PEPR - A centre for Pulse Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy at Imperial College

未成对的电子在呼吸和光合作用中起着至关重要的作用，与包括癌症和阿尔茨海默病在内的人类疾病有关，是现代计算机和许多工业用催化剂的基础。因此，该设施(PEPR)将有助于解决重大的社会挑战，如健康老龄化、可持续的能源生产和储存、更环保和更有效的化学制造催化解决方案以及开发新一代电子设备。因此，PEPR将为英国带来新的能力，建立在帝国理工学院现有研究优势和基础设施的基础上，并在伦敦、地区和英国范围内吸引新的学术用户和研究中心。PEPR推动的这项研究将对英国科学产生立竿见影的影响，不同研究学科的学术受益者，以及通过许多附属博士生和PDRA建立的重要人员管道。此外，该中心位于帝国理工学院位于怀特城的新成立和不断发展的创新园区，为鼓励学术界和工业界在共同的全球挑战中更紧密地合作提供了独特的机会。

Unpaired electrons play vital roles in e.g. respiration and photosynthesis, are associated with human diseases including cancer and Alzheimer's disease and are at the basis of the modern computer and many industrially used catalysts. We propose to set up a new research facility at Imperial College London which employs a powerful technique called ulse Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, to identify and characterise such unpaired electrons (free radicals) and gain detailed insight into the structure and dynamics of paramagnetic compounds. The facility (PEPR) will therefore contribute to solving grand, societal challenges such as healthy aging, sustainable energy generation and storage, greener and more effective catalytic solutions for chemical manufacturing and developing a new generation of electronic devices. PEPR will encompass state-of-the-art pulse EPR instrumentation and in partnership with University College London we will develop new instrumentation and methodology to push the boundaries of what is possible with EPR today and widen the applications of this already extremely versatile technique. We will do this by combining EPR spectroscopy with electrochemistry, a powerful method for investigating oxidation-reduction processes that often lie at the heart of systems with unpaired electrons and by enabling pulse EPR investigations of paramagnetic compounds that cannot be accumulated in sufficiently large quantities to be studied with current commercially-available instrumentation. PEPR will therefore bring new capabilities to the UK, build on the existing research strengths and infrastructure at Imperial College and engage new academic users and research centres across London, regionally and UK-wide. The research facilitated by PEPR will have an immediate impact on UK science, with academic beneficiaries in a diverse range of research disciplines, and a significant people-pipeline through the many affiliated PhD students and PDRAs. Moreover, the facility's location at Imperial College's newly-established and growing innovation campus at White City provides a unique opportunity to encourage academia and industry to collaborate more closely on common, global challenges. Access to the wider community will be provided through outreach events such as the Great Exhibition Road Festival and the Imperial Lates, as well as by including the facility into the tours that are already taking place regularly in the Molecular Sciences Research Hub where PEPR will be located.