before we developed chemical synthesis methods to make adhesives from crude oil.

Today, protein-based glues have been almost completely displaced by synthetic alternatives, which are produced on a vast scale with the global market totalling $41 billion in 2010. This industrial process from oil contributes significantly to global emissions of greenhouse gasses and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) so alternatives are required.

These findings should help with the design and formulation of other protein-based adhesives which, with further optimisation, could compete with commercial crude-oil derived adhesives and give us renewable, biodegradable and green glues as we had in the past.

Many organisms produce specialised proteins specifically for adhesion. Mussels produce a strong protein-based glue that allows them to stick to slippery rocks in rough inter-tidal zones. Spiders also produce tough silk-based glues which they use to capture fast-moving insects in their webs.

As the world transitions away from fossil fuels and towards a renewable future, there is a growing need to replace CO2-intensive crude-oil derived adhesives with greener alternatives. One option could be to return to return to protein-based glues, who’s properties could be designed and optimised using the tools of synthetic biology.

Unlike synthetic crude-oil derived adhesives, these protein-based glues would be water-based, non-toxic, biodegradable and environmentally non-persistent. They would also be grown under benign conditions (ambient temperatures and pressures) and could be produced through fossil-fuel free, green synthesis routes – via processes similar to the fermentation of beer.

New man-made materials developed by scientists have been successfully used to confuse and trick harmful spores which attack wheat crops into growing on an alternative host to help farmers protect their food production.

Researchers at Swagֱ�� have come together with international electronics partners and the minerals processing industry, to deliver networks of cheap disposable in-field biosensors, to detect in real-time the infections of crops at the earliest signs.

By working with the industry partners, these crop surveillance sensors use the latest generation of ‘’ electronics and machine-learning techniques. Previous DNA based approaches only showed the presence of specific spores, many of which are around us all the time, the new sensor can identify the exact conditions for when spores turn from benign particulates to serious diseases.

The sensors do this by literally tricking the fungal disease spores into growing within the team’s novel biomaterials, in the ‘belief’ that they have found their specific plant host and food source. Micro-imaging detectors then constantly examine those biomaterials and use artificial intelligence to identify the characteristic and specific ways they grow with their engineered artificial hosts.

Each sensor then wirelessly alerts farmers to the presence of the disease, just like a biological version of a fire-alarm, dynamically feeding into disease forecast systems and maps. Enabling ‘fire-fighting’ of diseases before they spread and helping scientists to understand how best to prevent future outbreaks.

The innovative new system which was trialled in Ethiopia and detailed in the journal, , demonstrates success in distracting the harmful spores before they have begun to grow and disrupt a wheat crop. This affords farmers extra security without needing to wait until signs of spore damage appear before reacting to save their crop.

Professor Bruce Grieve who led the research said: “This is particularly exciting as the first disease that our consortium has targeted is a major threat to global wheat production and has not previously been reported as being capable of growing on anything but its living plant host.”

Working with the , , and , at the University of Cambridge, the aim of the team is to deploy these ‘Sentinel’ sensor networks into Ethiopian wheat production to underpin future crop disease forecast modelling and control measures in East Africa, and help prevent any repeat of the major famines seen in the region in the 1980s.

The new research paper introduces a critical element of these bio-alarms, in using aeronautical engineering techniques to enable the prevailing wind and air movements to passively extract and concentrate the disease spores onto the biomimic sensor materials, so that their infection activity may be reliably signalled within hours. That compare to the weeks typically required currently to visually see the disease symptoms on the plants, thus giving farmers adequate time to act to save their crops.

The paper, 'Development of a Passive Spore Sampler for Capture Enhancement of Airborne Crop Pathogens' by James L. Blackall, Jie Wang, Mostafa R. A. Nabawy, Mark K. Quinn and Bruce D. Grieve, is published in journal .

For thousands of Syrian refugees who have suffered horrific blast injuries after being hit by barrel bombs and other devices of death in their war-torn homeland, the only option is amputation. When you see the damage a blast injury can do it’s a shock to the system and is so very sad and upsetting.

 have been dropped throughout the long conflict that has torn Syria apart and caused untold misery and pain to so many innocent civilians. At the start of 2018,  that barrel bombs had killed more than 11,000 civilians in Syria since 2012, injuring many more.

The barrel bomb is a type of improvised explosive device which –  – is used extensively by the Syrian Air Force. They are made from large oil barrels and are typically filled with TNT, oil and even chunks of steel. Due to the large amount of explosives that can be packed into a barrel, the resulting explosion can be devastating.

Syrian refugees stand at a fence at a refugee camp in Nizip, near Gaziantep, Turkey, in April 2016. 

Even if a person survives such a blast, their limbs are at risk of suffering a large, often jagged break which, even in the best conditions, would be a major challenge to repair. In a fully equipped, state-of-the-art hospital such patients would be able to access expert orthopaedic surgery and a lot of expensive aftercare.

But in a refugee camp, far away from any sophisticated surgical intervention, these types of complex procedures with timely recovery and care implications are just not possible. So at the moment, amputation is unfortunately the most likely outcome in many of these cases.

