Cambridge researchers have been awarded funding from the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) to use proteins as manufacturing tools to assemble advanced materials, including high-performance magnets that do not require costly rare-earth elements. The work is part of ARIA’s Universal Fabricators Programme, a three-year, £50 million initiative supporting 11 research teams.
Key facts
- The funding comes from ARIA’s Universal Fabricators Programme.
- The programme runs for three years and has a total budget of £50 million.
- Professor Ronan Daly leads Cambridge’s “Protein SPARK” project.
- The project aims to grow magnets without rare-earth elements and develop advanced battery electrodes.
- Cambridge researchers are also involved in two other projects in the same programme.
What does this mean for Cambridge students and researchers?
The funding strengthens a set of research projects at Cambridge that sit at the intersection of materials science, chemistry and engineering. For researchers, the immediate significance is access to a programme that is backing protein-based manufacturing approaches intended to make advanced materials in new ways. For students, it highlights active work in areas likely to shape future research training and collaboration across departments.
The Cambridge teams span the Institute for Manufacturing, the Department of Engineering, the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, and the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. The projects also involve collaborators from the University of Amsterdam, the University of Liverpool, the University of Washington and the University of Leeds, creating a broad research network around rare-earth-free magnets and related materials.
- Protein SPARK, led by Professor Ronan Daly, uses proteins to guide the growth of magnetic materials without rare-earth elements.
- POEM is developing a protein-based method for high-performance magnets with precise control over crystal size, shape and spacing.
- S-LATTICE is building large, highly ordered sheets from self-assembling proteins and metals for uses including filtration, catalysis and carbon dioxide conversion.
How do proteins help make magnets and other materials?
They act as guides and templates during formation. In Cambridge’s Protein SPARK project, microscopic droplets carrying designed proteins and elements are sprayed and printed into position, much like inkjet printing. The proteins then grow, guide and shape the material into nanocrystals, films and three-dimensional structures.
The project draws on biomineralisation, the way living organisms build hard materials such as bones and teeth, and adapts that process to a continuous production line. The aim is to create useful magnetic materials without rare-earth inputs, while also exploring applications in batteries that charge faster and last longer.
Who is involved in the Cambridge projects?
Professor Ronan Daly leads Protein SPARK. The Cambridge team also includes Professor Michael De Volder, Professor John Durrell and Dr Sebastian Pattinson from the Department of Engineering; Professor Ljiljana Fruk from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology; and Professor Tuomas Knowles from the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry.
Cambridge researchers involved in the other funded projects include Dr Shijing Sun and Dr Zuyang Ye, along with Professor Tuomas Knowles, Josie Forsythe, Hannah Han and Max Gao on POEM. Professor Erwin Reisner is involved in S-LATTICE, which is led by the University of Edinburgh.
Why are rare-earth-free magnets significant?
Magnets are used in headphones, mobile phones, motors and wind turbines. Daly said almost all magnets include rare-earth materials, which are costly to extract, are a diminishing resource and create environmental challenges. The Cambridge project seeks to use proteins to drive the growth of magnetic materials without using rare earth materials anywhere in the process.
That matters because the programme is not just aimed at new materials, but at new manufacturing methods. ARIA’s central bet is that proteins can function as a “universal fabricator,” meaning the same biological tools could help assemble different advanced materials in controlled ways.
Frequently asked questions
What is ARIA funding supporting at Cambridge?
It is supporting three Cambridge-linked projects within ARIA’s Universal Fabricators Programme: Protein SPARK, POEM and S-LATTICE. Together they explore proteins as tools for making magnets, electrodes and other advanced materials.
What could the research be used for?
The projects could lead to magnets that avoid rare-earth elements, batteries that hold more charge and last longer, and materials for filtration, carbon dioxide conversion, cleaner catalysis and light-based technologies.
