A Facility for Cryo-Enabled Multi-microscopy for Nanoscale Analysis in the Engineering and Physical Sciences (Cryo-EPS)

我们正面临着围绕气候变化、清洁能源、水和可持续发展的前所未有的全球挑战--这些挑战的核心是材料解决方案。未来技术的关键材料往往在多个长度尺度上高度复杂，因此极难用单一技术来表征。它们通常涉及低原子量、可移动的元素(如氢、锂、碳、硫)，由于它们的扩散速度、反应性和传统成像技术往往非常低的对比度，这些元素在手术中的状态下最难定量表征。这类材料系统的例子包括：用于氢气生产和存储的材料、电池系统、用于产生新燃料或促进工业过程脱碳的催化剂、与混合电子技术和‘软’机器人相关的软物质和硬物质之间的接口，以及在整个工程和物理科学研究空间中至关重要的液体或液-固接口，从地质碳汇到发动机润滑，再到化学和生物工程。我们将创建一个世界领先的低温EPS设施，作为研究的协作中心，这将为英国实现净零碳未来和更可持续的社会奠定基础。它将使人们能够对与向可持续、有弹性和健康的未来社会过渡相关的一系列新技术至关重要的轻元素进行原子到微尺度的定量调查，提供将推动技术创新的新的科学见解。该设备将能够对长度数量级的轻元素进行定量调查-从微米到原子尺度，提供前所未有的机会，使我们对这些材料的结构和化学以及它们的行为的基本理解发生变化。该设施将基于一个低温中心，允许在高真空和低温条件下在三种仪器之间传输样品：(I)原子探测器，独特的定位，可定量测量轻型移动元素的化学成分；(Ii)具有真空低温保持器的透射式电子显微镜，其优化的目的是测量敏感样品的结构以及它们的局部结合环境；(Iii)等离子体FIB，以便为原子探针和透射电子显微镜制备样品，该样品既具有低污染，又具有很小的损害，并且能够进行大规模的3D成像。这些工具的结合将使英国拥有在全球范围内独一无二的强大表征能力，使英国科学家在应对重要和紧迫的全球挑战方面处于领先地位。

We are facing unprecedented global challenges around climate change, clean energy, water and sustainability - and these have, at their core, materials solutions. Critical materials for future technologies are often highly complex on multiple length scales, and hence extremely difficult to characterise with a single technique. They commonly involve low atomic weight, mobile elements (e.g. hydrogen, lithium, carbon, sulfur) that are the most challenging to quantitatively characterise in their in-operando state, due to their high rates of diffusion, reactivity and often very low contrast by conventional imaging techniques. Examples of such materials systems include; materials for hydrogen production and storage, battery systems; catalysts to generate new fuels or facilitate decarbonation of industrial processes; interfaces between soft- and hard-matter relevant to hybrid electronics and 'soft' robotics; as well as liquids or liquid- solid interfaces that are critical across the whole engineering and physical sciences research space from geological carbon sequestration, to lubrication in engines, to chemistry and bioengineering.We will create a world-leading cryo-EPS facility to act as a collaborative hub for research that will underpin the UK ambition for a net zero carbon future and a more sustainable society. It will enable the quantitative atomic to micro-scale investigation of light elements that are critical to a host of new technologies associated with a transition to a sustainable, resilient and healthy future society, providing new scientific insights that will drive technological innovation.The equipment will enable the quantitative investigation of light elements across orders of magnitude in length scale - from the micron to the atomic scale, providing an unprecedented opportunity for a step change in our fundamental understanding of these materials structure and chemistry - and ultimately their behaviourThis facility will be based around a cryo hub that will allow samples to be transferred under high vacuum and at cryo conditions between three instruments (i) an atom probe, uniquely positioned to quantitively measure chemical composition of light mobile elements; (ii) a transmission electron microscope with a vacuum-cryo holder and optimised to measure the structure of sensitive samples and also their local bonding environment; (iii) a plasma FIB to allow samples to be prepared for both the atom probe and TEM which have both low contamination and also little damage, and able to perform large-scale 3D imaging. The combination of these instruments will give the UK a powerful characterisation capability that is unique worldwide, putting UK scientists in a leading position to tackle important and urgent global challenges.