Many of these bone shattering injuries are untreatable because of the constant risk of infection from procedures carried out in the field and the collapse of the healthcare system. A simpler and cheaper way to help these people needed to be invented and my colleagues and I believe we have done just that.

Andrew Weightman and Paulo Bartolo in the lab. JillJennings/Swagֱ��, Author provided

Our treatment uses a temporary, 3D printed “bone brick” to fill the gap. They are made up of polymer and ceramic materials and can be clicked together just like a Lego brick to fit perfectly into whatever gap has been created by the blast injury. The bricks are degradable and allow new tissue to grow around them. This structure will support the load like a normal bone, induce the formation of new bone and, during this process, the bricks will dissolve. The idea is that the surgeon can open a bag of bricks and piece them together to fit that particular defect and promote the bone growth.

The solution has been a long time coming and it was very much the plight of Syrian refugees that inspired it. It struck a very personal chord. I recognise that misery and pain and see my younger self on the faces of the children. I was born and grew up in Mozambique in South-East Africa in 1968. It was the middle of the war of independence and the country was in turmoil.

My family inevitably became caught up in the  that involved the Portuguese community that was living and working in Mozambique and the  (The Mozambique Liberation Front) resistance movement that were seeking independence and self-rule.

Paulo Bartolo with his mother and younger brother Jose Manuel in 1973-4 at their home in Manhica, Mozambique. Paulo Bartolo, Author provided

It was 1973 and these were dangerous times. I was about five years old and it was a very frightening and disruptive period of my life. We moved up and down the country as my father’s job in civil administration changed and required us to move to the Niassa government base in Vila Cabral (now Lichinga).

One episode sticks out vividly. My one-year-old brother, Jose Manuel, and I were taken from our home in Maragra and moved to a refugee camp in an area of South Africa called Nelspruit, as we tried to escape the escalating violence. We were safe but I was always anxious and scared about the security of our family.

The two brothers with their father outside the administrative office where he worked in Vila Cabral. Author provided

Although we were only in the camp for around a month before we were transferred to start a new life in Portugal when I was six, that experience stayed with me for life. It gave me a strong sense of empathy for others who are being displaced by war. And it would eventually strengthen my commitment to use my bio-medical expertise to try and do something to help other refugees.

Blast injuries and amputations

The first time I was made fully aware of the impact of blast injuries in the Syrian conflict was when  – a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Swagֱ�� Royal infirmary – came to my university to discuss his experience and the problems he faced in treating these injuries in Syrian refugees.

Shoaib is a limb-injury expert with experience of working on the frontline of various conflicts and crisis zones as a humanitarian worker. He told us that in Syria the after effects of blast injuries were sometimes untreatable because of the constant risk of infection. The collapse of the healthcare system has also led to many treatments being done by people who are not, in fact, trained medics.

Shoaib was working in refugee camps in Turkey and I, along with my Swagֱ�� research colleagues Andy Weightman and Glenn Cooper, decided we needed to help and apply our expertise. We all wanted to make a difference and we continued our discussion late into the evening. This conversation developed into the idea of the “bone bricks”.

Syrian boys stand amid the destruction following an airstrike in Douma, Syria, in October 2015. 

A game-changer

My own academic interests include biofabrication for tissue engineering. This involves fabricating bone, nerve, cartilage and skin through the use of 3D printing. 3D printing technology can now reproduce biocompatible and biodegradable materials that can be used in the human body.

Current grafting techniques have several limitations, including the risk of infection and disease transmission. They are also quite costly and present a high risk of further injury and serious bleeding. This work is centred on creating orthopaedic devices – or scaffolds – that can enable the regeneration of bone tissues to repair fractures.

I had been busy responding to the calls from clinicians to make these tools more agile, smaller in scale and responsive to more personalised healthcare. But the challenge set by the Syrian situation was a game-changer: we had to consider other new factors, such as making the scaffolds even more cost-effective and useable in demanding environments where it is very difficult to manage infection.

Part of our solution to these challenges was to use relatively low-cost 3D printing technology to create bone bricks with a degradable porous structure into which a special infection-fighting paste can be injected. The bone brick prosthesis and paste will prevent infection, promote bone regeneration and create a mechanically stable bone union during the healing period.

The challenge of creating this pioneering prosthesis led us on a journey to Turkey in 2016 where we met with academics, surgeons and medical companies. We were convinced that our proposed new technique could dramatically improve the medical response to life-changing limb injuries in the challenging conditions of these camps. It was clear that our project should be focused on patients within the Syrian refugee community in Turkey where they have found a safe haven from the horrors of war.

Once we secured the backing of  (a £1.5 billion pot provided by the UK government to support cutting edge research that specifically addresses the challenges faced by developing countries) we began to put our project into motion. As a first step Weightman, Cooper and I visited  in Istanbul to meet with our lead collaborator there, , who introduced us to a group of clinicians who had been dealing with the refugees and their injuries firsthand and were able to share their knowledge. Their experiences gave us insight into the challenges of treating serious bone injuries in the field.

