Project acronym AUGURY
Project Reconstructing Earth’s mantle convection
Researcher (PI) Nicolas Coltice
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE LYON 1 CLAUDE BERNARD
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE10, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary Knowledge of the state of the Earth mantle and its temporal evolution is fundamental to a variety of disciplines in Earth Sciences, from the internal dynamics to its many expressions in the geological record (postglacial rebound, sea level change, ore deposit, tectonics or geomagnetic reversals). Mantle convection theory is the centerpiece to unravel the present and past state of the mantle. For the past 40 years considerable efforts have been made to improve the quality of numerical models of mantle convection. However, they are still sparsely used to estimate the convective history of the solid Earth, in comparison to ocean or atmospheric models for weather and climate prediction. The main shortcoming is their inability to successfully produce Earth-like seafloor spreading and continental drift self-consistently. Recent convection models have begun to successfully predict these processes (Coltice et al., Science 336, 335-33, 2012). Such breakthrough opens the opportunity to combine high-level data assimilation methodologies and convection models together with advanced tectonic datasets to retrieve Earth's mantle history. The scope of this project is to produce a new generation of tectonic and convection reconstructions, which are key to improve our understanding and knowledge of the evolution of the solid Earth. The development of sustainable high performance numerical models will set new standards for geodynamic data assimilation. The outcome of the AUGURY project will be a new generation of models crucial to a wide variety of disciplines.
Summary
Knowledge of the state of the Earth mantle and its temporal evolution is fundamental to a variety of disciplines in Earth Sciences, from the internal dynamics to its many expressions in the geological record (postglacial rebound, sea level change, ore deposit, tectonics or geomagnetic reversals). Mantle convection theory is the centerpiece to unravel the present and past state of the mantle. For the past 40 years considerable efforts have been made to improve the quality of numerical models of mantle convection. However, they are still sparsely used to estimate the convective history of the solid Earth, in comparison to ocean or atmospheric models for weather and climate prediction. The main shortcoming is their inability to successfully produce Earth-like seafloor spreading and continental drift self-consistently. Recent convection models have begun to successfully predict these processes (Coltice et al., Science 336, 335-33, 2012). Such breakthrough opens the opportunity to combine high-level data assimilation methodologies and convection models together with advanced tectonic datasets to retrieve Earth's mantle history. The scope of this project is to produce a new generation of tectonic and convection reconstructions, which are key to improve our understanding and knowledge of the evolution of the solid Earth. The development of sustainable high performance numerical models will set new standards for geodynamic data assimilation. The outcome of the AUGURY project will be a new generation of models crucial to a wide variety of disciplines.
Max ERC Funding
1 994 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-03-01, End date: 2020-02-29
Project acronym BLACARAT
Project "Black Carbon in the Atmosphere: Emissions, Aging and Cloud Interactions"
Researcher (PI) Martin Gysel Beer
Host Institution (HI) PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUT
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE10, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary "Atmospheric aerosol particles have been shown to impact the earth's climate because they scatter and absorb solar radiation (direct effect) and because they can modify the microphysical properties of clouds by acting as cloud condensation nuclei or ice nuclei (indirect effects). Radiative forcing by anthropogenic aerosols remains poorly quantified, thus leading to considerable uncertainty in our understanding of the earth’s climate response to the radiative forcing by greenhouse gases. Black carbon (BC), mostly emitted by anthropogenic combustion processes and biomass burning, is an important component of atmospheric aerosols. Estimates show that BC may be the second strongest contributor (after CO2) to global warming. Adverse health effects due to particulate air pollution have also been associated with traffic-related BC particles. These climate and health effects brought BC emission reductions into the political focus of possible mitigation strategies with immediate and multiple benefits for human well-being.
Laboratory experiments aim at the physical and chemical characterisation of BC emissions from diesel engines and biomass burning under controlled conditions. A mobile laboratory equipped with state-of-the-art aerosol sensors will be used to determine the contribution of different BC sources to atmospheric BC loadings, and to investigate the evolution of the relevant BC properties with atmospheric aging during transport from sources to remote areas. The interactions of BC particles with clouds as a function of BC properties will be investigated with in-situ measurements by operating quantitative single particle instruments behind a novel sampling inlet, which makes selective sampling of interstitial, cloud droplet residual or ice crystal residual particles possible. Above experimental studies aim at improving our understanding of BC’s atmospheric life cycle and will be used in model simulations for quantitatively assessing the atmospheric impacts of BC."
