EPSRC Core Equipment Award 2022 - A multi-user XRD facility for Advanced Materials research

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The primary objective of the proposed equipment is to provide rapid and regular access to powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) - a fundamental solid-state characterisation technique - to a diverse user base of research teams across the University of Liverpool (UoL). PXRD is a core analysis method used to characterise the structure of materials in the solid state. It is used by teams working across materials research that addresses EPSRC strategic themes including Advanced Materials, Manufacturing the Future, Energy, Healthcare Technologies and Circular Economy.UoL will use this capital funding to establish a PXRD Shared Research Facility (SRF) in the Faculty of Science and Engineering. Shared research equipment is critical to the development of Early Career Researchers, as they typically have access to less capital funding than established PIs. By integrating the proposed PXRD equipment into UoL's SRF scheme, UoL researchers will be able to access a high quality core characterisation technique on a free-at-the-point-of-access basis which will help to accelerate the development of ECR research.Rapid access to this fundamental technique will benefit researchers across at least four UoL departments, facilitating the discovery and manufacture of new materials by researchers in Engineering, Chemistry and Physics, and enabling the analysis of artefacts and ancient materials by researchers in Archaeology, Classics & Egyptology. The diversity of the proposed equipment's user community will generate exciting opportunities for interdisciplinary research, a culture of knowledge and equipment sharing.The new Shared Research Facility will also create opportunities to enhance the training of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, to better equip them with skills relevant for materials research in academia and industry.