National Measurement System Programme Strategy

for Innovation R&D Programme

September 2014 Version 0.1.3 May 2014 - draft Version 0.1.4 July 2014 - draft Version 0.1.5 September 2014 - approved

National Measurement System

Innovation R&D Programme Strategy

July 2014

© Crown copyright 2014 Reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO

And Queen’s Printer for Scotland © LGC Limited 2014

This document has been produced with the financial support of the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) National Measurement System. It is not for general distribution and should not be cited as a reference other than in accordance with the

aforementioned contracts. Prepared by:

Helen Compton Paula Domann

NPL LGC Limited

Authorised by:

Neil Harrison Julian Braybrook

NPL LGC Limited

Approved by the National Measurement Office 4th September 2014

Contents

1. Executive Summary 2

2. Introduction 2

3. Description of Themes 3

4. Alignment with Government and Other UK Strategies 7

5. Alignment with International Strategy 10

6. Impact on documentary Standards, Legislative Requirements, Regulations and Directives

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7. Support for the SI 11

8. Knowledge Transfer and Exploitation 12

9. Annexes 13

Annex A Challenge Led Innovation Roadmaps 13

Annex B Graphical depiction of Financial Distribution of Programme 14

Annex C Case Studies 15

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National Measurement System Innovation R&D Programme Strategy 1. Executive Summary

The Innovation R&D programme aims to support and accelerate “challenge-led” innovation by developing, applying and exploiting new leading edge measurement science and technology to meet emerging industry and societal needs using an evidenced-based strategy that:

• Responds to the big issues • Supports innovation in key technologies and competitiveness in areas of economic

growth • Exploits synergies between technological disciplines • Improves quality of life

Impact will be leveraged by a coherent programme strategy that provides metrology capability in the chosen challenge areas. The programme aims to impact on these challenges with partner organisations in a 5+ year timescale and with wider impact up to a 10 year timescale. The programme has a focus on the key national challenges in the NMS strategy (2011-2015) of Growth, Energy, Sustainability and Health. The Strategy is well aligned with the priority areas of the Industrial Strategy and includes work in support of the “8 great technologies” identified as important areas for growth in the UK.

2. Introduction Programme Type: Challenge driven Programme Size: 10% of total NMS expenditure Delivered by: NPL/LGC/NEL/NMO/Gears Lab Aim To support and accelerate “challenge-led” innovation by developing, applying and exploiting new leading edge measurement science and technology to meet emerging industry and societal needs. Objectives: a) To enable technological innovation for disciplines where the UK advantage is to be gained

in the medium term, especially where specific metrology needs impact on embryonic or disruptive industrial innovation.

b) To lead the application of new metrology in the UK, and where it is beneficial to the UK, on the wider European and international stage through European initiatives such as the European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) and collaborations

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with other National Measurement Institutes (NMIs), and research organisations e.g. universities, RTO’s and industry.

c) To provide support for multidisciplinary and collaborative measurement research that engages relevant stakeholder groups, such as university, hospital and/or industry partners.

d) To transfer the technical and supporting knowledge outputs of the programme in terms of knowledge exchange and dissemination to relevant stakeholder groups, including businesses, SMEs, regulators and trade bodies.

e) To enhance relevant NMS Knowledge Base Programmes by introducing new measurement capability to them when that capability becomes mature enough to support trade, leading to global acceptance of measurement methods.

3. Description of Themes Top Level Themes The programme focuses on four main themes which are based on the national challenges laid out in the NMS strategy. Each theme contains a variable number of sub themes and is represented schematically below in Figure 1. Sub themes will change over time as new needs are identified and current needs are addressed and related measurement research and capability moves into other NMS Knowledge Base Programmes or is taken up by industry. For instance ‘Sensors’ was introduced to the programme in 2012.

Figure 1 Schematic of current challenge themes, and associated sub-themes addressed by the IRD Programme.