Summary
"Atmospheric aerosol particles have been shown to impact the earth's climate because they scatter and absorb solar radiation (direct effect) and because they can modify the microphysical properties of clouds by acting as cloud condensation nuclei or ice nuclei (indirect effects). Radiative forcing by anthropogenic aerosols remains poorly quantified, thus leading to considerable uncertainty in our understanding of the earth’s climate response to the radiative forcing by greenhouse gases. Black carbon (BC), mostly emitted by anthropogenic combustion processes and biomass burning, is an important component of atmospheric aerosols. Estimates show that BC may be the second strongest contributor (after CO2) to global warming. Adverse health effects due to particulate air pollution have also been associated with traffic-related BC particles. These climate and health effects brought BC emission reductions into the political focus of possible mitigation strategies with immediate and multiple benefits for human well-being.
Laboratory experiments aim at the physical and chemical characterisation of BC emissions from diesel engines and biomass burning under controlled conditions. A mobile laboratory equipped with state-of-the-art aerosol sensors will be used to determine the contribution of different BC sources to atmospheric BC loadings, and to investigate the evolution of the relevant BC properties with atmospheric aging during transport from sources to remote areas. The interactions of BC particles with clouds as a function of BC properties will be investigated with in-situ measurements by operating quantitative single particle instruments behind a novel sampling inlet, which makes selective sampling of interstitial, cloud droplet residual or ice crystal residual particles possible. Above experimental studies aim at improving our understanding of BC’s atmospheric life cycle and will be used in model simulations for quantitatively assessing the atmospheric impacts of BC."
Max ERC Funding
1 992 015 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-03-01, End date: 2019-02-28
Project acronym CHRONOS
Project A geochemical clock to measure timescales of volcanic eruptions
Researcher (PI) Diego Perugini
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PERUGIA
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE10, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary "The eruption of volcanoes appears one of the most unpredictable phenomena on Earth. Yet the situation is rapidly changing. Quantification of the eruptive record constrains what is possible in a given volcanic system. Timing is the hardest part to quantify.
The main process triggering an eruption is the refilling of a sub-volcanic magma chamber by a new magma coming from depth. This process results in magma mixing and provokes a time-dependent diffusion of chemical elements. Understanding the time elapsed from mixing to eruption is fundamental to discerning pre-eruptive behaviour of volcanoes to mitigate the huge impact of volcanic eruptions on society and the environment.
The CHRONOS project proposes a new method that will cut the Gordian knot of the presently intractable problem of volcanic eruption timing using a surgical approach integrating textural, geochemical and experimental data on magma mixing. I will use the compositional heterogeneity frozen in time in the rocks the same way a broken clock at a crime scene is used to determine the time of the incident. CHRONOS will aim to:
1) be the first study to reproduce magma mixing, by performing unique experiments constrained by natural data and using natural melts, under controlled rheological and fluid-dynamics conditions;
2) obtain unprecedented high-quality data on the time dependence of chemical exchanges during magma mixing;
3) derive empirical relationships linking the extent of chemical exchanges and the mixing timescales;
4) determine timescales of volcanic eruptions combining natural and experimental data.
CHRONOS will open a new window on the physico-chemical processes occurring in the days preceding volcanic eruptions providing unprecedented information to build the first inventory of eruption timescales for planet Earth. If these timescales can be linked with geophysical signals occurring prior to eruptions, this inventory will have an immense value, enabling precise prediction of volcanic eruptions."
Summary
"The eruption of volcanoes appears one of the most unpredictable phenomena on Earth. Yet the situation is rapidly changing. Quantification of the eruptive record constrains what is possible in a given volcanic system. Timing is the hardest part to quantify.
The main process triggering an eruption is the refilling of a sub-volcanic magma chamber by a new magma coming from depth. This process results in magma mixing and provokes a time-dependent diffusion of chemical elements. Understanding the time elapsed from mixing to eruption is fundamental to discerning pre-eruptive behaviour of volcanoes to mitigate the huge impact of volcanic eruptions on society and the environment.
