Collisional and sliding contacts of two different materials are commonly associated with electric charge transfer, leading to charge accumulation. This causes an overwhelming number of handling and processing problems and explosion hazards, thereby degrading manufacturing efficiency and causing out of specification products and wastage. Examples are strong adhesion to containing walls and deposition in pipes, impairing flowability and aggravating segregation of components in a mixture, thereby upsetting formulations. It is common to experience highly active drugs filling up a spiral jet mill (thereby upsetting its functioning), components of a formulation preferentially depositing on grounded surfaces, getting concentration spikes of minor components of a formulation, poor powder spreading due to charging in additive manufacturing. In contrast, the phenomenon has been used to good effect in xerography and more recently for Tribo Electric Nano Generators (TENG). Despite being known for millennia, the triboelectrification phenomenon is not well understood and actually not predictable for non-metallic surfaces. The role of environmental humidity and temperature adds to the complexity. Considering its importance in advanced manufacturing of new materials, for which little material is initially available, a timely project with internationally leading-edge participation is proposed to tackle triboelectrification from a molecular level solid-state formation, right up to large scale manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients and polymers. The project has seven industrial partners and six international collaborators from Japan, Brazil, Italy and Canada, contributing to seven work packages, each addressing a topic of scientific as well as industrial interest. The activities range from molecular solid-state level work function calculations by Density Functional Theory, to particle charge transfer characterisation by developing specialised instruments for charge distribution measurement and TENG, to unit operation level, including fast fluidisation and risers, pneumatic conveying and cyclone separation. The work is of strategic interest in manufacturing, ranging from pharmaceuticals, foods and plastics to additive manufacturing. It will have a huge impact on manufacturing sustainability, as the mitigation of triboelectrification issues will have a notable reduction in wastage and environmental footprint, and on the performance and material optimisation for the fast growing new technology of TENG. The proposed programme will tackle six challenges as addressed in the Case for Support.

Psoriasis is a common, chronic, potentially disfiguring disease that affects more than 1 million people in the UK. It can cause considerable psychological and social disability. In the past 10 years there has been a dramatic improvement in clinical outcomes for patients with severe psoriasis due to the introduction of a new class of injectable drugs called biologics. These work by targeting specific parts of the immune system which are important in causing psoriasis. However, these drugs are very expensive (estimated annual cost is £10,000) and it remains the case that a significant number of patients fail to respond adequately. If we could predict which patients will do well with a particular biologic drug then we could devise new treatment plans that would be personalised for each patient rather than the current system of "trial and error" prescribing. This would be of added benefit to society as a whole since it could result in significant cost savings to the NHS and aid the pharmaceutical industry in development of new drugs. The programme of research in the Psoriasis Stratification to Optimise Relevant Therapy (PSORT) consortium aims to use existing knowledge about psoriasis, both clinical and scientific, our unparalleled patient base coupled to involvement of patient organisations and state-of -the-art investigative tools to develop tests that we can use in the clinic to help direct personalised treatments. Specific questions we will ask are: i) do levels of a drug in the blood and a patient's immune response to that drug effect outcome; ii) are there specific changes in the skin and blood that predict which drug is likely to be more useful in a particular patient; iii) is there variation in a patient's genetic make-up, linked to psoriasis and how drugs work, that may predict response to treatment; and iv) does bringing all the information collected in i-iii above, though computer based data analysis, have more power to predict response to treatment? Successfully achieving such a goal requires a number of important criteria to be met. Perhaps most importantly we need consent from large numbers of patients to enter studies and provide samples of blood and skin. From the start of the study, we have engaged with the Psoriasis Association (patient organisation) to ensure the study met with their approval. As a consequence of patient engagement, in the UK we have arguably the world's leading safety registry for patients receiving biologic drugs for psoriasis. During the lifetime of our proposal, it will have accumulated comprehensive information on 7,000 patients including responses (good and bad) to biologics. The PSORT consortium includes representatives from 4 of the largest psoriasis clinics in the UK. These will provide the source for patient recruitment. The experiments will take advantage of several factors. First, in contrast to many other chronic diseases, change in psoriasis severity is simple and accurate to determine after starting therapy. Second, target organ tissue (i.e. skin) can be sampled in a minimally invasive way by skin biopsy (patient feedback tells us that this is acceptable to them). Third, internationally competitive expertise exists across the consortium between investigators and collaborators in all of the scientific disciplines required to successfully deliver the programme. Fourth, appropriate research infrastructure exist at each of the three main centres namely Manchester, Newcastle and London. This includes the registry itself (Manchester) and NHS funded facilities (Newcastle and London). Finally, we have developed an extensive network of pharmaceutical company partners who bring specific expertise and resources to the programme. Not only will this help in achieving the short term goals but it will also provide the necessary platform for translating the outcomes into clinically useful tests.

Most chemical products are designed to have an effect, for example nutritional, hygiene, medical, disease and pest control, colouration, flavour, and preservation. Formulations are used to enhance and/or stabilise these desired effects and deliver the benefit at the point of use. The majority of formulated products in the Food, Home & Personal Care, Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, Agrochemicals, Fine Chemical, Catalysts, Coatings and Specialty Chemical sectors are Complex Particulate Products that contain solid or liquid particles (or droplets). Evidence for this is found in the breadth of companies supporting this CDT bid across these key economic sectors. The proposed CDT will train scientists and engineers capable of leading research teams for the development of new complex particulate products and the associated intensified processes (efficient, lean and agile) for their manufacture. The TSB high-value manufacturing strategy highlights the UK's need to apply 'leading-edge technical knowledge' to the 'creation of products' to underpin a technology-led economy where 'innovation in manufacturing' is a central theme. This demands a step-change in the current engineering skill-base, notably through promotion of more effective integration of research between scientists, engineers and product designers. Particle science and engineering underpins a wide-range of manufacturing sectors in the UK and across this space, there is a strong requirement for engineers and physical scientists who can iteratively translate novel materials discoveries through the design and development of scalable manufacturing processes, into innovative high-quality products (following for example a 6-sigma strategy). The shortage of highly trained researchers to support novel and sustainable manufacturing approaches in this area is a current risk for major UK based manufacturing companies as well as SMEs. Current academic training is largely analytical and focuses on materials discovery (new molecules, new materials), or on product formulation issues (physical/chemical stability, product effect), or on manufacturing and processing (scale up, unit operation, design and development of chemical and biochemical processes). There is generally little integration from materials to products with all the various processing stages needed, across the research, development and manufacturing supply chain. The efficient delivery of novel high-quality complex formulated products into the market requires a shared understanding of the challenges and limitations between researchers and practitioners working at all aspects of the product design and manufacture. This CDT will challenge the current culture of more tightly focussed research by providing comprehensive training for all students across the relevant domain space with a stroing focus on teamwork at all stages including during the PhD research phase. For the students the Centre will provide a unique training environment, combining innovative industry relevant training with world-class research supervision in a problem-led educational environment. Ultimately the combination of skills provided by the Centre will contribute strongly to the development of new research leaders in this field for both industry and academia.