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Growth Sustainable and balanced growth is an overarching priority for Government and businesses alike. NMS investment is to be focussed on sectors where the UK is strong, or has the potential to be strong in international markets. The theme contains both areas of relative maturity, where novel measurements can improve processes and competiveness, and emerging areas of value to the UK, which will require sustained funding over a number of years before translation into industry. Key challenges are around:

• Improving manufacturing technologies (including in-line processing) in priority areas for the UK e.g. printed and plastic electronics, bio-pharmaceutical, biotechnology and regenerative medicine industries by developing and applying new technologies for process quality control and increasing manufacturing cost effectiveness.

• Using nanoscale measurement techniques to understand the behaviour of functional materials necessary to support innovation and emerging applications.

• Development of novel measurement capabilities in response to the needs of emerging new manufacturing processes such as synthetic biology and additive layer manufacturing.

• Provide a framework to enable the validation of emerging instrumentation, speeding up the route to new markets.

Main stakeholders are BIS, Bioindustry Association (BIA), High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, National Biologics Manufacturing Centre (NBMC), Cell Therapy Catapult (with its future manufacturing centre), contract manufacturing organisations (CMOs), MHRA, and academic and clinical institutions. More widely this includes the Health, Advanced Manufacturing, and Energy sectors. Energy Development of a national energy infrastructure that provides increased security of supply through the development of next generation technologies will be either intrinsically low-carbon or through use of renewables, providing the means for reducing or avoiding carbon emissions into the atmosphere. This theme looks at supporting UK manufacturing companies through a strong continued focus on fuel cell development, solar photovoltaics, biomass, biofuels and nuclear. Key challenges are around:

• Enabling the rational design and optimisation of fuel cells through the provision of more effective in-situ measurement and modelling tools which will lead to improvements in fuel cell performance/durability, a key barrier to commercialisation.

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• Supporting a viable UK photovoltaic supply chain through the provision of innovative, traceable efficiency measurement capability which has the potential to aid mass production of thin-film photovoltaics by reducing waste and improving performance.

• Supporting the development of the nascent UK industry in low cost organic photovoltaics by developing non-destructive evaluation methods of the impact of 3D morphology on local photocurrent generation; this technology will be critical to sustaining UK innovation in low carbon technologies.

• The use and promotion of renewable fuel sources such as biomass and biofuels through characterisation of origin and quality of feed stocks and end products (blends), as well as the effective monitoring of storage, transportation and distribution conditions.

Main stakeholders are DEFRA, DECC, Dept. for Transport, National Grid, Energy and Power providers, Biofuel Producers, Farmers and academic institutions. At NPL the Centre for Carbon Metrology is a key dissemination route for low carbon technologies to stakeholders and is directly working with companies wanting to accelerate the development or take-up of their own low carbon technologies. This theme supports the Advanced Manufacturing and Energy sectors. Sustainability Improving processes to reduce resource consumption or improve management/efficiency will focus on the high impact sectors for the UK of food, chemical, (bio) manufacturing and construction industries. This theme looks at sustainable development as a means encouraging economic growth while protecting the environment and improving our quality of life - all without affecting the ability of future generations to do the same. Key challenges are around:

• Understanding sensor networks which require the provision of traceability with validated algorithms, models and methodologies to support resource management or therapeutic interventions via multi-modal sensor network monitoring of quality critical metrics relevant to the atmosphere, building environment, industrial process control or health monitoring. Includes integrated data collection, analysis and verification.

• Improving the understanding of carbon traceability through the provision of improvements to the measurement infrastructure to support fair trading, taxation and regulation of carbon and the development of technologies to reduce environmental release of CO2, e.g. the capture and storage of carbon.

• Improving manufacturing sustainability in the energy and chemicals industries via more efficient use of feed stocks and utilisation of waste streams.

• Improving food security where any loss of consumer confidence in food security has a substantial economic effect on the food sector; evidenced through recent events

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relating to horsemeat. Understanding the impact of new technologies, such as nanotechnology which is starting to impact several aspects of the food industry, from packaging to the development of novel foods and supplements. Key properties of nanoparticles that affect food behaviour and consumer confidence require new validated analytical approaches.

