Early diagnosis and treatment of cancer prior to metastasis has a significant impact on patient survival. This project will demonstrate novel luminescent optical imaging agents that could lead to safe, extremely accurate, non-invasive and affordable early diagnostics of cancers which are difficult to access non-invasively due to limited light penetration through tissues such as the alimentary tract. Our RCaH-MGU-Bath collaboration will utilize our joint expertise in chemistry, biophysics and bioimaging in vitro and in vivo to exploit unique nanomaterials. We will attach tumour targeting peptides and commercial antibodies for cancer cell markers (Abcam) to near-infrared emitting luminescent nanoparticles (synthesised at Bath and also those available via the project partner, Intrinsiq Materials Ltd). These conjugates will be investigated at Bath and at the RCaH for selective delivery to cancer cells, uptake, toxicity, in vitro and in vivo optical imaging using multiphoton fluorescence imaging, lifetime imaging and in vivo bioluminescence. Jointly with our project partners (Abcam Plc, Intrinsiq Materials Ltd and Nikon Bioimaging UK) we will develop a design and testing integrated technology for the nanoparticles to attract investment for early cancer diagnostic by novel imaging agents. This will open up an opportunity to validate this technology which will allow us to tap into the $3.3 billion medical diagnostics market upon completion of the project. A deeper understanding of interactions between nanoparticles and cancer cells and a full investigation into their chemical biology will also emerge as a result, which is crucial to the delivery of new, marketable, diagnostic tools. The state-of-the-art relies on the use of organic molecules as imaging agents that normally suffer from short emission lifetime and poor photostability or use of quantum dots, which are of high cost and biologically toxic. We will carry out the first benchmark study of toxicity, in vitro targeting of cancer cells and in vivo bioluminescence imaging. This project will deliver the imaging probe as a result of the close collaboration between synthetic chemists, imaging technologist, chemical biologists and cell biologists. We will demonstrate that near-IR emitting nanoparticles (NPs), functionalized with peptides and antibodies can be applied to the medical diagnostics market by overcoming disadvantages of existing fluorophores e.g. quantum dots (cost and toxicity) and organic fluorophores (short life span). This project can pave the way to address the unmet clinical need for future endoscopes operating in the NIR regime and adapted to bypass tissue autofluorescence. It can also lead to the development of new medical diagnostic tools in future developments with colleagues in the Biosensing Network at Bath and with the clinical collaborators from the Cancer Research at Bath network.

Most of the world's population is now living in cities and travelling more. As a result we are more likely to come into contact with infections that we would not have been exposed to just a few decades ago due to interactions with more people. The environment plays an important role in the transmission of some infections and it is possible to reduce the transmission of such disease by better filtration of water and air. Some filtration systems are currently used which physically stop pathogens such as bacteria. However these systems cannot stop virus particles, are expensive, require frequent maintenance and careful disposal. The aim of this project is to design one air and one water filter which will actively kill bacteria and viruses, thereby reducing their numbers in the environment. These filters will require less maintenance and be inexpensive to produce. During the project, we will first test the antimicrobial effect of a variety of nanoparticles. These will then be modified chemically so that they can be incorporated into materials that are suitable for water and air filtration. The filters containing the antimicrobial nanoparticles will be produced using a new EPSRC funded spinning technology developed at UCL. Once we have produced the antimicrobial filtration materials, we will test their ability to kill viruses in air and bacteria in water. We will test filters with different concentrations of antimicrobial nanoparticles and with different depths. We will also make sure that the filters are effective at flow rates that are used in the real world. The antimicrobial filters will be of most interest to the healthcare industry in the first instance, but they will also be relevant to busy public buildings (such as schools and care homes) and transport vehicles (such as airplanes). Furthermore, the filters will be capable of oxidising non-biological materials, like tar and pollution particulates and will improve air quality in a range of indoor environments. During the project we will be collaborating with industrial partners (including Pall Corporation, the world's biggest filtration company) and clinicians to ensure that we produce a viable product. At the end of the project, the technology will be validated and ready for scale-up production and we plan to apply for further funding for a collaborative project with industry in order to do this.

