Acquisition of a Solids NMR Spectrometer

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9977388MeierThis Major Research Instrumentation award provides funding for the acquisition of a 400 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer for solids in the Chemistry Department at the University of Kentucky. The instrument will greatly facilitate the existing research activity on campus as well as create new opportunities for collaboration between researchers on campus, with local colleges, and with industry. Vigorous programs in chemistry, biological chemistry, and materials science have developed at the University of Kentucky in the past 10 years that are pushing the limits of the instrumentation available on campus. The major research areas to be undertaken with this newly acquired instrument include the following: 1) Organic Solids - solid-state NMR will be used to probe the structure of carbon nanotubes and new composite materials incorporating these nanotubes. This instrumentation will allow the probing of the electronic states of these exciting compounds. 2) Main Group Organometallic Materials -solid-state NMR will be used to probe the structure of alumina, formed by a novel relatively low-temperature process. The data will be essential for a full understanding of this material, for further optimization of the precursors, and for future applications. 3) Polymeric Materials - solid-state NMR will be used to study polycarbosilanes, which are precursors to silicon carbide materials. An understanding of the structure of these hyperbranched polymers will facilitate design of better SiC precursors. 4) Biological Structures - the chemical shift anisotropy of resonances measured in the solid-state spectra of enzymes will be used to further understanding of how a protein matrix affects the reactivity of cofactors such as flavin.The acquisition of this nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, funded by the Major Research Instrumentation Program, will provide capabilities not currently available at the University of Kentucky and will enhance research in important emerging materials chemistry areas. It will also create new opportunities for collaboration between researchers in different departments on campus, with local colleges, including a local minority institution, and with industry. In addition, not only the students working with the PIs will be trained on this instrument, but graduate and advanced undergraduate Chemistry students at the university will be trained on the instrument as part of a course on spectroscopy. Thus this instrument will have a large impact on the infrastructure for materials chemistry research at the University of Kentucky.