Main stakeholders are DECC, DEFRA, Environment Agency, BIS, FSA ARUP, CONCAWE, energy distribution companies, food and consumer goods manufacturers, certification organisations and academic institutions. This theme covers all sectors. Health Health priorities are driven by the predicted changes in population demographics, the demands from increased globalisation on public health; the need to introduce earlier and improved diagnosis and more efficient clinical practice (precision or personalised medicine) to hospitals, at home and in the doctor’s surgery. This challenge has a focus on addressing roadblocks to the development of next generation and springboard technologies; innovation in diagnosis, therapy and prognosis, and (fit-for-purpose) translation for (right-first-time) commercial and clinical delivery. Health priorities are being driven by the increasing prevalence of age-related health issues such as cancer and dementia, the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria and infectious diseases through an increasingly mobile population, and the financial burden on the health system pushing the need for tailored therapies to patient’s needs. Key challenges are around:

• Enabling new drugs and therapies, and prognostic, diagnostic and assistive technologies to be brought to the (commercial and clinical) marketplace quicker and at lower cost, consistent with regulation.

• Improved safety and efficacy of novel (bio) pharmaceutical and regenerative medicine products, including the development and implementation of accompanying standardisation and regulation.

• Supporting the reduction in animal testing through the validation of new types of testing protocols, to the satisfaction of the regulators.

• Uptake of advances in healthcare technologies which have significant patient benefits such as precision/personalised medicine and point of care testing.

• Earlier and better diagnosis of disease through the development of robust, often at trace detection limits, measurement protocols and standards to enable detection technologies to be deployed and utilised with confidence.

• Developing performance testing standards designed to keep less able people safe and secure in their own homes.

• Overcoming challenges associated with increased reliance on complex bioinformatics. • Improved consumer product safety, including the restriction of hazardous substances

& waste electrical and electronic equipment.

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Main stakeholders are the NHS, BIS, regulators, Pharmacopoeias, the National Biologics Manufacturing Centre (NBMC), the Cell Therapy Catapult, (bio)pharmaceutical, diagnostic, medical device and cell therapy industries, clinical research organisations (CROs), certification organisations, medical testing laboratories, patients and academic institutions. The Health Sector is supported in this challenge theme. 4. Alignment with Government and Other UK strategies

4.1 BIS/NMO Strategy https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-measurement-system-strategy-2011-to-2015 The NMS strategy (2011-2015) lays out the requirement to boost innovation through exploiting the link between measurement science and technological advances. This document also sets out the main challenges for the UK of Growth, Energy, Sustainability, Health, Digital and Security, the first four of which are addressed directly under this programme. BIS Industrial Strategy https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/34607/12-1140-industrial-strategy-uk-sector-analysis.pdf The BIS Industrial Strategy recognises that UK business needs to compete and grow within an international marketplace and aims to give confidence for investment and growth in the UK. The Strategy is a long-term, whole-of government approach to support economic growth and has five main strands: Skills, Technologies, Access to finance, Government procurement & Sector partnerships. The IRD programme addresses technology development for industry sectors aiming to remove measurement barriers to innovation and provide measurement infrastructure to support market growth. Key sector areas identified for strategic partnership include:

• Automotive https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211901/13-975-driving-success-uk-automotive-strategy-for-growth-and-sustainability.pdf

• Aerospace https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/142625/Lifting_off_implementing_the_strategic_vision_for_UK_aerospace.pdf

• Agricultural technologies https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/227259/9643-BIS-UK_Agri_Tech_Strategy_Accessible.pdf

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• Life sciences https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32457/11-1429-strategy-for-uk-life-sciences.pdf

• Construction https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210099/bis-13-955-construction-2025-industrial-strategy.pdf

• Oil and gas https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175480/bis-13-748-uk-oil-and-gas-industrial-strategy.pdf

• Offshore wind https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/243987/bis-13-1092-offshore-wind-industrial-strategy.pdf

• Nuclear https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/168048/bis-13-627-nuclear-industrial-strategy-the-uks-nuclear-future.pdf

The Technologies strand is made up of the need to invest in eight great technologies (http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/eight%20great%20technologies.pdf) across a spectrum of industries where the UK has identified potential world-leading research expertise and opportunity. The IRD Programme will support cross cutting, horizontal technologies development for these areas:

• big data and energy-efficient computing • satellites and commercial applications of space • robotics and autonomous systems • life sciences, genomics and synthetic biology • regenerative medicine • agri-science • advanced materials and nanotechnology • energy and its storage.

