A National Service for Electron Paramagnetic Resonance, 2006-2011

顺磁性材料(有时称为自由基)具有未配对的电子，这些电子对现代生活的大部分结构负责，例如：(I)呼吸和油漆干燥--氧气有两个未配对的电子，它们控制着它的反应性(Ii)计算机中的磁性数据存储(Iii)涉及氧化和还原的催化(工业和生物)电子顺磁共振(EPR)光谱利用微波能量翻转磁场中未配对电子的自旋，就像核磁共振(NMR)使用射频翻转核自转一样；EPR需要未配对的电子，而核磁共振需要非零的核自旋，最常见的是没有未配对的电子(即抗磁材料)。最先进的EPR谱需要多频率方法，在曼彻斯特我们有1.5到94 GHz之间的6个频率(称为微波频段)。能够在较低频率(如9.4 GHz)或较高频率(如94 GHz)下工作，对数据收集和解释有好处，对许多问题来说，使用一个以上频率分析数据是必不可少的。对更复杂的实验配置的需求越来越大，例如，通过光照射或施加电流来产生自由基，或测量冷却到液氦温度(约4K)的样品。对于大多数真实的系统，如催化剂、遭受辐射损伤的生物样本或拟议的量子计算机组件，数据分析需要使用复杂的非自动化软件进行计算机建模。国家EPR光谱服务的目的是向英国的化学界提供一系列设备和专业知识，在使用时免费，这是任何单独的机构都找不到的。事实上，位于曼彻斯特EPR的设备基地在任何一个实验室中都是世界上独一无二的。该服务最初于1995年以不同的形式建立，此后每2-3年成功地进行一次评估和审查，目前经历了重大演变，包括2名学术人员、2名研究人员和1名技术人员，并在一个网站上提供一些秘书支持，按当前价格计算，设备基础约为200万。该应用程序旨在提供一种合理且经济高效的方式来提供多频率EPR资源，以支持整个英国化学界从2006年春季开始为期5年的综合支持。服务的广泛需求涵盖合成(无机、生物无机、配位化学、材料、有机、聚合物、超分子)、化学生物学、催化与表面、电化学、分子机制、分析科学、粒子、簇合物与催化、合成与加工、陶瓷和玻璃材料、聚合物材料、生物及仿生材料、电子及光学材料、磁性材料、量子信息处理(QIP)、凝聚态研究、碳基电子。该申请要求提供资金，以更换和升级正在老化或不再具有竞争力的基础设施的某些部分，并提供经修订和扩展的管理结构以及新的培训和宣传机制组合。

Paramagnetic materials (sometimes called radicals) have unpaired electrons and these are responsible for much of the fabric of modern life, for example: (i) Breathing and paint drying - oxygen has 2 unpaired electrons, which govern its reactivity(ii) Magnetic data storage in computers(iii) Catalysis involving oxidation and reduction (both industrial and biological)Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy flips the spin of unpaired electrons in a magnetic field using microwave energy, just as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) flips nuclear spins using radiofrequency; EPR requires unpaired electrons, whereas NMR requires non-zero nuclear spins and most commonly no unpaired electrons (i.e. diamagnetic materials).State-of-the-art EPR spectroscopy requires a multi-frequency approach, and here in Manchester we have 6 frequencies (called microwave bands) between 1.5 and 94 GHz. There are advantages for data collection and for interpretation by being able to work at lower (say 9.4 GHz) or higher (say 94 GHz) frequencies, and for many problems the application of more than one frequency is essential to analyse the data. Increasingly there is a demand for more sophisticated experimental configurations, e.g. the generation of radicals by light irradiation or application of an electric current, or measuring a sample cooled to liquid helium temperature (ca. 4 K). For most real systems, such as a catalyst, a biological sample suffering radiation damage or a proposed component of a quantum computer, data analysis requires computer modelling with sophisticated and non-automatable software.The purpose of the National Service for EPR Spectroscopy is to provide a range of equipment and expertise to the chemical community in the United Kingdom, free at the point of use, which cannot be found in any individual institution. Indeed the equipment base in EPR in Manchester is unique world-wide in any one laboratory. The Service was initially established in 1995 in a different form and has been successfully assessed and reviewed every 2-3 years since, and has undergone major evolution currently to comprise 2 academic members of staff, 2 researchers and 1 technician with some secretarial support on a single site, with an equipment base of ca. 2M at current prices.This application is designed to provide a sensible and cost effective way to provide multi-frequency EPR resources to support the entire UK Chemistry community for a consolidated period of 5 years from Spring 2006. The wide demand for the Service covers synthesis (inorganic, bioinorganic, coordination chemistry, materials, organic, polymers, supramolecular); chemical biology; catalysis and surfaces; electrochemistry; molecular mechanisms; analytical science, particles, clusters and catalysis; synthesis and processing; ceramic and glass materials; polymeric materials; bio and bio-mimetic materials; electronic and optical materials; magnetic materials; quantum information processing (QIP); condensed matter research; carbon based electronics. The application requests funding to replace and to upgrade some elements of the infrastructure that are ageing or becoming no longer competitive, as well as providing a revised and extended management structure and a new portfolio of training and publicity mechanisms.