Acquisition of Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectrometer

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This is an instrumentation for Materials Research Award to Brown University for the acquisition of a 'state-of-the-art' solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. The instrumentation will be extensively utilized for five basic research programs: (1) Ordered Polymer Microstructures Formed From Molecular and Mesoscopic Self Assembly; (2) Nematic Director Configurations in Small Confining Droplets; (3) Basic Studies of Materials for Novel Drug Delivery Systems; (4) Micro-Structure in Carbon Material Precursors; and (5) Characterization of the Porosity in Microporous Carbon Materials. Most of the studies revolve around the determination and characterization of molecular architectures of materials with practical implications in electronic displays, electro-optic devices, drug delivery and fuels. An aggressive outreach program will be instituted which will allow other institutions remote access to the facility through the Internet in real time to bring this capability to a much wider user base in the United States. The University of Massachusetts and the University of Southern Mississippi will serve as beta test sites to develop this remote access program. On the educational outreach front, an on-line tutorial will be available for K-12 students, and a training service will be developed on-line for outside users of the NMR facility. There is also a strong industrial user base that is composed of both large and small companies. Many of the interested companies have existing collaborations with the principal investigators. This industrial interaction is expected to generate funds for the upkeep of the facility, significantly enhance current industrial/university interactions, and foster new relationships between university faculty and the private sector. This is an award to Brown University for the acquisition of a solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy system. The spectrometer will be used research on a number of material systems of current scientific and technical importance: liquid crystals, polymers, and carbon materials, with broad application interests in displays, drug delivery and fuels. Solid state NMR spectrometer is expected to significantly impact current sponsored research programs by providing capability to discover new materials and characterize their underpinning physical phenomena, create new pathways to guide synthesis and materials processing, and provide a power experimental technique to probe the composition, structure, physical properties, and performance of materials of technological relevance. In addition to the proposed research, an aggressive outreach program is planned, which would allow other institutions remote access to this instrument through the Internet in real time. Two institutions have agreed to be beta test sites in a development effort to bring the facility to a much wider user base in the United States. On the educational outreach front, an on-line tutorial for K-12 students will be developed as well as an on-line training service for outside users. The investigators have also identified a strong industrial user base. This industrial interaction is expected to generate funds for the upkeep of the facility, significantly enhance current industrial/university interactions, and foster new relationships between Brown University faculty and the private sector.