4.2 Technology Strategy Board https://www.innovateuk.org/documents/1524978/2139688/Enabling+tec%20hnologies+-+Strategy+2012-2015/c11ba6fd-435c-4230-a3ed-4b6c29f2582a

The Technology Strategy Board is the UK’s national innovation agency, whose strategy is to accelerate economic growth by stimulating and supporting business-led innovation. The IRD programme supports the four enabling technologies prioritised by the Technology Strategy Board in areas of advanced materials; biosciences; electronics, sensors and photonics; and information and communication technology (ICT) by developing new technologies and supporting industry to adopt them. Like all NMS programmes, the IRD

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programme has a key role in supporting innovation networks by co-developing and co-delivery of measurement solutions with industry. The IRD programme supports the Technology Strategy Board’s activity in the priority areas of:

• Energy https://www.innovateuk.org/documents/1524978/2139688/Energy+Supply+-+Strategy+2012-2015/aafef9bd-6b46-4329-b4bd-9a7e42634d52

• Space https://www.innovateuk.org/space

• Healthcare: Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy, with biomedical research translation also being supported through the Biomedical Catalyst and the proposed Precision (formerly Stratified) Medicine Catapult. https://connect.innovateuk.org/documents/2843120/3724280/Stratified+Medicines+Roadmap.pdf/fbb39848-282e-4619-a960-51e3a16ab893 (Stratified medicine vision and roadmap)

• High value manufacturing https://www.innovateuk.org/documents/1524978/2139688/High+Value+Manufacturing+Strategy+2012-15/9b7e55f0-ed9a-4efe-89e5-59d13b2e47f7

• Transport https://www.innovateuk.org/transport

• Digital Services https://www.innovateuk.org/digital-economy

4.3 Other UK Government Strategies Department of Energy and Climate Change https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48335/5107-decc-science-innovation-strategy-2012.pdf The strategy sets out the work on science and innovation that DECC needs to carry out between April 2011 - March 2015 in order to meet its objectives. The carbon traceability theme in the sustainability national challenge directly supports DECC’s policy aims. Department of Health https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/246168/Final_Government_Response_to_the_House_of_Lords_Science_and_Technology_Committee_inquiry_into_Regenerative_Medicine.pdf This joint response from the Department of Health and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills sets out the actions that the government will take to support the development of regenerative medicines in the UK and metrology is a key enabler with elements sitting in both knowledge base and the IRD Programme. Defra https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/318610/evidence-strategy-defra.pdf

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NPL supports policy objectives of improving environmental monitoring through better use, design and validation of sensor networks. Food Standards Agency http://multimedia.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/strategy.pdf Environment Agency http://www.letsrecycle.com/resources/doc/news/2009/Corporate_Strategy.pdf 4.4 Research Councils A significant portion of all Research Councils funding goes to support challenge driven innovation through Grand Challenge calls. This programme is ideally placed to support these by invitation of the researcher consortia bidding into the call. EPSRC http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/strategic-plan-2010/ BBSRC http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/web/FILES/Publications/strategic_plan_2010-2015.pdf MRC http://www.mrc.ac.uk/news-events/publications/strategic-plan-2014-19/ NERC http://www.nerc.ac.uk/latest/publications/strategycorporate/strategy/the-business-of-the-environment.pdf 5. Alignment with International Strategy

The primary role of the IRD programme is to innovate for the benefit of the UK. However where aspects of the programme directly align with European interests and international research, collaborations may be used in a complementary manner to provide leveraging in terms of financial and research additionally. The major sources of such leveraging are to be found through the European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) (http://www.euramet.org/index.php?id=homepage) and European Union Horizon 2020 Programme (http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/). 6. Impact on Documentary Standards, Legislative requirements, Regulations and

Directives The Programme will provide advice on best measurement practice at a pre-standardisation stage to enable rapid uptake of new knowledge to accelerate innovation. It is the intention that implementation and development of new standards and regulations related to work in this Programme is carried out in the most relevant Knowledge Base Programme so that this Programme can continually develop and refresh its content to meet new challenges.