Our collaborators in Turkey helped to ensure we shaped the design and specifications of the bone bricks so they aligned as closely as possible to the needs of the frontline clinicians. During our stay in Istanbul we were constantly reminded of the human cost of the . We would often witness groups of displaced families, including children, who had fled the conflict and were seeking refuge and the chance to rebuild their lives. What we had seen on TV about Syria, with helicopters dropping bombs, was brought home to us. Some of my colleagues have children the same age as those we want to help and it made us even more determined to do something.

War in Syria

The Syrian conflict has displaced around 3 million refugees into Turkey, accounting for around 4% of its population. Turkey provides free healthcare services to Syrians and, as such, the burden on the healthcare system , with 940,000 patients treated, 780,000 operations and 20.2 million outpatient services taken up between 2011 and 2017 alone.

The Turkish government  it has spent more than US$37 billion hosting Syrian refugees. We hope that our bone bricks innovation can make a contribution to this crisis, helping to mitigate Turkey’s healthcare costs and also significantly improve the human cost of this crisis.

Our project is focused on bone injuries that are often caused by blast explosions, which are powerful enough to throw a person many yards and shatter bodies. Shoaib once said to us:

If you look at the way people were injured 100 years ago, 90% were the military and 10% were civilians. .

This is certainly true for the Syrian crisis where thousands of people are suffering terrible injuries. Given that  have been injured in the Syrian civil war, we estimate that 100,000 people have been affected by large bone loss and of those injured since 2013 there have been more than 30,000 amputations – equating to about 7,500 a year. Amputation has associated physical complications including heart attack, slow wound healing and the constant risk of infection.

Bone brick under x750 magnification. Paulo Bartolo, Author provided

Catastrophic limb amputation

Current bone repair techniques are complex. They include:

• The leg or arm being harnessed in a metal fixing device or cage which allows slow-growing bone tissue to reconnect. But this process frequently creates complications caused by metal wires transfixing and cutting through soft tissues as the frame is extended to lengthen the bone. It is a lengthy and meticulous.
• Placing a pin or plate implant to stabilise the bone gap and enable the tissue to reconnect. This procedure requires complex surgery in specialist centres of excellence and can only be considered in extreme and selected cases.
• Bone shortening procedures, where healing is stimulated by removing damaged bone tissue. Or there are forms of bone grafting techniques which use transplanted bone to repair and rebuild damaged bones.

And it must be remembered, traumatic limb amputation is a catastrophic injury and an irreversible act that has a sudden and emotionally devastating impact on the patient. As a consequence, this not only impacts a person’s ability to earn a living but also brings very serious psychological issues for the patient because of the cultural stigma associated with limb loss.

External prosthetic limbs after amputation provide some with a solution but they are not suitable for all.  that the long term healthcare costs of amputation are three times higher than those treated by limb salvage. Clearly, saving a limb offers a better quality of life and functional capacity than amputation and external prosthetics.

Just like Lego

With many blast injuries, the bone defects are totally impossible to heal. What we are doing is creating a temporary structure using bone bricks to fill the gap. Our treatment uses medical scaffolds, made up of polymer and ceramic materials, which can be clicked together like a Lego brick, creating a degradable structure which then allows new tissue to grow.

A prototype brick just off the 3D printer at the University of Swagֱ��. Paulo Bartolo, Author provided

We are also developing software to allow the clinician, based on the information on the bone defect, to select the exact number of bone bricks with the specific shape and size and information on how to assemble – just like Lego instructions. The connection between the bone brick design and the 3D printing system is completed. We’re now in the process of integrating with the software that will link the scanning of information from the wound area with the identification of the correct type of bone bricks and assembly mechanism.

An antibiotic ceramic paste is stored in a hollow in the middle of the brick and is a highly practical way to combat infection while the limb repairs and hugely improves the chances of success.

The bone brick solution is much more cost effective than current methods of treatment. We expect our limb-saving solution will be less than £200 for a typical 100mm fracture injury. This is far cheaper than current solutions, which can cost between £270 and £1,000 for an artificial limb depending on the type needed.

When will they be used on humans?

My team and I are entering the final stages of a three-year project. Our team consists of academics and clinicians from Swagֱ�� and Turkey, as well as a pool of ten bone injury patients drawn from the UK, Turkey and Syria. We have already evaluated the modular bone bricks system in a computer simulation, created prototypes of the modular bone bricks using 3D printing technologies in the lab, and conducted in-vitro (laboratory) testing of mechanical and biological characterisation of the bricks. This will be followed by in-vivo (animal) testing to prepare the device for regulatory approval and a pathway to implementation by clinicians. Once all these stages are complete the project we will be ready to trial on human patients.

The final stage will then be to translate the research into building a useable, medical device. This will be undertaken by a follow-on clinical trial on about 20 patients with large bone loss, some of which we expect will be drawn from the Syrian refugee community. The project will be subject to strict ethical scrutiny and approval.

A bone brick under Electron Microscopy scanning. Paolo Bartolo, Author provided

We hope this project will lead to further development of emergency healthcare in the developing world and could bring hope to a Syrian refugee community in dire need while their country rebuilds. Our long term hope is that bone bricks will be of use, not only in refugee crises, but also in many other healthcare situations, such as accidents and natural disasters – in both developing and developed nations. For example, in the UK around 2,000 patients a year receive treatment for severe fractures requiring surgical reconstruction for .

