A solid-state NMR instrument for Northern Ireland

核磁共振（NMR）是一种功能强大的分析技术，其应用范围从医学（MRI）到工程、材料、制药和化学科学等广泛领域。它的原理是，当原子核被置于强磁场中时，原子核会改变它们的方向，以便与磁场本身对齐，并且可以使用复杂的射频脉冲序列来探测它们的环境信息。作为分析工具的核磁共振最常见的变体是溶液态核磁共振，在这种情况下，样品在分析之前溶解在适当的，通常是氘化的溶剂中。尽管这种分析模式非常有用，但样品的溶解意味着其天然形式（通常是固体形式）结构的关键信息丢失了，这种形式也是样品经常被使用的形式。例如，作为片剂服用的药物化合物或用于医疗装置或工程应用的聚合物涂层，应作为固体而不是溶解状态进行测试。此外，现代材料，如陶瓷，复合材料，以及组织，食品和环境样品，如土壤，在普通溶剂中不溶，这使得它们与核磁共振分析不相容。随着固态核磁共振（SS-NMR）的引入，这些限制已经被克服，它能够分析固体样品，使用更强大的脉冲和复杂的信号处理。在这种情况下，科学家们能够以其原始形式直接收集有关样品结构、均匀性和纯度的宝贵信息。该技术已被应用于化学、制药和材料科学，以及食品和环境分析。在这项提案中，我们请求资助在贝尔法斯特女王大学化学与化学工程学院购买和安装一台SS-NMR仪器，这将是北爱尔兰第一个也是唯一一个，也是爱尔兰岛，英格兰北部和苏格兰极少数类似仪器之一。这项投资将为学术和工业研究人员提供更简单、更快速、更便宜的技术，从而支持北爱尔兰及邻近地区快速增长的材料、能源、制造业、食品、制药和医疗保健研究与开发。这些领域与联合国可持续发展目标以及EPSRC的战略研究主题密切相关，并将支持能源（CASE）、医疗技术（MATCH）、人工智能/机器人和未来制造（i-AMS、ECIT）方面的领先研究，以及更广泛的UKRI优先领域，如BBSRC的生物科学促进可持续农业和粮食主题（IGFS）。除了学术机构NI之外，该应用程序还得到了该地区及其他地区的主要工业合作伙伴的支持，其中包括能源，食品，制药和制造业中一些最大的熟练毕业生雇主。

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a powerful analytical technique with applications which span a wide range of areas from medicine (MRI) to engineering, materials, pharmaceutical and chemical science. It is based on the principle that atomic nuclei change their orientation when placed in a strong magnetic field, in order to align with the magnetic field itself, and can be probed for information about their environment using a complex sequence of radiofrequency pulses. The most common variant of NMR as an analytical tool is solution state NMR, in which case samples are dissolved in an appropriate, usually deuterated, solvent prior to analysis. Despite the immense usefulness of this analysis mode, dissolution of a sample means key information for its structure in its native form, usually solid, which is also the form in which the sample is often meant to be used, is lost. For example a pharmaceutical compound that is to be taken as a tablet or a polymer coating to be used on a medical device or engineering application, should be tested as solids and not in the dissolved state. Furthermore, modern materials such as ceramics, composites, but also tissue, foodstuffs and environmental samples such as soil, are insoluble in common solvents, which renders them incompatible with NMR analysis. These limitations have been overcome with the introduction of solid-state NMR (SS-NMR) which is able to analyse solid samples, using more powerful pulses and complex signal processing. In this case, scientists are able to gather invaluable information about sample structure, homogeneity and purity directly, in its native form. The technique has found applications in chemical, pharmaceutical and materials science, but also food and environmental analysis.In this proposal, we are requesting funding to purchase and install a SS-NMR instrument at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Queen's University Belfast, which will be the first and only of its kind in Northern Ireland and one of very few similar instruments on the island of Ireland, the north of England, and Scotland. This investment will offer academic and industrial researchers simpler, faster and less expensive access to this state-of-the-art technique, thus supporting the rapidly growing materials, energy, manufacturing, food, pharma and healthcare research and development in Northern Ireland, and neighbouring regions.These areas align strongly with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the EPSRC's strategic research themes, and will support leading research in energy (CASE), healthcare technologies (MATCH), AI/Robotics and Manufacturing the Future (i-AMS, ECIT), and wider UKRI priority areas such as BBSRC's Bioscience for Sustainable Agriculture and Food theme (IGFS).Apart from academic institutions NI, this application is supported by key industrial partners in the region and beyond, among which some of the biggest employers for skilled graduates in the energy, food, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing sectors.