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The facilities and measurement capabilities developed and maintained in this programme underpin the following major standards and EU regulatory activities: • European Tissues and Cells Directive 2004/23/EEC:

http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2004:102:0048:0058:en:PDF

• Medicinal Products Directive 2001/83./EEC: http://www.edctp.org/fileadmin/documents/ethics/DIRECTIVE_200183EC_OF_THE_EUROPEAN_PARLIAMENT.pdf

• In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive: http://www.mhra.gov.uk/Howweregulate/Devices/Complyingwithlegislation/InVitroDiagnosticMedicalDevicesDirective/index.htm

• European food additives legislation: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/chemicals/files/reach/docs/events/nano-rev-ws-poudelet_en.pdf.

• BS Committee - RGM/001 Regenerative Medicine • BS Committee - BTI/001 Biotechnology • ISO Committee – ISO/TC276 Biotechnology

7. Support for the SI

The Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) ensures world-wide uniformity of measurements and their traceability to the International System of Units (SI). It does this with the authority of the Convention of the Metre, a diplomatic treaty between fifty-six nations, and it operated through a series of Consultative Committees, whose members are the national metrology laboratories of the signatory States, and through its own laboratory work. The BIPM carries out measurement-related research. It takes part in, and organizes, international comparisons of national measurement standards, and it carries out calibrations for Member States. The focus of this Programme is on support for innovation and not SI unit work. However, the programme may indicate suitable reference standards for subsequent development in the Knowledge Base programmes, and work in the Knowledge Base Programmes provides the reference points in terms of SI units and standards for this Programme.

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8. Knowledge Transfer and Exploitation The outputs of the Programme are of 10 main types. These are listed in the table below, with a description of the main exploitation routes. New take up targets may be added later. Output type Exploitation Route Current take-up

target per annum Intellectual Property Generated know-how, patenting and

licensing 2

Networks developed Stakeholder meetings and clubs with interested parties for knowledge exchange and dissemination of outputs

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Case study Studies that highlight metrology capability and benefit identified by users

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Co-funding opportunity Co-funding from industry, other government departments and grant funders (TSB, EC)

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Good news story Raising awareness through dissemination of information through news media and other channels

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Instrumentation Development of metrology instrumentation and sensor equipment Establish measurement infrastructure for co-funding opportunities and measurement services

1

Peer review publication of new science

Peer-reviewed publications largely for academic interest

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Software Development of specialist mathematical software for measurement and instrumentation applications

1

Standards Development of documentary pre-standards and their availability to interested communities

1

Trade journal article Publication targeted to people in a very specific industry, enabling users to keep up with developments and network with suppliers

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Annexes

Annex A Roadmaps The NMS Strategy 2011-2015 broadly defines the national challenges for the NMS as a whole and the NMO and Working Group members have further prioritised the NMS investment for the Innovation R&D programme to focus on:

• Growth • Energy • Sustainability • Health

Projects in the Innovation R&D programme have different key characteristics from those in the knowledge base programmes and are higher risk in nature. Multidisciplinary working brings together cross knowledge base capability to support innovation for the UK. When that capability is sufficiently developed, the activity/capability is maintained by knowledge base programme activity to achieve longer term and wider dissemination. All activities are therefore linked to knowledge base activities and their roadmaps. Therefore the IRD programme does not have its own set of specific roadmaps. The NMS roadmaps are available at http://interactive.npl.co.uk/roadmaps/

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Annex B Graphical depiction of Financial Distribution of Programme

1. Split of programme by sector – this pie chart comprises the total lifetime values of projects active at in 2013.

2. Split of programme by activity according to the 2010 NMS lexicon with the exception of Strategic Capability which belongs to the NMS Strategic Capability Programme but is monitored by the Innovation R&D Working Group. Based on lifetime project values.