The CHRONOS project proposes a new method that will cut the Gordian knot of the presently intractable problem of volcanic eruption timing using a surgical approach integrating textural, geochemical and experimental data on magma mixing. I will use the compositional heterogeneity frozen in time in the rocks the same way a broken clock at a crime scene is used to determine the time of the incident. CHRONOS will aim to:
1) be the first study to reproduce magma mixing, by performing unique experiments constrained by natural data and using natural melts, under controlled rheological and fluid-dynamics conditions;
2) obtain unprecedented high-quality data on the time dependence of chemical exchanges during magma mixing;
3) derive empirical relationships linking the extent of chemical exchanges and the mixing timescales;
4) determine timescales of volcanic eruptions combining natural and experimental data.
CHRONOS will open a new window on the physico-chemical processes occurring in the days preceding volcanic eruptions providing unprecedented information to build the first inventory of eruption timescales for planet Earth. If these timescales can be linked with geophysical signals occurring prior to eruptions, this inventory will have an immense value, enabling precise prediction of volcanic eruptions."
Max ERC Funding
1 993 813 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-05-01, End date: 2019-04-30
Project acronym DROUGHT-HEAT
Project Land-Climate Interactions: Constraints for Droughts and Heatwaves in a Changing Climate
Researcher (PI) Sonia Isabelle Seneviratne
Host Institution (HI) EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE10, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary "Land-climate interactions mediated through soil moisture and vegetation play a critical role in the climate system, in particular for the occurrence of extreme events such as droughts and heatwaves. They are, however, poorly constrained in current Earth System Models (ESMs), leading to large uncertainties in climate projections. These uncertainties affect the quality and accuracy of projections of temperature, water availability, and carbon concentrations, as well as that of projected impacts on agriculture, ecosystems, and health.
In the past years, in-situ and remote sensing-based datasets of soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and energy and carbon fluxes have become increasingly available, providing untapped potential for reducing associated uncertainties in current climate models. The DROUGHT-HEAT project aims at innovatively exploiting these new information sources in order to 1) derive observations-based diagnostics to quantify and isolate the role of land-climate interactions in past extreme events (""Diagnostic Atlas""), 2) evaluate and improve current ESMs and constrain climate-change projections using the derived diagnostics, and 3) apply the newly gained knowledge to frontier developments in the attribution of climate extremes to land processes and their mitigation through ""land geoengineering"".
The DROUGHT-HEAT project integrates the newest land observational datasets with the latest stream of ESMs. Novel methodologies will be applied to extract functional relationships from the data, and identify key gaps in the ESMs' representation of underlying processes. These will build on physically-based relationships, machine learning tools, and model calibration. In addition, they will encompass the mapping and merging of derived diagnostics in space and time to reduce ""blank spaces"" in the datasets. The project is unprecedented in its breadth and scope and will allow a major breakthrough in our understanding of the processes leading to heatwaves and droughts."
Summary
"Land-climate interactions mediated through soil moisture and vegetation play a critical role in the climate system, in particular for the occurrence of extreme events such as droughts and heatwaves. They are, however, poorly constrained in current Earth System Models (ESMs), leading to large uncertainties in climate projections. These uncertainties affect the quality and accuracy of projections of temperature, water availability, and carbon concentrations, as well as that of projected impacts on agriculture, ecosystems, and health.
In the past years, in-situ and remote sensing-based datasets of soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and energy and carbon fluxes have become increasingly available, providing untapped potential for reducing associated uncertainties in current climate models. The DROUGHT-HEAT project aims at innovatively exploiting these new information sources in order to 1) derive observations-based diagnostics to quantify and isolate the role of land-climate interactions in past extreme events (""Diagnostic Atlas""), 2) evaluate and improve current ESMs and constrain climate-change projections using the derived diagnostics, and 3) apply the newly gained knowledge to frontier developments in the attribution of climate extremes to land processes and their mitigation through ""land geoengineering"".
