News

Super-magnetic device is big draw for Durham’s scientists

(3 January 2008)

Professor Robin Harris

Researchers at Durham University will soon have access to a powerful scientific machine that generates a magnetic field 400,000 times stronger than that of Earth.

The intense strength of the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) machine is matched by only a handful of other solid-state NMR instruments worldwide and puts the UK back on the world map for high-field magnetic resonance research. Using the same basic technology behind medical magnetic resonance scanners, the immense power of the new machine will greatly enhance scientists’ ability to understand all types of solids. It will help scientists understand the structure and motion of molecules in solids, which is essential for bringing new pharmaceutical drugs to market or in developing materials for hydrogen storage. It could also provide insights into diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Durham’s Department of Chemistry has been at the forefront of research involving NMR of solids for many years and also provides a successful research service in this area to industry and other UK universities. The new facility will allow Durham’s researchers in solid-state NMR, led by Dr Paul Hodgkinson, to carry out cutting-edge experiments in areas such as pharmaceuticals and help them understand materials that shrink rather than expand on heating. The 20 Telsa 850 MHz Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance machine is being funded by a £4million grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The machine will be available from 2009 and will be based at Warwick University, in Coventry, but will be managed by a consortium of universities including Durham, Warwick, Cambridge, Glasgow, Nottingham and St Andrews. Emeritus Professor Robin Harris, of the Department of Chemistry, at Durham, will be part of a panel of scientists from across the country managing access to the new facility. Professor Harris said: “This is a key development for research in the UK into the chemistry and physics of solids. “It will be of immense benefit for Durham’s research profile.”