£2,818,000 £67,813

£19,386,999

£686,325

£5,320,329

Development of existingcapability

Knowledge transfer

Methodology for newcapability

Programme Management

Strategic Capability

Capability split by activity type

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Annex C Case studies

1. Real Time Metrology for Fuel Cells Reproduced from: http://www.intranet.npl.co.uk/ccm/docs/technologia_imapct_report.pdf Fuel cells represent a potentially more efficient way to convert chemical energy to electrical energy than most of the current alternatives. Theoretical studies have shown that, if the waste heat from a fuel cell is captured and used, its total efficiency can approach 100%. In addition, fuel cells are effectively non-polluting. However, while these advantages have led to fuel cells being used in some applications, they have not become widespread. The obstacles have been their cost, durability and the lack of a refuelling infrastructure.

NPL has devised both new ways of making in situ measurements and new ways of interpreting the results, both of which have supported work to extend fuel cell durability. Previously, making measurements of fuel cell performance was difficult. Each cell only delivers a small voltage so they have to be put in series (a stack) to create useful voltages. The active area then has to be measured cell by cell, and reference electrodes can only gather data at the edges of a cell. NPL developed a new type of reference electrode that can be used to map the variation in potential across the entire active area of the cell while it is still in the stack. The durability of fuel cells is highly affected by non-uniformities that can lead to the development of ‘hot spots’ which can eventually cause localised failure. The new reference electrode enables more uniform designs to be created, resulting in fuel cells that last longer - a key factor affecting whether they are economic to use. The idea has already been put to use by Johnson Matthey - a global speciality chemicals company and one of the world’s leading manufacturers of fuel cell electrodes. Dr Simon Foster, from fuel cell manufacturer Intelligent Energy, was highly supportive of NPL’s contribution: “Voltage mapping is directly relevant to 30% of our R&D. All fuel cell designs are

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a compromise between different goals so the desire to achieve uniform voltage distribution has to be balanced against cost. But the technique helps us make informed design decisions that in turn should typically yield improvements in our fuel cells. We’d be looking at a 5 to 10% improvement.” The new ability to measure the cells while they are in the stack is also important. “It’s like measuring the wear on pistons without taking the engine apart” was Simon Foster’s description. “It helps us understand degradation processes and failure modes. Ultimately it may even lead to an enhanced real-time diagnostic tool. As with voltage mapping, the technique could yield a 5 to 10% improvement in performance.” There have been significant private and public investments across the world. A report on the European outlook estimates that the total European Commission contribution between 2014 and 2020 alone could range from €2.5 - €4 billion, in addition to an estimated €2 - €4 billion funding from national/regional programmes. It is asserted that public funding would thus leverage further private investment amounting to €10 - €14 billion. The UK’s share of investment (19%) is significant on the world stage. Using the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s fuel specific figures for kg of carbon dioxide per kWh abatement and assuming that fuel cells have half the carbon footprint of alternatives, the carbon saving amounts to: 0.8 million tonnes. As the technology has not been patented, UK manufacturers would not have privileged access to the technology. However, the UK’s capacity in fuel cell research is currently high in world terms, suggesting that an innovation that increases or brings forward fuel cell investment would be of particular economic benefit to the UK.