The DROUGHT-HEAT project integrates the newest land observational datasets with the latest stream of ESMs. Novel methodologies will be applied to extract functional relationships from the data, and identify key gaps in the ESMs' representation of underlying processes. These will build on physically-based relationships, machine learning tools, and model calibration. In addition, they will encompass the mapping and merging of derived diagnostics in space and time to reduce ""blank spaces"" in the datasets. The project is unprecedented in its breadth and scope and will allow a major breakthrough in our understanding of the processes leading to heatwaves and droughts."
Max ERC Funding
1 952 285 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-09-01, End date: 2019-08-31
Project acronym EARTHSEQUENCING
Project A new approach to sequence Earth history at high resolution over the past 66 million years
Researcher (PI) Heiko Pälike
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAET BREMEN
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE10, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary "One major challenge to be addressed by this proposal is to overcome fundamental obstacles to generate a first high-resolution and continuous fully integrated record of geological events, ages and durations
(a ‘sequence of Earth history’) for the past 66 million years, anchored to the present, to extract properties of Earth’s and solar system orbital motion, and then to apply this time scale to solve first order questions about Earth’s climate system and Earth System sensitivity. The project will bridge the long-standing ‘Eocene tuning gap’, primarily using spectacular new data recovered during Integrated Ocean Drilling Expedition 342 and integrated with a new consistent and integrated approach with existing data that currently only provide time sequences floating in time, not anchored to the present. The proposal will extract astronomical parameters (tidal dissipation, dynamical ellipticity) and verify astronomical models to provide long term amplitude modulation patterns of Earth’s orbital variations (obliquity and short eccentricity) beyond 40 million years before present. It will also search for the fingerprint of chaotic transitions in the solar system that will allow astronomical models to be tested. The improved geologic time scale will then be applied, exploited, and combined with modern Earth System Models of Intermediate Complexity to quantify Earth System sensitivity to orbital forcing during a world of elevated carbon-dioxide concentrations during the ‘greenhouse’ Paleogene. Using novel new pattern matching and recognition algorithms as well as time series analysis methods, the full record of Earth history will be fully integrated and analysed with a consistent and documented workflow. This development will have the ground-breaking potential to take ‘Earth sequencing’ to the next level."
Summary
"One major challenge to be addressed by this proposal is to overcome fundamental obstacles to generate a first high-resolution and continuous fully integrated record of geological events, ages and durations
(a ‘sequence of Earth history’) for the past 66 million years, anchored to the present, to extract properties of Earth’s and solar system orbital motion, and then to apply this time scale to solve first order questions about Earth’s climate system and Earth System sensitivity. The project will bridge the long-standing ‘Eocene tuning gap’, primarily using spectacular new data recovered during Integrated Ocean Drilling Expedition 342 and integrated with a new consistent and integrated approach with existing data that currently only provide time sequences floating in time, not anchored to the present. The proposal will extract astronomical parameters (tidal dissipation, dynamical ellipticity) and verify astronomical models to provide long term amplitude modulation patterns of Earth’s orbital variations (obliquity and short eccentricity) beyond 40 million years before present. It will also search for the fingerprint of chaotic transitions in the solar system that will allow astronomical models to be tested. The improved geologic time scale will then be applied, exploited, and combined with modern Earth System Models of Intermediate Complexity to quantify Earth System sensitivity to orbital forcing during a world of elevated carbon-dioxide concentrations during the ‘greenhouse’ Paleogene. Using novel new pattern matching and recognition algorithms as well as time series analysis methods, the full record of Earth history will be fully integrated and analysed with a consistent and documented workflow. This development will have the ground-breaking potential to take ‘Earth sequencing’ to the next level."
Max ERC Funding
1 998 343 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-04-01, End date: 2019-03-31
Project acronym EXTREME
Project EXtreme Tectonics and Rapid Erosion in Mountain Environments
Researcher (PI) Todd Alan Ehlers
Host Institution (HI) EBERHARD KARLS UNIVERSITAET TUEBINGEN
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE10, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary "Tectonic plate corners are hotspots for high rates of continental deformation and erosion, and associated with human-relevant hazards including poorly understood earthquakes, destructive landslides, and extreme climate. A better understanding of continental deformation can mitigate these hazards. However, the coupling between climate and tectonic interactions at plate corners is a key unknown and the focus of this study. My recent work, published in international journals including Science and Nature, quantifies mountain building and climate change and provides a baseline for an innovative study of plate corner dynamics.
