HIGH THROUGHPUT INORGANIC NANOMATERIALS DISCOVERY

£886,014 EPSRC Grant Reference: EP/D038499/1

Principal Investigator: Dr J Darr
Other Investigators: Professor J Elliott, Professor J Evans, Professor ZX Guo, Dr I Rehman, Dr Xue Wang (Leeds), Dr S Yang

Abstract:
The current advancement of technology very much depends upon the discovery of new materials. It has been known for some time that combinations of elements not involving carbon (called inorganic materials) can have important uses in areas from electronics, computing and UV protection in products, to harnessing energy from the sun. In particular, when inorganic particles are very small, typically made up of a few hundred atoms (called nanomaterials), they can have unusual and exciting properties. The discovery of such "nanomaterials" is very much hampered by our inability to make these materials fast enough and then to be able to test them adequately for their properties. The proposed research seeks to develop a new, faster way of making and discovering inorganic "nanomaterials" that can absorb sunlight (as an free energy source), and use this energy to split water into its constituents, hydrogen and oxygen (in a process known as photocatalysis). The hydrogen can then be used for powering cars or devices of the future. Such a process is important to sustain the energy requirements of mankind on this earth when our fossil fuels (e.g. oil) are exhausted.

Award Details:
Starts: 1 May 2006 Ends: 30 April 2009 Value: £886,014
Award Type: Standard Research

EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
- Reactor Engineering
- Structural Ceramics and Inorganics: Synthesis and Growth

EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
- Bulk Products and Materials

Project Partner: Coates Lorilleux Ltd
SRI International (inc)
Malvern Instruments Ltd
Faraday: INSIGHT (Chemical throughput)
Thermo Electron Corporation
Advanced Material Resources Ltd
Hydrogen Solar Ltd
Tescom Corporation UK

Click link, below, for EPSRC web announcement for grant