Boiling phenomena are central to heating and cooling duties in many industries, such as cooling and refrigeration, power generation, and chemical manufacture. Limitations to boiling heat transfer arise through surface dry-out at high heat flux, leading to localised hot-spots on heat transfer surfaces and larger equipment requirements. Whilst this is a significant problem for many industries, it becomes even more of an issue when dealing with small-scale systems, such as those used for cooling of microelectronics, where failure to remove heat effectively leads to localised overheating and potential damage of components. Spatially non-uniform and unsteady dissipative heat generation in such systems is detrimental to their performance and longevity. The effective heat exchanger area is of order sq. cm, with heat fluxes of order MW/sqm. This requires a transformative, step-change, beyond the current state-of-the-art for cooling heat fluxes between 2-15 MW/sqm at local "hot spots" to prevent burn out. A number of attempts have already been made to extend the upper boundary for the heat flux through alteration of surface characteristics with the aim of improved nucleation of vapour bubbles, bubble detachment, and subsequent rewetting of the surface by liquid. Despite the progress made, previous work on surfaces for pool- (and potentially flow-) boiling does not involve a rational approach for developing optimal surface topography. For instance, nucleate boiling heat transfer (NBHT) decreases with increasing wettability, and the designer must consider the nucleation site density, associated bubble departure diameter, and frequency related to the surface structure and fluid phase behaviour. For high surface wettability, the smaller-scale surface structure characteristics (e.g. cavities) can act as nucleation sites; for low wettability, the cavity dimensions, rather than its topology, will dominate. Therefore, characterising surfaces in terms of roughness values is insufficient to account for the changes in the boiling curve: the fluid-surface coupling must be studied in detail for the enhancement of NBHT and the critical heat flux. EMBOSS brings together a multi-disciplinary team of researchers from Brunel, Edinburgh, and Imperial, and six industrial partners and a collaborator (Aavid Thermacore, TMD ltd, Oxford Nanosystems, Intrinsiq Materials, Alfa Laval, CALGAVIN, and OxfordLasers) with expertise in cutting-edge micro-fabrication, experimental techniques, and molecular-, meso- and continuum-scale modelling and simulation. The EMBOSS framework will inform the rational design, fabrication, and optimisation of operational prototypes of a pool-boiling thermal management system. Design optimality will be measured in terms of materials and energy savings, heat-exchange equipment efficiency and footprint, reduction of emissions, and process sustainability. The collaboration with our partners will ensure alignment with the industrial needs, and will accelerate technology transfer to industry. These partners will provide guidance and advice through the project progress meetings, which some of them will also host. In addition, Alfa Laval will provide brazed heat exchangers as condensers for the experimental work, Intrinsiq will provide copper ink for coating surfaces and Oxford nanoSystems will provide nano-structured surface coatings. The project will integrate the challenges identified by EPSRC Prosperity Outcomes and the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund in Energy (Resilient Nation), manufacturing and digital technologies (Resilient Nation, Productive Nation), as areas to drive economic growth.

The world around us is full of modern technology designed to make our lives safer, more comfortable and more efficient. Such technology is made possible by materials and devices that are able to interact with their surrounding environment either by sensing or acting upon it. Examples of such devices include motion detectors, fuel injectors, engine sensors and medical diagnostic tools. These interactive devices contain functional materials that can pose health hazards, are obtained from parts of the world where supply cannot be guaranteed or are relatively scarce. If access to these functional materials is restricted, many of these advances will no longer be available resulting in a reduction in living standards and decreased UK economic growth. There already exist a number of replacement materials that can provide the same functions without the same levels of concerns around safety, security of supply and sustainability. However, these replacement materials need to be manufactured using different processes compared to existing materials. This project explores new manufacturing technologies that could be used to create interactive devices that contains less harmful and sustainable materials with a secure supply. This project will focus on two types of material - thermoelectric and piezoelectric - where the replacement materials share a set of common challenges: they need to be processed at elevated temperatures; they contain elements that evaporate at high temperatures (making high temperature processing and processing of small elements difficult); they are mechanically fragile making it difficult to shape the materials by cutting, grinding or polishing; they are chemically stable making it difficult to shape them by etching; and many are air and moisture sensitive. The proposed research will address these challenges through three parallel research streams that proactively engage with industry. The first stream is composed of six manufacturing capability projects designed to develop the core manufacturing capabilities and know-how to support the programme. The second is a series of short term feasibility studies, conducted in collaboration with industry, to explore novel manufacturing concepts and evaluate their potential opportunities. Finally, the third stream will deliver focussed industrially orientated projects designed to develop specific manufacturing techniques for in an industrial manufacturing environment. The six manufacturing capability projects will address: 1) The production of functional material powders, using wet and dry controlled atmosphere techniques, needed as feedstock in the manufacture of bulk and printed functional materials. 2) How to produce functional materials while maintaining the required chemistry and microstructure to ensure high performance. Spark Plasma Sintering will be used to directly heat the materials and accelerate fusion of the individual powder particles using an electric current. 3) Printing of functional material inks to build up active devices without the need to assemble individual components. Combing industrially relevant printing processes, such as screen printing, with controlled rapid temperature treatments will create novel print manufacturing techniques capable of handling the substitute materials. 4) How to join and coat these new functional materials so that they can be assembled into a device or protected from harsh environments when in use. 5) The fitness of substituted material to be compatible with existing shaping and treatment stages found later in the manufacturing chain. 6) The need to ensure that the substitute materials do not pose an equal or greater risk within the manufacturing and product life cycle environment. Here lessons learned from comparable material systems will be used to help predict potential risks and exposures.