This proposal challenges the geoscience ‘tectonic aneurysm’ paradigm that rapid deformation and erosion at plate corners is initiated from the “top down” by localized precipitation, and erosion. Rather, I hypothesize that these processes are: 1) initiated from the “bottom up” by the 3D geometry of the subducting plate; and 2) require a threshold rate of both “bottom up” deformation and surface erosion to initiate a feedback between climate and tectonics.
I propose, for the first time, a holistic modeling and data collection approach that quantifies the temporal and spatial evolution of all aspects of plate corner evolution, including: 3D thermomechanical modeling of plate corner deformation and uplift for different plate geometries; Atmospheric modeling to quantify the climate response to evolving topography, a topic spearheaded by my research group; And surface process modeling to close the loop and couple the atmospheric and mechanical models. Model predictions will be vetted against observed deformation and erosion histories from existing and new cosmogenic isotope and thermochronometer data from end-member locations including the Himalaya, Alaskan, Olympic, and Andean plate corners. EXTREME will produce a globally integrated atmospheric and solid Earth understanding of continental deformation, a task only possible at the scale of an ERC grant."
Summary
"Tectonic plate corners are hotspots for high rates of continental deformation and erosion, and associated with human-relevant hazards including poorly understood earthquakes, destructive landslides, and extreme climate. A better understanding of continental deformation can mitigate these hazards. However, the coupling between climate and tectonic interactions at plate corners is a key unknown and the focus of this study. My recent work, published in international journals including Science and Nature, quantifies mountain building and climate change and provides a baseline for an innovative study of plate corner dynamics.
This proposal challenges the geoscience ‘tectonic aneurysm’ paradigm that rapid deformation and erosion at plate corners is initiated from the “top down” by localized precipitation, and erosion. Rather, I hypothesize that these processes are: 1) initiated from the “bottom up” by the 3D geometry of the subducting plate; and 2) require a threshold rate of both “bottom up” deformation and surface erosion to initiate a feedback between climate and tectonics.
I propose, for the first time, a holistic modeling and data collection approach that quantifies the temporal and spatial evolution of all aspects of plate corner evolution, including: 3D thermomechanical modeling of plate corner deformation and uplift for different plate geometries; Atmospheric modeling to quantify the climate response to evolving topography, a topic spearheaded by my research group; And surface process modeling to close the loop and couple the atmospheric and mechanical models. Model predictions will be vetted against observed deformation and erosion histories from existing and new cosmogenic isotope and thermochronometer data from end-member locations including the Himalaya, Alaskan, Olympic, and Andean plate corners. EXTREME will produce a globally integrated atmospheric and solid Earth understanding of continental deformation, a task only possible at the scale of an ERC grant."
Max ERC Funding
1 999 956 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-04-01, End date: 2019-03-31
Project acronym HELENA
Project Heavy-Element Nanowires
Researcher (PI) Erik Petrus Antonius Maria Bakkers
Host Institution (HI) TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE5, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary "Nanowires are a powerful and versatile platform for a broad range of applications. Among all semiconductors, the heavy-elements materials exhibit the highest electron mobilities, strongest spin-orbit coupling and best thermoelectric properties. Nonetheless, heavy-element nanowires have been unexplored. With this proposal we unite the unique advantages of design freedom of nanowires with the special properties of heavy-element semiconductors. We specifically reveal the potential of heavy-element nanowires in the areas of thermoelectrics, and topological insulators. Using our strong track record in this area, we will pioneer the synthesis of this new class of materials and study their intrinsic materials properties. Starting point are nanowires of InSb and PbTe grown using the vapor-liquid-solid mechanism. Our aims are 1) to obtain highest-possible electron mobilities for these bottom-up fabricated materials by investigating new materials combinations of different semiconductor classes to effectively passivate the nanowire surface and we will eliminate impurities; 2) to investigate and optimize thermoelectric properties by developing advanced superlattice and core/shell nanowire structures where electronic and phononic transport is decoupled; and 3) to fabricate high-quality planar nanowire networks, which enable four-point electronic transport measurements and allow precisely determining carrier concentration and mobility. Besides the fundamentally interesting materials science, the heavy-element nanowires will have major impact on the fields of renewable energy, new (quasi) particles and quantum information processing. Recently, the first signatures of Majorana fermions have been observed in our InSb nanowires. With the proposed nanowire networks the special properties of this recently discovered particle can be tested for the first time."
