Oxford is installing a hydrogen electrolyser system and upgrading an X-ray diffractometer to serve dozens of research groups working on solar cells, quantum materials, and hydrogen-powered aircraft. The equipment addresses a practical bottleneck. Researchers synthesise hundreds of polycrystalline samples—halide perovskites for solar cells, functional oxides for quantum devices—and need rapid structural analysis to iterate designs. The current diffractometer cannot keep pace. Separately, the Oxford Thermofluids Institute has no on-site hydrogen supply for its propulsion experiments, forcing researchers to rely on bottled gas. The electrolyser will produce high-pressure hydrogen on demand, supporting nine academic groups and industrial partners including Rolls-Royce and Jaguar Land Rover. If the equipment performs as intended, it will accelerate the development of more stable, efficient solar cells and enable fundamental research into hydrogen combustion for aircraft and road vehicles. The UK currently has no other low-TRL research centre focused on hydrogen propulsion; this investment fills that gap. The diffractometer will also allow researchers to probe material behaviour at extreme temperatures, revealing how solar efficiency or quantum properties change under real-world operating conditions.
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This is an enabling grant that will support a wide range of researchers and fields of research across the engineering and physical sciences (EPS) remit through the upgrade of existing multi-user equipment. Two investment packages have been prioritised that support core EPS research capabilities: 1. High resolution X-ray powder diffractometer - powder diffraction is an essential characterization tool for polycrystalline materials, providing information about the atomic structure, compositional homogeneity, orientational and strain distribution in a variety of samples. The Quantum Materials, Photovoltaic, and Nanoscience programmes at Oxford generate a large and steady stream of polycrystalline samples of materials ranging from halide perovskites for solar cell applications to functional oxides and compounds with unique properties at the quantum level. Rapid structural characterisation for each and every sample is vital to achieve the desired characteristics through iterative development cycles. Advanced characterisation such as structural changes at low and very high temperatures are vital to understand the physical properties of the material, for example, sample stability and how the solar efficiency varies at different temperatures. The modern and flexible instrument funded here offers different levels of resolution and flux, and provides both high throughput and reliability. 2. Hydrogen Electrolyser - a system to provide high pressure gaseous hydrogen, comprising of five electrolysers, a compressor system and pressurised gaseous hydrogen storage. The equipment will be hosted in the Oxford Thermofluids Institute, alongside over £40m of previous investment in experimental facilities for research into aircraft propulsion (covering heat transfer, hypersonics, instrumentation and numerical modelling) and thermal propulsion systems, supporting nine academic groups, and a number of strategic industrial partnerships (such as Rolls Royce and Jaguar Land Rover). It will enable the ability to produce gaseous hydrogen for the rapidly growing research portfolio in hydrogen for aircraft and road vehicle propulsion within the Oxford Thermofluids Institute, updating the way in which we supply hydrogen to our experimental facilities. There is no other low TRL research centre focussed on the use of hydrogen for propulsion in the UK; with this investment the Oxford Thermofluids Institute will be well-placed to fill this important gap.
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