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The development and application, by a UCL and Royal Institution (UCL/RI) team, of a powerful range of computational and experimental techniques has had a major impact on understanding of catalysis at the molecular level. The translation of these approaches to industry — achieved through fellowships, collaborations and employment of trained UCL/RI scientists — has had substantial impact on the development and optimisation of key catalytic systems used in energy, environmental, bulk and fine chemicals production. Computational modelling software has been commercialised by Accelrys following interaction with the UCL/RI team. Products and processes at Johnson Matthey have been developed and enhanced over a shorter timescale, ultimately leading to good returns and a sustained market position. The approaches also provided evidence that platinum-containing vehicle emission catalysts are not a source of chloroplatinates in the environment and can therefore continue to be used.
This case study focuses on the use of hydrogen in a range of applications, developing the following techniques:
Demonstrating impact in the commercial application of the techniques in the energy, environment and chemical industries; resulting in commercially viable processes and products, generating economic benefit.
Researchers within the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCL have investigated the properties of defects in bulk HfO2 and at Si/SiOx/HfO2 interfaces. Results have been used by an industrial partner, SEMATECH (SMT), to improve the quality and reliability of high-performance microelectronic devices based on transistors. This has helped SMT to meet project objectives on behalf of member companies such as Intel and IBM, and UCL research results have been consistently highly evaluated by these companies. Recommendations made by SMT have been implemented by industrial partners in their currently manufactured devices, such as the 22nm process technology released by Intel in 2011.
The UCL Department of Chemistry has for many years run a far-reaching programme of outreach and public engagement that has deep roots in the department's research programme. Its schools outreach work has promoted chemistry and science among secondary school children, while contributions to blogs, newspapers, radio, and television have engaged diverse audiences from primary school children to the elderly. Millions of people have viewed television contributions, while tens of thousands have been reached in theatres and science fairs, with positive reviews and feedback confirming a stimulation of public interest in, and understanding of, chemistry.
This Case Study illustrates how research has had a significant impact on the awareness and management of hydrogen hazards across the UK's pre-eminent nuclear decommissioning and reprocessing organisation, Sellafield Ltd (formerly BNFL). It has enabled Sellafield to:
In addition, LSBU has, since 2008, benefited from contract research from Sellafield valued at over £1 million.
UCL research underpins Government requirements to monitor the effectiveness of its policies with respect to international legislation to combat the impact of acid deposition on surface waters. UCL led two programmes: the Acid Waters Monitoring Network and the Freshwater Umbrella programme. Since 2008 these programmes have been used to: (i) set national thresholds to identify the extent of acidification of surface waters; (ii) model and measure recovery of freshwaters from reductions in acid deposition; (iii) set new acidification standards for pollution of UK rivers; (iv) determine ecological status of key UK protected habitats; and (v) guide upland forestry planting.
Research carried out at Warwick into the growth of silicon-based layered semiconductors has had a variety of impacts in the fields of microelectronics and solar energy generation. In 2004, a spin- out company AdvanceSis was created to exploit the patent portfolio of Warwick's NanoSilicon Group, with an initial £300 k of Regional Development Fund support. The company, having focused on the business of solar energy generation through concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) technology and renamed Circadian Solar, was valued at £3.5 million by the end of 2011. Further impact of the Warwick silicon research, in the period since 2008, has come in the form of joint R&D programmes with companies in the electronics and ICT sectors, including supplying advanced semiconductor materials and by providing highly skilled employees trained in the research group.
Between January 2008 and July 2013, over 10,000 key stage 4 school students and their teachers directly engaged with active research of the Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge through an annual interactive 3 day exhibition, titled "Physics at Work". In 2012 the event attracted 31 non-selective state schools and 17 selective/independent schools, 23 of which had visited the exhibition 3 or more times previously- a testament to its success. Building on the enthusiasm that the students showed during their participation in the event, teachers noted an increase in the number opting to study A-level physics and stated that those previously with no interest left with a very positive image of the subject.
Departmental research led to changes in how radiation forces on several classes of space vehicle (low earth orbit environmental measurement satellites and medium earth orbit navigation missions like GPS) are modelled by two NASA laboratories (Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Goddard Space Flight Centre). This includes NASA's adoption of a UCL model as an operational standard for Jason-1, which measured global sea level change from 2001 to 2013. Jason-1 measurements are a critical component of data supplied to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, thereby feeding into policy formulation seeking to mitigate the effects of climate change upon the entire population of Earth. The techniques also changed the way in which GPS satellite orbits are calculated, with products used by many millions of users.