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2. Novel electrodes for organic PV Reproduced from: http://www.intranet.npl.co.uk/ccm/docs/technologia_imapct_report.pdf In the search for low-carbon energy sources that can match fossil fuels in scale, solar energy has long been one of the favoured candidates. Commercially available solar panels use a pure semiconductor material such as silicon for the active element. Organic photovoltaic cells (OPV, made from polymer materials) are an alternative and could be much cheaper to produce than silicon in the future. However, cells that use these materials are currently much less efficient than cells based on silicon, at below 12% compared to over 26% for the best silicon cells. Achieving higher efficiencies is therefore an important objective of research. A key advantage of organic cells is that they can be made flexible – enabling solar panels on apparel, posters and smart labels, for example. For these applications, flexible, transparent electrodes are needed to replace the increasingly expensive but commonly used indium-tin-oxide (ITO), which on flexible plastic substrates has much lower conductivity and cracks easily, and hence works best on rigid glass surfaces. The design of the electrode layers that carry the current is a key part of creating a functional photovoltaic cell. It must conduct the current efficiently, and must be transparent on at least one surface to allow the light to fall on the photovoltaic material. Where a polymer electrode is sufficiently flexible, it does not conduct electricity as well as ITO, so a grid of conducting wires is often used to collect the current generated within the electrode. This approach presents designers with a difficult problem: too many wires block out the light used by the cell, but too few wires result in a loss of current produced by the cell. Swiss company Sefar AG, together with EMPA, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have developed a fabric electrode where evenly spaced metal wires are weaved into a semi-transparent polymer fibre mesh so that the metal wires are only just exposed at one face of the layer. This mesh electrode was designed for cost-effective roll-to-roll fabrication. NPL scientists measured the current created at different points in the grid with very high resolution, using a method called spatially-resolved photocurrent mapping. Current generation efficiency was observed to be higher where the polymer wires were in comparison to the open areas in the mesh, indicating that there was no need to increase the open area of the meshes by rational design of the metal wire positioning. In the UK Department for Energy and Climate Change’s central deployment scenario for solar PV, it is expected to reach 11.9 GW by 2020 with around 2.6 million installations completed. Technologia estimates that OPV might achieve 1% penetration of the solar PV market by 2020, and therefore could account for 119 MW in the UK. Assuming that this is accelerated by a year, and replaces electricity generated in the UK grid, Technologia calculates that as much as 250k tonnes of carbon emissions could be saved. McKinsey estimates that global PV capacity by 2020 could be as high as 1kGW. Applying a calculation of direct proportionality from the

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size of the generation capacity, that is assuming the same levels of penetration in the global market, indicates savings on the scale of 2.3 million tonnes of carbon emissions.

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3D...the future for cells: Improved cell bioprocessing The Requirement In people with type 1 diabetes, the beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed and no longer produce insulin. More than 250,000 of these individuals in the UK are dependent on multiple daily insulin injections or insulin pumps to restore stable glucose levels. Up to a third experience dangerous low glucose levels (severe hypoglycaemia) resulting in collapse without warning. These patients may benefit from pancreatic islet transplantation, a surgical procedure in which healthy cells from a donor pancreas are transplanted into a recipient. As cells in the pancreatic islet are fragile, it is important to ensure they are in good condition prior to transplantation. The Solution LGC’s new 3D imaging approach enables rapid quantitative assessment of the health of the cells identified for transplantation. Using specialised fluorescent markers and laser scanning confocal microscopy, LGC scientists produce high-resolution optical sections through each pancreatic islet which allows living, dying and dead cells to be identified. Software algorithms developed at LGC then process and reconstruct the information to create 3D profiles of the pancreatic islets. These profiles can be used to determine whether donor cells will yield a successful transplant. Presently, light microscopy, a qualitative procedure, is used to assess the quality of the cells. However LGC’s new quality assurance procedure produces quantitative information, required for full regulatory compliance, on viability and potency of the cells. Impact LGC has been using this new method to create retrospective profiles of transplanted pancreatic islets, and is now extending the application to clinical samples. Once fully validated, the imaging system will permit pre-transplant assessment of islet quality enabling appropriate selection of donor cells which have the highest chance of a successful transplantation, as currently there is a 50% failure rate for Islet transplants. This in turn will improve the clinical outcome for patients with type 1 diabetes, with potential financial savings to the health system of >£1m. Dr Marco Baradez, Science Area Leader for Cell Biology said: “This novel tool offers the opportunity to improve the quality of life for a significant number of people with diabetes. This could only be achieved through collaborative research bringing together specialist skills, resources and knowledge from measurement and clinical researchers across the whole of the UK.” The pancreatic islet transplant programme is funded in the UK by the NHS following a bid coordinated by Prof James Shaw from Newcastle University on behalf of the UK Islet Transplant Consortium. It aims to improve clinical outcomes for patients and reduce the burden to the NHS of treatment for uncontrolled diabetes. The current work is focused around three of the UK clinical islet transplant centres in London, Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh.

