A new spectrometer, the first of its kind in the UK, will let scientists measure the atomic-level chemistry of liquids and the substances dissolved in them. This matters because standard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) works well on solids but struggles with liquids, leaving a blind spot in materials science. Without direct atomic measurements of liquids, researchers cannot fully understand how catalysts work in solution, how pharmaceuticals behave in biological fluids, or how battery electrolytes degrade. The new instrument, called LiPPS, solves this by allowing scientists to probe both the bulk liquid and the solutes inside it, while also being easier to operate and capable of running autonomously. If the facility succeeds, it could accelerate advances in areas that rely on liquid chemistry: more efficient catalysts for industrial manufacturing, better battery electrolytes for energy storage, improved drug formulations, and more sensitive environmental sensors for water quality monitoring. The instrument is housed at the University of Nottingham’s Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre, which will offer open access to UK academics and industrial researchers. The project also plans to collaborate with the national NEXUS facility at Newcastle to maximise its impact across UK science and engineering.
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Summary We will offer to UK academic and industrial scientists and engineers expert facilitated access to a new high performance liquids dedicated XPS spectrometer, the first of its kind in the UK. This type of instrument is an important tool used across many science and engineering disciplines, including for example nanotechnology, chemistry, surface science, functional materials, pharmaceuticals, catalysis, metallurgy, sensors, the environment and energy. LiPPS will provide unique atomistic measurements of both bulk liquids and solutes there-in. Other new features make this instrument easier to operate, able to deal with a wider range of sample types and to acquire data autonomously. This unique facility will provide UK universities and industry with the opportunity to carry out world-leading research. By providing open access at the Nottingham Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre (NNNC) at the University of Nottingham we aim to maximise the impact of this instrument on UK science and industry. To help achieve this Nottingham will collaborate with other leading centres of Photoelectron Electron Spectroscopy particularly the new national facility (NEXUS) hosted by Newcastle. The NNNC operates as a sustainable cross-faculty multidisciplinary centre supporting open-access to state-of the art-instrumentation. The provision of such facilities is a priority of the University of Nottingham. The new LiPPS instrument will become a key service within the NNNC which is committed to the long term maintenance and updating of this resource for the benefit of research in the UK.
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