The burden to the health service relating to major traumatic injuries is . In addition, the estimated loss of contribution to the economy due to extended periods of rehabilitation is another .

We believe the bone brick project could help alleviate some of those economic burdens and drastically improve the patient experience. But it is the plight of the Syrian refugees that continues to inspire and inform this project. We hope that, perhaps in five years’ time, bone bricks will be used in the field on humans, finally giving medics and victims an alternative to catastrophic limb amputation.

Professor , Chair Professor on Advanced Manufacturing, Swagֱ��

This article is republished from  under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

New research on the two-dimensional (2D) material has allowed researchers to create smart adaptive clothing which can lower the body temperature of the wearer in hot climates.

A team of scientists from Swagֱ��’s have created a prototype garment to demonstrate dynamic thermal radiation control within a piece of clothing by utilising the remarkable thermal properties and flexibility of graphene. The development also opens the door to new applications such as, interactive infrared displays and covert infrared communication on textiles.

The human body radiates energy in the form of electromagnetic waves in the infrared spectrum (known as blackbody radiation). In a hot climate it is desirable to make use the full extent of the infrared radiation to lower the body temperature which can be achieved by using infrared-transparent textiles. As for the opposite case, infrared-blocking covers are ideal to minimise the energy loss from the body. Emergency blankets are a common example used to deal with treating extreme cases of body temperature fluctuation.

The collaborative team of scientists demonstrated the dynamic transition between two opposite states by electrically tuning the infrared emissivity (the ability to radiate energy) of graphene layers integrated onto textiles.

One-atom thick graphene was and explored in 2004 at Swagֱ��. Its are vast and research has already led to leaps forward in commercial products including; batteries, mobile phones, sporting goods and automotive.

The new research published today in journal , demonstrates that the smart optical textile technology can change its thermal visibility. The technology uses graphene layers to control of thermal radiation from textile surfaces.

Professor Coskun Kocabas, who led the research, said: “Ability to control the thermal radiation is a key necessity for several critical applications such as temperature management of the body in excessive temperature climates. Thermal blankets are a common example used for this purpose. However, maintaining these functionalities as the surroundings heats up or cools down has been an outstanding challenge.”

Prof Kocabas added: “The successful demonstration of the modulation of optical properties on different forms of textile can leverage the ubiquitous use of fibrous architectures and enable new technologies operating in the infrared and other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum for applications including textile displays, communication, adaptive space suits, and fashion.”

This study built on the same group’s previous research using graphene to create thermal camouflage which was able to . The new research can also be integrated into existing mass-manufacture textile materials such as cotton. To demonstrate, the team developed a prototype product within a t-shirt allowing the wearer to project coded messages invisible to the naked eye but readable by infrared cameras.

“We believe that our results are timely showing the possibility of turning the exceptional optical properties of graphene into novel enabling technologies. The demonstrated capabilities cannot be achieved with conventional materials.

“The next step for this area of research is to address the need for dynamic thermal management of earth-orbiting satellites. Satellites in orbit experience excesses of temperature, when they face the sun and they freeze in the earth’s shadow. Our technology could enable dynamic thermal management of satellites by controlling the thermal radiation and regulate the satellite temperature on demand.” said Kocabas.

Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov was also involved in the research: “This is a beautiful effect, intrinsically routed in the unique band structure of graphene. It is really exciting to see that such effects give rise to these high-tech applications.” he said.

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

The paper, '' by Kocabas et al is published in Nano Letters.

Plastic waste is forecast to reach 40 billion tons per year globally, and is increasingly associated with major world cities. Urgent action is needed to find sustainable solutions to making, using and disposing of plastics.

Greater Swagֱ��, a region with a growing industrial and economic footprint, has clean growth at the core of its economic ambition and the Innovation Hub demonstrates its commitment to delivering the technology necessary to support this aim.

The SMIH, to be located on the 6^th floor of the Royce Hub Building, will support small to medium businesses from across the whole of GM to find sustainable innovations to waste management and more sustainable plastics. By bringing together material science expertise and business intelligence to offer a defined workflow of ‘Advice’, ‘Assess’ and ‘Innovate’, the SMIH will help businesses to understand where they can make efficiencies, realise opportunities and avoid unintended consequences in their plastics management.

In the Royce Hub Building, three interlinking laboratories will be equipped with capability to characterise, synthesis and process polymers, facilitating innovation in new sustainable polymers, improved methods of recycling, and validation of emerging sustainable materials that appear on the market.

The ability to develop new plastics and recycling infrastructure is also underpinned by an understanding of the behaviours of individuals and businesses that may inhibit innovation adoption. The programme of advise, assessment and innovation will thus incorporate collaborative social science research to help businesses make informed choices to sustainable solutions.

The SMIH will be led by Director Michael Shaver, Professor of Polymer Science at Swagֱ�� and Lead for Sustainable Materials for the Henry Royce Institute.

Commenting on the announcement of the SMIH, Prof Shaver said: “The Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub provides a platform to work with SMEs across Greater Swagֱ�� to help them adopt the right sustainable plastic innovation for the right reasons. We will pioneer solutions that fit with our current and emerging waste management practices and help companies make decisions that are truly sustainable rather than just band-aid interventions.”

