Chemical biology is the scientific discipline that harnesses the ability of small molecules to perturb biological processes. It is used to improve our understanding of those biological processes, to identify the genes that control them and to discover novel compounds that can be used to improve human health or increase crop productivity. Whilst chemical biology is widely exploited in other fields, and despite its proven power as a gene discovery tool in plants, it has been slow to gain acceptance amongst plant biologists. A primary reason for this is that the methods previously available to screen small molecules for their effects on the plant phenotype are laborious and limited in the number of traits they can monitor. At Lancaster University a novel technology has recently been developed that for the first time allows Arabidopsis seedlings to be grown under conditions suitable for studying the effects of small molecules on the development of both roots and shoots. However, it is still a laborious process to screen more than a few hundred molecules using the current version of this technology, and there are some intrinsic problems that preclude reliable quantitative analysis of root architecture. In this 15 month multidisciplinary project, a team of biologists, engineers and computer scientists will address these problems to develop the 'Microphenotron', a robotic version of the phenotyping system that will automate the process of image capture and analysis. The development of the Microphenotron will greatly expand the accessibility and utility of chemical biology approaches to the wider plant biology community, leading to a greater understanding of plant gene function. It will also provide a new tool for the development of synthetic and natural molecules for improved agricultural sustainability, with resulting benefits for farmers, the environment and society.

Organic semiconductors combine novel optoelectronic properties, with simple fabrication and the scope for tuning the chemical structure to give desired features, making them attractive candidates for the applications in almost every economic and industrial sector. Organic dye-lasers (optically pumped) are currently used in communication and medical applications because their colour can be easily tuned, and they are low-cost. However, the organic dyes used in these lasers cannot be electrically pumped because of the intrinsic limitations (poor charge transport and luminance quenching) of the organic materials, which remains a major challenge for the researchers to achieve better materials, processing methods and device architectures. This project addresses the research challenges in i) achieving high performance material combinations and device structures of novel light-emitting field-effect transistor (LEFET) that eliminate any inefficiencies for, ii) developing high speed optoelectronic devices and (iii) the creation of high current density and exciton densities above lasing threshold for suitable low-loss optical feedback structures. Electrically pumped solid-state organic lasers are highly attractive technology due to their potential in achieving colours at a relative ease, that are difficult to realise with inorganic lasers, and this will allow the improvement and creation of a wide range of new applications in communications, biomdecial sensors and displays.

The Internet of Things (IoT) revolution and UK's strategy to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 requires establishing efficient energy scavenging technologies that can be utilised to power small electronic devices for sensing, processing and communicating data. The development of such technologies is essential for supporting modern societal needs in ubiquitous computing and AI. At the same time however, it becomes of vital importance that such technologies are built with environmentally friendly (green) approaches, taking into account the entire life cycle of the product - from raw materials and manufacturing to end-of-life. It is thus important to minimise as much as possible the use of toxic materials and chemicals, as well as develop procedures without the need to utilise equipment that consume huge amounts of energy. A key example is the Si photovoltaics industry that employs toxic chemicals in their production that are not easy to be recycled. It has been estimated that by 2050, over 60 million tons of waste will be generated from silicon solar panels alone. The aim of this fellowship is to develop novel self-powered electronic technologies, without the need to be operated by batteries; all developed with green materials and low-energy manufacturing techniques. Along these lines, I will use organic semiconductors (OSCs) that allow developing high-performance photovoltaic cells without resourcing to toxic materials. When compared to alternative conventional materials used in PVs my approach will allow for easy processing, low-cost manufacturing and attaining high performance. This will entail appropriate device engineering and material's processing strategies for prototyping high performing OPVs on rigid and flexible substrates. In parallel, I will develop low power consuming electronic components such as, sensors and supercapacitors, from green solvents and materials, in order to couple them with OPVs. Operation of such electronics will be mainly attained via light illumination, for outdoor and indoor conditions that will be exploited in a variety of practical applications. The overarching vision of this fellowship is to establish a new pathway in the IoT industry, enabling the use of such technologies in hard-to-reach areas, wearables and disposable biosensing platforms.

This proposal seeks to develop a set of modelling protocols to design, characterize and invent macromolecular materials for molecular capture, separation and detection. The approach combines multi-scale modelling of the structural, dynamic, electronic and optical properties of the target materials with an evolutionary algorithm (EA) approach to the selection of material designs with optimised functionality. Microscopic modelling will provide the relationship between chemical and physical structure and the fitness parameters to be optimized during the EA, while multi-scale modelling and comparison with experiment allow evaluation of the proposed structures. As examples of technologically relevant material systems, we will first study membranes for molecular separations, including small molecule separation and desalination. The methods will then be adapted to other applications, specifically porous polymer materials for photocatalysis and optical sensing, and conjugated polymer based ion sensors. An ancillary aim is to evaluate the EA approach as a tool for materials discovery.

The capture and management of ions in water systems are of widespread importance to society. One of the most prominent applications is water desalination, which is becoming an increasingly important technology due to population growth and climate change putting pressure on freshwater resources. In recent years, capacitive de-ionisation (CDI) has gained increasing attention as a potentially low-energy alternative to more common desalination methods such as reverse osmosis. CDI works by passing a saline solution through an electrochemical cell where the positive and negative salt ions are immobilized on the surfaces of oppositely-charged porous carbon electrodes. One of the advantages of CDI over other desalination methods is that following the initial ion capture step, the electrode can be regenerated by discharging into a separate effluent stock. In this step, some of the energy used for the ion capture is recovered, and furthermore, the efficient regeneration of the electrode reduces fouling. Despite the promise of CDI, its efficiency reduces at high salt concentrations. In this respect, it does not compete with other methods such as reverse osmosis for treatment of seawater. In recent years there have been considerable research efforts to extend the concentration range in which CDI is effective. Most development has focused on optimisation of materials and cell designs with considerable success, yet, surprisingly little consideration has been given to details of the the ion behaviour or the elementary processes taking place at each electrode. One of the primary considerations is to ensure that ionic charge is stored by ions being captured by the electrode, rather than being exchanged with those in the feed electrolyte (which does not reduce the salt concentration). This proposal seeks to develop a mechanistic understanding of CDI and apply this knowledge to control the ion storage mechanism to optimize the salt removal efficiency. This will be done through the use of detailed electrochemical analysis and the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), which allows us to "see" and count ions that are captured in the electrode, and correlate this with the electrochemical response and salt removal efficiency. We will investigate how the electrode pore size and electrolyte properties, such as concentration and the nature of the ions present, affect how they are captured. This information will then be used to inform and optimise the cell design and operational conditions (e.g., flow rate and cell voltage). Our proposed work is necessarily fundamental in nature with the key aim of improving the understanding of the underlying science of CDI, rather than fabrication of prototype CDI stacks. However, through our collaborations with academic and industrial partners, we aim to work with, and identify, scalable and commercially-relevant electrode materials.