Summary
"Nanowires are a powerful and versatile platform for a broad range of applications. Among all semiconductors, the heavy-elements materials exhibit the highest electron mobilities, strongest spin-orbit coupling and best thermoelectric properties. Nonetheless, heavy-element nanowires have been unexplored. With this proposal we unite the unique advantages of design freedom of nanowires with the special properties of heavy-element semiconductors. We specifically reveal the potential of heavy-element nanowires in the areas of thermoelectrics, and topological insulators. Using our strong track record in this area, we will pioneer the synthesis of this new class of materials and study their intrinsic materials properties. Starting point are nanowires of InSb and PbTe grown using the vapor-liquid-solid mechanism. Our aims are 1) to obtain highest-possible electron mobilities for these bottom-up fabricated materials by investigating new materials combinations of different semiconductor classes to effectively passivate the nanowire surface and we will eliminate impurities; 2) to investigate and optimize thermoelectric properties by developing advanced superlattice and core/shell nanowire structures where electronic and phononic transport is decoupled; and 3) to fabricate high-quality planar nanowire networks, which enable four-point electronic transport measurements and allow precisely determining carrier concentration and mobility. Besides the fundamentally interesting materials science, the heavy-element nanowires will have major impact on the fields of renewable energy, new (quasi) particles and quantum information processing. Recently, the first signatures of Majorana fermions have been observed in our InSb nanowires. With the proposed nanowire networks the special properties of this recently discovered particle can be tested for the first time."
Max ERC Funding
2 698 447 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-09-01, End date: 2019-08-31
Project acronym I-SURF
Project Inorganic surfactants with multifunctional heads
Researcher (PI) Sebastian Polarz
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT KONSTANZ
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE5, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary "Surfactants are molecules of enormous scientific and technological importance, which are widely used as detergents, emulsifiers or for the preparation of diverse nanostructures. Fascinating abilities regarding the formation of self-organized structures, like micelles or liquid crystals, originate from their amphiphilic architecture, which comprises a polar head group linked to a hydrophobic chain. While almost all known surfactants are organic, a new family of surfactants is now emerging, which combine amphiphilic properties with the advanced functionality of transition metal building blocks. The current project aims at the synthesis of unique inorganic surfactants (I-SURFs), which contain multinuclear, charged metal-oxo entities as heads, and their exploration with regard to additional redox, catalytic or magnetic functionalities. A particular challenge is the creation of smart surfactant systems that can be controlled via external stimuli. While thermotropic liquid crystals and their adjustment in electric fields (enabling LCDs) have been studied in depth, very limited research concerns the control of self-assembled amphiphilic structures by use of magnetic fields. It is obvious that exposure to a magnetic field has inherent advantages over electric fields for controlling structures in water. I-SURFs with single-molecule magnets as heads will be thus prepared and studied. Another groundbreaking task is the creation of I-SURFs with additional catalytic activities. Since catalytic heads can be positioned via self-organization, for instance on the surface of micellar aggregates, catalytic relay systems can be assembled with a second catalytic species in proximity to the first. Thus, cooperative effects in catalytic tandem reactions will ultimately be observed. These examples show that frontier research on I-SURFs is of outstanding relevance for supramolecular science and will certainly pave the way toward new technological applications with great benefits to society."