The investment in the SMIH represents Swagֱ��’s dedication to environmental sustainability. Professor Colette Fagan, Vice-President for Research said: "We are proud to host the Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub in Swagֱ��. Its aims are directly aligned to our environmental sustainability strategy for our research, teaching and how we operate as a social responsible organisation.

"Using the University’s knowledge and influence we are committed to working with our research partners and other key stakeholders to support the innovation, growth and environmental sustainability of the region’s industrial sector for the benefit of society."

The Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub will be a key driver in delivering Royce’s vision of Advanced Materials for a Sustainable Society. Royce CEO Prof David Knowles, who led the bid with Swagֱ�� said,

The SMIH will be a great asset to Greater Swagֱ��’s response to the imperative of delivering sustainability in the way we embrace the use, management and recycling plastics in a city ecosystem. The interdisciplinary team will bring together scientific, economic and social research effort to help business’s make long lasting innovative solutions, build a circular economy in GM and export the innovation and best practice both nationally and internationally. This will contribute to both local economic growth and expansion of research efforts to find materials solutions to some our most pressing global challenges.

The SMIH will support SME’s from across Greater Swagֱ�� like Dsposal who use tech to simplify waste compliance and promote industry transparency. Commenting on the award of the SMIH, Dsposal COO & Co-Founder Sophie Walker said: “This is wonderful news for Greater Swagֱ��’s SMEs working on improving the sustainability of the plastics value-chains. The SMIH’s interdisciplinary approach focussing both on polymer innovation and behaviour change is welcomed by who are on a mission to make it easy for everyone to do the right thing with their waste.”

The Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub will initially run remotely by reaching out to the Greater Swagֱ�� SME community to deliver the Assess work stream. Following the reopening of Swagֱ��, work will get underway to fit out the 6^th floor of the Royce Hub Building which will be completed in Spring 2021.

The Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub is part of the Henry Royce Institute at Swagֱ�� and is part-funded by the .

Swagֱ�� is repurposing specialised equipment across its campus to help produce safety equipment for NHS workers battling COVID-19 in an attempt to help reduce the critical demand across the region.

In a combined effort with other universities, including Salford and MMU, The University is utilising 3D printing capabilities to design and make headbands for protective facemasks worn by frontline NHS medical staff in hospitals.

With nearly 50 printers across the University it is aimed that around 500 additional mask headbands can be produced per week. The face shield is being laser cut by regional commercial suppliers and assembled at .

Professor Brian Derby is coordinating the 3D printing response at Swagֱ��, he said: “3D printing has allowed the Greater Swagֱ��-based team to progress rapidly from concept, to prototypes, which allowed infection control teams to validate the design and enable the production of PPE acceptable for use in the regions hospitals.”

A team of experimental officers and technical staff who can operate the 3D printers have volunteered to work on site to help with the surge in demand. Measured steps are being taken in an effort to reduce staff travel to minimise risk. NHS staff will collect the masks from the University campus on a daily basis to help resupply their essential stock of PPE.

Swagֱ�� is assisting the NHS by mobilising its staff, laboratory space and equipment as part of a collective effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in a fast moving and rapidly changing situation.

Swagֱ�� has established a COVID-19 research rapid response group through which scientists are working with NHS colleagues from Swagֱ�� University NHS Foundation Trust and the , supported by , and utilising our experimental and translational research expertise through the NHIR Swagֱ��  and .

Much sought after personal protective equipment (PPE) is also being donated by the University in the midst of a global shortage. Some high-spec or environmentally controlled laboratories including biomedical labs and graphene cleanroom labs, require users to wear PPE including; goggles, gloves and facemasks.

A stock of PPE including 47,660 pairs of nitrile gloves and 200 pairs of protective goggles has now been donated to local health practices to help safeguard doctors and nurses with further stock to be audited and offered.

Elsewhere the which is based at Swagֱ�� and with national links to industry and academia has put out to link industry partners with NHS colleagues in order to help industry understand and solve problems faced by the nation’s medical staff in a rapidly changing environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

At Swagֱ��, our people are working together and with partners from across society to understand coronavirus (COVID-19) and its wide-ranging impacts on our lives. to support the University’s response to coronavirus or visit the University’s  to lend a helping hand.

New antiviral materials made from sugar have been developed to destroy viruses on contact and may help in the fight against viral outbreaks.

This new development from a collaborative team of international scientists shows promise for the treatment of herpes simplex (cold sore virus), respiratory syncytial virus, hepatitis C, HIV, and Zika virus to name a few. The team have demonstrated success treating a range of viruses in the lab – including respiratory infections to genital herpes.

The research is a result of a collaboration between scientists from Swagֱ��, the  (UNIGE) and the  in Lausanne, Switzerland. Although at a very early stage of development, the broad spectrum activity of this new approach could also be effective against newly prevalent viral diseases such as the recent coronavirus outbreak.

So called ‘virucidal’ substances, such as bleach, are typically capable of destroying viruses on contact but are extremely toxic to humans and so cannot be taken or applied to the human body without causing severe harm. Developing virucides from sugar has allowed for the advent of a new type of antiviral drug, which destroys viruses yet is non-toxic to humans.

