A Durham-led research project has been awarded a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to revolutionise how molecular crystals are designed.
The Molecular Solid Solutions (MoSS) project, led by Professor Aurora Cruz-Cabeza, of our Chemistry Department, has been awarded £7million from the EPSRC.
The five-and-a-half-year project will see researchers across chemistry, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and computer science work together to rewrite the rules regarding molecular crystal design - and the implications could be huge.
Revolutionising molecular crystals
Molecular crystals are all around us. They are found in medicines, foods, agrochemicals, and electronics.
The way these crystals are built affects how products work.
For example, a tablet's crystals influence how fast a drug dissolves in your body, while controlling the melting points of food components is critical for taste (e.g. chocolate).
Controlling these properties is key to making safer, more effective consumer products.
The MoSS programme aims to change how we design molecular crystals.
The research team will develop ways to add tiny amounts of other molecules within the crystals of interest, creating 'solid solutions'.
This approach has transformed metals and silicon-based electronics in the past but has never been mastered for molecular crystals.
A world-first approach
Molecules have complex shapes and they interact subtlety within crystals.
This makes their design, and that of their solid solutions, significantly more complex than that of metals or other inorganic crystals.
We currently have a very limited understanding as to how molecular systems make crystalline solid solutions.
MoSS is tackling this huge scientific challenge head-on.
Professor Cruz-Cabeza, along with Durham colleagues and experts from the universities of Leeds and Manchester, will use advanced crystallisation technology, robotics, modelling, data and Artificial Intelligence to develop new rules for designing the crystals of the future.
Transforming everyday products
This work represents a major leap forward in materials chemistry and its impact could be far-reaching.
The process developed by the researchers could help create safer, more efficient medicines, environmentally friendly pesticides, healthier and tastier food products, and advanced electronics.
New formulations will give scientists precise control over crystal properties, opening doors to products that work better and last longer.
Just as making solid solutions of metals brought about the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and electronics revolution of our modern era, mastering the creation and design of molecular solid solutions could revolutionise the chemical industries of the future worldwide.
I am thrilled for the opportunity to lead this exciting project! Our dream is that, in 20 years, we will have better drugs, grow foods with more sustainable agrochemicals and use more energy efficient electronics - all containing MoSS.