Summary
"Surfactants are molecules of enormous scientific and technological importance, which are widely used as detergents, emulsifiers or for the preparation of diverse nanostructures. Fascinating abilities regarding the formation of self-organized structures, like micelles or liquid crystals, originate from their amphiphilic architecture, which comprises a polar head group linked to a hydrophobic chain. While almost all known surfactants are organic, a new family of surfactants is now emerging, which combine amphiphilic properties with the advanced functionality of transition metal building blocks. The current project aims at the synthesis of unique inorganic surfactants (I-SURFs), which contain multinuclear, charged metal-oxo entities as heads, and their exploration with regard to additional redox, catalytic or magnetic functionalities. A particular challenge is the creation of smart surfactant systems that can be controlled via external stimuli. While thermotropic liquid crystals and their adjustment in electric fields (enabling LCDs) have been studied in depth, very limited research concerns the control of self-assembled amphiphilic structures by use of magnetic fields. It is obvious that exposure to a magnetic field has inherent advantages over electric fields for controlling structures in water. I-SURFs with single-molecule magnets as heads will be thus prepared and studied. Another groundbreaking task is the creation of I-SURFs with additional catalytic activities. Since catalytic heads can be positioned via self-organization, for instance on the surface of micellar aggregates, catalytic relay systems can be assembled with a second catalytic species in proximity to the first. Thus, cooperative effects in catalytic tandem reactions will ultimately be observed. These examples show that frontier research on I-SURFs is of outstanding relevance for supramolecular science and will certainly pave the way toward new technological applications with great benefits to society."
Max ERC Funding
1 863 546 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-03-01, End date: 2019-02-28
Project acronym InanoMOF
Project Multifunctional micro- and nanostructures assembled from nanoscale metal-organic frameworks and inorganic nanoparticles
Researcher (PI) Daniel Maspoch Comamala
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO INSTITUT CATALA DE NANOCIENCIA I NANOTECNOLOGIA
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE5, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary In InanoMOF, we aim to develop frontier Supramolecular and Nanochemistry methodologies for the synthesis of a novel class of structures via controlled assembly of nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (nanoMOFs) and inorganic nanoparticles (INPs). These methods will embody the premise that “controlled object-by-object nano-assembly is a ground-breaking approach to explore for producing systems of higher complexity with advanced functions”. The resulting hybrid nanoMOF@INPs will marry the unique properties of INPs (magnetism of iron oxide NPs and optics of Au NPs) to the functional porosity of MOFs.
The first part of InanoMOF encompasses the design, synthesis-assembly and characterisation of nanoMOF@INPs - advanced MOF-based sorbents that incorporate the functionality of the INPs used: magnetically controlled movement, in vivo detectability, enhanced biocompatibility and porosity, pollutant removal, or controlled sorption/delivery. The second part of InanoMOF entails studying the physicochemical properties of the synthesised nanoMOF@INPs and ascertaining their utility as drug-delivery/theranostic systems and as magnetic sorbents for pollutant removal. Specifically, we will study their stability in working media and determine their capacities for drug or pollutant sorption/delivery capacities. As proof-of-concept, we will study their toxicity in vitro and in vivo; enhancement of their in vitro therapeutic efficacy; and their capacity to remove pollutants (in real water and gasoline/diesel fuel samples) via magnetic assistance.
In InanoMOF we will endeavour to establish the synthetic bases for controlling the spatial ordering of nanoMOF crystals, whether alone or combined with other nanomaterials (e.g. INPs, graphene, etc.). We are confident that our work will ultimately enable researchers to create MOF-based composites having cooperative and synergistic properties and functions for myriad applications (e.g. heterogeneous catalysis, sensing and separation).
Summary
In InanoMOF, we aim to develop frontier Supramolecular and Nanochemistry methodologies for the synthesis of a novel class of structures via controlled assembly of nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (nanoMOFs) and inorganic nanoparticles (INPs). These methods will embody the premise that “controlled object-by-object nano-assembly is a ground-breaking approach to explore for producing systems of higher complexity with advanced functions”. The resulting hybrid nanoMOF@INPs will marry the unique properties of INPs (magnetism of iron oxide NPs and optics of Au NPs) to the functional porosity of MOFs.
The first part of InanoMOF encompasses the design, synthesis-assembly and characterisation of nanoMOF@INPs - advanced MOF-based sorbents that incorporate the functionality of the INPs used: magnetically controlled movement, in vivo detectability, enhanced biocompatibility and porosity, pollutant removal, or controlled sorption/delivery. The second part of InanoMOF entails studying the physicochemical properties of the synthesised nanoMOF@INPs and ascertaining their utility as drug-delivery/theranostic systems and as magnetic sorbents for pollutant removal. Specifically, we will study their stability in working media and determine their capacities for drug or pollutant sorption/delivery capacities. As proof-of-concept, we will study their toxicity in vitro and in vivo; enhancement of their in vitro therapeutic efficacy; and their capacity to remove pollutants (in real water and gasoline/diesel fuel samples) via magnetic assistance.