Current antiviral drugs work by inhibiting virus growth, but they are not always reliable as viruses can mutate and become resistant to these treatments.

Using modified sugar molecules the team showed that the outer shell of a virus can be disrupted, thereby destroying the infectious particles on contact, as oppose to simply restricting its growth. This new approach has also been shown to defend against drug resistance.

Publishing their work in the journal  the team showed that they successfully engineered new modified molecules using natural glucose derivatives, known as cyclodextrins. The molecules attract viruses before breaking them down on contact, destroying the virus and fighting the infection.

Dr Samuel Jones, from Swagֱ�� and a member of the  for Advanced Materials, jointly led the pioneering research with Dr Valeria Cagno from the University of Geneva. “We have successfully engineered a new molecule, which is a modified sugar that shows broad-spectrum antiviral properties. The antiviral mechanism is virucidal meaning that viruses struggle to develop resistance. As this is a new type of antiviral and one of the first to ever show broad-spectrum efficacy, it has potential to be a game changer in treating viral infections.” said Sam.

Professor Caroline Tapparel from the University of Geneva and Prof Francesco Stellacci from EPFL were both also senior authors of the study. Prof Tapparel declared: “We developed a powerful molecule able to work against very different viruses, therefore, we think this could be game changing also for emerging infections.”

The molecule is patented and a spin-out company is being set up to continue pushing this new antiviral towards real-world use. With further testing the treatment could find a use in creams, ointments and nasal sprays or other similar treatments for viral infections. This exciting new material can work to break down multiple viruses making for cost-effective new treatments even for resistant viruses.

The paper, Modified Cyclodextrins as Broad-spectrum Antivirals, by Jones et al is published in Science Advances.

Advanced materials research at Swagֱ�� has demonstrated a comprehensive picture of the evolution of damage in braided textile composites for the first time. This could lead the way to new design and implementation possibilities for next-generation aerospace engineers.

High-specification composite materials can be precisely engineered to suit applications with confidence thanks to new imaging techniques. Textile composites in particular offer great potential in creating light-weight damage-tolerant structures. However, their uptake in the high value manufacturing sector has been inhibited by lack of adequate design and material performance data.

As a result of new research published today in the , braided textile composites could be designed with confidence for applications ranging from, aerospace and automotive drive shafts, to sporting equipment such as hockey sticks. Braiding technology had a humble beginning in the textile industry for making such items as shoe laces. Today, the integration of robotics and advanced industrial systems has propelled this technology into the high value manufacturing domain in sectors such as, aerospace, automotive and energy.

Now for the first time unique 3D imaging processes have provided real-time data of how carbon fibre composite tubes perform under structural loading, which provides a blueprint for maximising efficiency of materials used across industry.

The breakthrough research was led by a team from Swagֱ�� and could prolong the lifespan of mechanical systems reliant on materials by definitively demonstrating load and stress points at which damage initiates and progresses from sub-critical to critical damage state.

By utilising real-time stress and damage tensor data along with developing bespoke composites design tools, future composites will be designed scientifically rather than through copycatting current designs which play to the requirements and weaknesses of metals currently used in industry.

The scientists leading this research are also prominent scientists from the soon-to-open , based at Swagֱ��. One for the Royce is in performance and degradation to enable the design of new materials, systems and coatings for a range of applications including; energy, marine, aerospace and automotive.

Professor , Chief Scientist of the Royce, said: “In-situ X-ray imaging has allowed us to shed light on the 3D nature of the initiation and propagation of damage mechanisms in composite tubes for the first time”.

The materials tested and examined in this work were braided carbon fibre composite tubes which are fabricated by braiding the fibre tows into a continuous interlaced helices. Recent advances show there is considerable scope for tailoring braided structure to suit specific service requirements. This flexibility also challenges the design and manufacturing process of braided composites. This means the way engineers develop applications can start to be seen in a different light for the next generations of aircraft for example.

Prof Prasad Potluri, Research Director of the said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to push the advanced braiding technology through the technology readiness levels with the aid of the in situ X-ray imaging facility at the Henry Royce Institute”.

 is one of Swagֱ��’s  - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

The paper, Damage evolution in braided composite tubes under torsion studied by in-situ X-ray computed tomography by Withers, Potluri et al is available in the .

14 researchers from are some of the most highly cited in their field, in a new list from the released this week.

They include Prof Sir Andre Geim and Prof Sir Kostya Novoselov, the co-discovers of graphene at the University in 2004, for which they won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010. Also on the list is fellow graphene researcher, Prof Irina Grigorieva, as well as Prof Jorgen Vestbo, a researcher in respiratory medicine, and Prof Frank Geels, and expert in energy and sustainability.

The list identifies scientists and social scientists who produced multiple papers ranking in the top 1% by citations for their field and year of publication, demonstrating significant research influence among their peers.

The methodology that determines the who’s who of influential researchers draws on the data and analysis performed by bibliometric experts from the Institute for Scientific Information at the Web of Science Group.

