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，这些电子负责现代生活的大部分结构，例如：（i）呼吸和油漆干燥-氧气有2个未配对电子，（ii）计算机中的磁性数据存储（iii）涉及氧化和还原的催化作用（工业和生物）电子顺磁共振（EPR）光谱学使用微波能量在磁场中翻转未成对电子的自旋，就像核磁共振（NMR）利用射频翻转核自旋一样; EPR需要不成对的电子，而NMR需要非零的核自旋，最常见的是没有不成对的电子现有技术的EPR光谱学需要多频率方法，在曼彻斯特，我们有6个频率（称为微波波段），在1.5和94 GHz之间。能够在较低（例如9.4千兆赫）或较高（例如94千兆赫）频率下工作，对数据收集和解释都有好处，对许多问题来说，使用一个以上的频率对分析数据至关重要。越来越多地需要更复杂的实验配置，例如，通过光照射或施加电流产生自由基，或测量冷却到液氦温度的样品（约100 ℃）。4 K）。对于大多数真实的系统，如催化剂、遭受辐射损伤的生物样品或量子计算机的拟议组件，数据分析需要使用复杂且不可自动化的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，这是任何一个机构都无法做到的。事实上，曼彻斯特EPR的设备基地在世界范围内任何一个实验室都是独一无二的。该服务最初于1995年以不同的形式成立，此后每2-3年进行一次成功的评估和审查，目前已经历了重大的演变，包括2名学术工作人员，2名研究人员和1名技术人员，在一个单一的网站上提供一些秘书支持，设备基地约为200万美元。该应用程序的目的是提供一个明智的和具有成本效益的方式来提供多频EPR资源，以支持整个英国化学界从2006年春季开始的5年合并期。对该处的广泛需求包括综合（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;催化和表面;电化学;分子机理;分析科学，粒子，簇和催化;合成和加工;陶瓷和玻璃材料;聚合物材料;生物和仿生材料;电子和光学材料;磁性材料;量子信息处理;凝聚态研究;碳基电子学。该申请要求提供资金，以更换和更新老化或不再具有竞争力的基础设施的某些部分，并提供经修订和扩大的管理结构以及一套新的培训和宣传机制。

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.