In InanoMOF we will endeavour to establish the synthetic bases for controlling the spatial ordering of nanoMOF crystals, whether alone or combined with other nanomaterials (e.g. INPs, graphene, etc.). We are confident that our work will ultimately enable researchers to create MOF-based composites having cooperative and synergistic properties and functions for myriad applications (e.g. heterogeneous catalysis, sensing and separation).
Max ERC Funding
1 942 665 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-04-01, End date: 2019-03-31
Project acronym IONPAIRSATCATALYSIS
Project Design Principles of Ion Pairs in Organocatalysis – Elucidation of Structures, Intermediates and Stereoselection Modes as well as Assessment of Individual Interaction Contributions
Researcher (PI) Ruth Maria Gschwind
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAET REGENSBURG
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE5, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary Ions are nearly omnipresent in chemistry and biochemistry. By providing the highest intermolecular interaction energies, ionic interactions have an extreme impact on molecular structures, which are the key to molecular functions. Experimentally determined structures of small contact ion pairs in solution are very rare and sometimes lacking in complete research fields. In addition, despite the amazing progress in theoretical and supramolecular chemistry, the subtle interplay of interactions in small organic ion pairs remains largely unknown. As a result design principles for small organic ion pairs in solution are not available. To solve this general problem there is an urgent and actual need of the synthetic community, because ion-pairing catalysis is the actual hot topic in asymmetric catalysis. There, new catalysts have to be screened with high effort in a black box mode and reviews state that structural and mechanistic studies will be an essential part of the further progress in the field. In previous projects spread over the fields of organometallic, bioorganic, supramolecular and medicinal chemistry as well as transition metal catalysis and organocatalysis, we gained special NMR expertise in the structure elucidation of ion pairs and reaction intermediates as well as the assessment of intermolecular interactions. Now in this project, nearly all of these various techniques and approaches will be combined in a new and so far unprecedented way and complemented by techniques used for protein ligand interactions and extreme low temperature measurements. With this unique combination, NMR approaches will be developed and applied to elucidate the structures of catalytically active ion pairs and their intermediates in solution and to dissect their intermolecular interactions. The resulting detailed design concept for small ion pairs in solution will revolutionize not only ion-pairing catalysis but all scientific fields working with organic ion pairs in solution.
Summary
Ions are nearly omnipresent in chemistry and biochemistry. By providing the highest intermolecular interaction energies, ionic interactions have an extreme impact on molecular structures, which are the key to molecular functions. Experimentally determined structures of small contact ion pairs in solution are very rare and sometimes lacking in complete research fields. In addition, despite the amazing progress in theoretical and supramolecular chemistry, the subtle interplay of interactions in small organic ion pairs remains largely unknown. As a result design principles for small organic ion pairs in solution are not available. To solve this general problem there is an urgent and actual need of the synthetic community, because ion-pairing catalysis is the actual hot topic in asymmetric catalysis. There, new catalysts have to be screened with high effort in a black box mode and reviews state that structural and mechanistic studies will be an essential part of the further progress in the field. In previous projects spread over the fields of organometallic, bioorganic, supramolecular and medicinal chemistry as well as transition metal catalysis and organocatalysis, we gained special NMR expertise in the structure elucidation of ion pairs and reaction intermediates as well as the assessment of intermolecular interactions. Now in this project, nearly all of these various techniques and approaches will be combined in a new and so far unprecedented way and complemented by techniques used for protein ligand interactions and extreme low temperature measurements. With this unique combination, NMR approaches will be developed and applied to elucidate the structures of catalytically active ion pairs and their intermediates in solution and to dissect their intermolecular interactions. The resulting detailed design concept for small ion pairs in solution will revolutionize not only ion-pairing catalysis but all scientific fields working with organic ion pairs in solution.
Max ERC Funding
1 994 685 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-04-01, End date: 2019-03-31
