A fridge that chills without a compressor, and a solar cell that splits water into hydrogen fuel—both rely on the same class of nanostructured oxides this programme will develop. Today’s refrigeration guzzles electricity through vapour-compression cycles, and most hydrogen production still depends on fossil fuels. This programme tackles both problems by engineering oxide films just a few nanometres thick. The materials are designed to sit near a physical instability, so a tiny magnetic field, electric field, or pulse of light can flip them into a new state—releasing or absorbing heat, or driving the chemical reaction that splits water. The team will combine modelling, precision thin-film growth, and nanofabrication to tune these oxides atom by atom. If successful, the work could lead to solid-state cooling devices that are quieter, more efficient, and free of refrigerants, and to photocatalysts that produce hydrogen from sunlight and water alone. The programme also creates a new UK-European consortium linking materials theory with industrial partners, moving these technologies closer to real-world use. This is fundamental materials science with a clear energy goal: cutting consumption where we cool, and generating clean fuel where we burn.
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This program is about using nanostructured materials to address key areas in energy related applications. This proposal will deliver world class materials science through ambitious thin and thick film development and analysis and the proposal targets the EPSRC strategic areas Energy and Nanoscience through nanoengineering. The programme grant will provide the opportunity to integrate three well established research areas that currently operate independently of each other and will establish a new consortium of activities. Collectively they offer the essential ingredients to move this particular field forward. The planned program of work is timely because of the convergence of modelling capability, precision multilayer oxide growth expertise and nanofabrication facilities. The overall vision for the Programme Grant is focussed on Energy. Within the Programme we aim to find means of reducing energy consumption for example by using electro and magnetocaloric means of cooling; generating energy by use of nanoscale rectifying antennas and finally storing energy by photocatalytic splitting of hydrogen from water. Our program is divided into two themed areas:1) Nanostructured oxides for Energy Efficient Refrigeration with 2 project areasElectrocaloricsMagnetocalorics2) Nanostructured oxides for energy production and storage with 2 project areasSolar HarvestingPhotocatalysisThis research will enable :- The development of new materials, new material architectures and new device concepts for energy refrigeration and energy harvesting. The synergy across a range of programs particularly the underpinning activities of materials theory, modelling and characterisation will move these important fields closer to application.- The research will also enable a new forum to be established, with representation from UK and European scientists and industrialists so that broad discussions can be held to enable moving these fields forward. We place a significant emphasis on training, outreach and knowledge transfer.The research challenges that need to be addressed are:- Designing physical systems that are close to an instability so that small external perturbations from magnetic or electric fields, optical or thermal excitation will tip the system into a new ground state- Optimising control over (strain, defects, doping inhomogeneity, disorder) and first layer effects in thin film oxides (with thicknesses of the order of 10nm or less) so that we can develop the capability to tune the band gap of the oxide using directed modelling and targeted growth control.
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