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Size matters! New methods to support the nanofoods and consumer products industry: Nanoparticle characterisation methods for food security The Requirement Nanoparticles are currently defined as particles measuring between 1 nm and 100 nm. Their size means they could overcome some of the body’s defence mechanisms, such as the cellular barriers which protect against foreign objects. Therefore, in order to take full advantage of the technological benefits of nanotechnology and to sustain competitive economic growth, it is becoming increasingly necessary to ensure that nanoproducts are safe at all stages of their life-cycle and that the public and the environment are adequately protected from any adverse effects. Measuring the potential toxicity of nanoparticle-containing consumer products presents a challenge due to the complex matrix of the food or product. There is currently a lack of methodology for the reliable characterisation of inorganic nanoparticles added to food and a lack of knowledge on the stability of such materials. Therefore, analytical methods enabling accurate element quantitation and rapid size characterisation of nanoparticles in consumer products are required. The Solution LGC researchers have developed a new method, using sunscreens as a test matrix, for the characterisation of titanium dioxide nanoparticles. Sunscreens were selected for this research due to their wide use, high fat content and highly complex matrix. Such methods are essential for underpinning safety assessments, for quality control of existing products and for correlation of nanoparticle characteristics with biological effects observed in toxicity tests. Titanium dioxide is used predominantly as a white pigment in a variety of products, including coffee creamers, toothpastes and sunscreens. In sunscreens, its high refractive index protects the skin from UV radiation from sunlight. Initially, titanium dioxide was considered to be an inert mineral, non-toxic to humans and the environment. However, following its broad application range, concerns have arisen that the toxicological risk has not been investigated sufficiently. LGC’s method involves the coupling of field flow fractionation (FFF) to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and multi-angle light scattering (MALS), to provide size-resolved data on the elemental composition of nanoparticles critical to environmental and toxicological investigations of nanomaterials. This research forms the first systematic comparison and optimisation of extraction methods for titanium dioxide nanoparticles in sunscreen samples. Previous published research has demonstrated the applicability of coupling FFF to ICP-MS in order to characterise nanoparticles. LGC has built on this research by developing methods using an aluminium labelled titanium dioxide reference material as a spiking material for quality control and comparability. The novel approach of sample spiking enables the effect of extraction and separation conditions on particle size distribution to be studied. The sunscreens were analysed and compared for titanium extraction efficiency, particle size distribution and titanium dioxide recovery from the FFF channel. Using FFF-ICP-MS, the simultaneous detection of aluminium and titanium was proven, for the first time, to be very useful for tracking the spiked titanium oxide particles due to their much higher aluminium content when compared to native titanium oxide particles in the sunscreen.

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Impact The possible toxicity of poorly understood nanomaterials is cited as a major concern in the European Commission’s Public Online Consultation, ‘Towards a Strategic Nanotechnology Action Plan (2010-2015)’. Members of the public are highlighted as being concerned, not only about unknown toxicity risks (in the range of 65% to 70% of respondents) but also about the lack of adequate information imparted to the public on benefits and potential risks (64%). It is anticipated that LGC’s research will help improve understanding of how nanoparticles behave in consumer products, thereby helping the UK industry to improve their products enabling consumers to benefit from nutritionally improved and safer food and consumer products. Published in Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, and identified by reviewers at a ‘hot article’, LGC’s paper [1] was in the top 10 most downloaded papers in the first month the paper was published, demonstrating the importance of this research to the scientific community. [1] Nischwitz V & Goenaga-Infante H, Improved sample preparation and quality control for the characterisation of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in sunscreens using flow field flow fractionation on-line with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2012,27, 1084-1092

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The National Measurement System is the UK’s national infrastructure of measurement Laboratories, which deliver world-class measurement science and technology through four National Measurement Institutes (NMIs): LGC, NPL the National Physical Laboratory, TUV NEL The former National Engineering Laboratory, and the National Measurement Office (NMO).

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