The data are taken from 21 broad research fields within Essential Science Indicators, a component of . The fields are defined by sets of journals and exceptionally, in the case of multidisciplinary journals such as Nature and Science, by a paper-by-paper assignment to a field based on an analysis of the cited references in the papers. This percentile-based selection method removes the citation advantage of older papers relative to recently published ones, since papers are weighed against others in the same annual cohort.

Listed University researchers;

Prof Sir Andre Geim, Dr Artem Mischenko, Prof Christian Klingenberg, Prof David Denning, Dr Donald Ward, Prof Frank Geels, Prof Irina Grigorieva, Prof Jorgen Vestbo, Prof Judith Allen, Prof Sir Kostya Novoselov, Prof Rahul Nair, Prof Richard Bardgett, Dr Roman Gorbachev, and Prof Zhiguo Ding.

Researchers from have developed new, “aerodynamic” materials, which have been sent to the International Space Station (ISS) for testing.

The materials were carried to the ISS from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, in a science carrier from Alpha Space Test & Research Alliance of Houston, Texas, on-board a Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply vehicle which launched on 2 November.

Now deployed on the exterior of the ISS, the materials will be exposed to the harsh LEO (Low Earth Orbit) environment, to investigate their erosion properties. After six months, they will be returned to Earth for analysis, where it is hoped they will be used in a new generation of very-low-orbit satellites.

The experiments form part of the , a Horizon 2020 project on which the University is the lead partner. DISCOVERER is developing technologies to enable the commercially viable operation of satellites in very low Earth orbits, below an altitude of around 450 km, where drag from the residual atmosphere has a significant impact on spacecraft design.

The material samples on a transfer tray, going into the airlock for external deployment.

Dr Peter Roberts, scientific coordinator for DISCOVERER and principal investigator for the University’s contribution, commented on the launch; “If the materials have the properties we believe that they do, they have the potential to significantly reduce the drag acting on satellites in very low orbits, opening a new orbital regime for communications and remote sensing satellites.”

He added; “Very low Earth orbits have many benefits, improving payload performance whilst also allowing satellites to be smaller and use less power. They also represent a uniquely sustainable environment in low Earth orbit as atmospheric drag rapidly removes space debris and uncontrolled satellites when they reach the end of their operational lives.”

As part of the DISCOVERER project, the University is also helping to develop a small satellite, called the Satellite for Orbital Aerodynamics Research (SOAR). Due to be launched in summer 2020, SOAR will further investigate the aerodynamic properties of the materials, by examining the drag and lift of the spacecraft.

In addition, the DISCOVERER project has developed a Rarefied Orbital Aerodynamics Research facility (ROAR). Here, researchers are able to replicate the flow of gases at orbital velocities to determine how the gas scatters from materials.

The ISS deployment was made possible by Alpha Space Test & Research Alliance, which owns and operates the (MISSE) facility, under agreements with NASA and the International Space Station National Laboratory (ISSNL).

The DISCOVERER project has received funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under grant agreement No. 737183.

A team of scientists are seeking to kick-start a wearable technology revolution by creating flexible fibres and adding acids from red wine.

Extracting tannic acid from red wine, coffee or black tea, led a team of scientists from Swagֱ�� to develop much more durable and flexible wearable devices. The addition of tannins improved mechanical properties of materials such as cotton to develop wearable sensors for rehabilitation monitoring, drastically increasing the devices lifespan.

The team have developed wearable devices such as capacitive breath sensors and artificial hands for extreme conditions by improving the durability of flexible sensors. Previously, wearable technology has been subject to fail after repeated bending and folding which can interrupt the conductivity of such devices due to tiny micro cracks. Improving this could open the door to more long-lasting integrated technology.

Dr Xuqing Liu who led the research team said: "We are using this method to develop new flexible, breathable, wearable devices. The main research objective of our group is to develop comfortable wearable devices for flexible human-machine interface.

“Traditional conductive material suffers from weak bonding to the fibers which can result in low conductivity. When red wine, or coffee, or black tea, is spilled on a dress, it's difficult to get rid of these stains. The main reason is that they all contain tannic acid, which can firmly adsorb the material on the surface of the fiber. This good adhesion is exactly what we need for durable wearable, conductive devices.”

The new research published in the journal demonstrated that without this layer of tannic acid, the conductivity is several hundred times, or even thousands of times, less than traditional conductive material samples as the conductive coating becomes easily detached from the textile surface through repeated bending and flexing.

The team used commercially available tannins but also tried to immerse the fabric directly in red wine, black tea and black coffee solutions where they saw the same results. The overall impact of this new method could see a reduction in price for wearable technology along with improvements in comfort and robustness.

The improved conductivity using natural sources can allow technology developers to use more comfortable fabrics, such as cotton, to replace nylon, which is stiff and uncomfortable. The technology can also allow for circuits to be printed directly on to the surface of clothing to make a comfortable, flexible circuit board.

Due to the strong adsorption of tannic acid, the surface conductive coating has good durability, and the developed wearable devices maintain excellent performance after bending, folding and stretching.

Swagֱ�� has launched its ambitious vision to help ensure the city is a leader in the fourth industrial revolution in the same way it was a pioneer for the first phase of industrialisation.

The University launched its blueprint for , the term given to the latest phase of the industrialisation process which will be transformed by digital technologies such as 3D printing, smart factories, robotics and big data connectivity provided by the Internet of Things and AI.

The strategy document highlights how the University will:

• Deliver skills to support new, high-paid employees and business leaders
• Work across all disciplines – including engineering, health and social sciences – to deliver applied research and expertise to support Industry 4.0 technologies and applications
• Support the city-region’s economic strategies, including the aim to develop world-leading expertise in areas such as cyber security and robotics to position Swagֱ�� globally as a key location for firms developing Industry 4.0 technologies.
• Provide a business-academic partnership model of Industry 4.0 innovation for the UK’s higher education sector and to attract support from the UK government.

The University’s vision was launched at the prestigious on April 11 and sets out a comprehensive framework spanning national and regional industrial research priorities, as well as the teaching and learning approach required to produce future-ready industrialists.

“Swagֱ�� is taking steps to cement its place as a world-leading hub for Industry 4.0 solutions in engineering, health and social sciences,” explained Professor Paulo Bartolo, the University’s academic lead for Industry 4.0.

“With our world-class academic excellence, as well as the geographic and cultural pull of its home city, Swagֱ�� is uniquely positioned to be an exemplar of the leadership required from the UK’s higher education sector.

“Taking the example of advanced materials – a core technology propelling Industry 4.0 – we are home to around £420 million-worth of internationally-renowned research and business innovation centres.”

These Swagֱ��-based centres of excellence include:

• and the which help make Swagֱ�� the ‘’
• , the UK’s national institute for advanced materials research and innovation
• , an international centre of excellence in advanced materials research.

And these world-class hubs provide the ingredients of an ecosystem that can help build a talent supply chain.

“In other words, we have a track record in delivering on areas that are vital for Industry 4.0. This was made possible because of our success at grassroots level, with a critical mass of researchers at the forefront of Industry 4.0’s technologies and societal and economic impact,” added Professor Bartolo.

The University’s proposals are also in line with region’s economic strategies - positioning Swagֱ�� as a lead knowledge partner for the city-region’s international Industry 4.0 offer.

“Swagֱ��’s proposition around Industry 4.0 aligns seamlessly with the Greater Swagֱ�� Industrial and Digital Strategy,” said Tim Newns, CEO of , the agency that works to attract inward investment into the Greater Swagֱ�� city-region.

“Technology and innovation in fields such as AI, robotics, additive manufacturing, virtual and augmented reality, the Internet of Things, and the convergence of these technologies, can make a considerable impact on increasing the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry.

“The city is developing expertise in areas such as cyber security and robotics, positioning it as a key location for companies developing Industry 4.0 technologies and with access to significant market opportunities.”

Scientists working at Swagֱ�� have  on the Enigma machine used by the German military in World War Two and cracked by Alan Turing and his team of code breakers at Bletchley Park.

Using X-ray Computed Tomography (CT), features inside the Enigma’s metal casing were revealed, including the wiring and structure of the rotors that encrypted messages sent using the machine.

The CT technology, part of the , works by collecting a series of X-ray radiographs which are then reconstructed into a virtual 3D replica.

, Chief Scientist at the Henry Royce Institute and Regius Professor of Materials at Swagֱ��, said: "Normally Royce facilities are probing new materials to solve engineering problems in industry but when we were approached we were keen to help. Gaining a first look inside the Enigma machine required us to take over 1500 separate x-ray radiographs. It is exciting and appropriate to be able to unlock some of the secrets of such an iconic machine here at Swagֱ��."

The 1941 German army Enigma machine was loaned to the University by Bletchley Park and its owner, cryptography enthusiast, David Cripps. It is the latest Enigma machine to be verified and one of only 274 registered. Made in Berlin in 1941, the machine is believed to have been supplied to the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior in Vienna.

Enigma machine owner David Cripps said: "One thing we’ve been able to do is actually look inside the rotors and see the individual wires and pins which connect the 26 letters on each of the three rotors, enabling a message to be encrypted. This is the first time anyone has been able to look inside the Enigma with this level of detail, using a technique that does not damage the machine."

Appropriately, the scanning work took place in the at Swagֱ��, which is dedicated to his legacy. Alan Turing was appointed at the University’s School of Mathematics in 1948 after his work on the Enigma. While at Swagֱ�� his work included programming of software for one of the earliest true

, from the , said: "It is fantastic to unveil this new perspective on the Enigma in the Alan Turing Building, named after the man who played such a large role in cracking its code in World War Two.

"Swagֱ�� was an environment where Turing flourished. His legacy can be seen right across the University with researchers developing super computers that can model the human brain, exploring number theory and cryptography, as well as training robots to understand language. Right here, people are working on the principles that he laid down and the dreams that he had."

Swagֱ�� has published a  and  of the Enigma X-ray CT reconstruction, with more results to follow. The results were presented at a special lecture at the University, to inspire students and to help launch the 2019  – a web-based competition open to UK school children in year 11 that will start in January 2019. The competition attracts over 4000 students each year who compete in real-time code-breaking challenges, helping to inspire young people to take up Maths and Computer Science courses.