Acquisition of a High-Resolution, Point-Focusing Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering System for Nanostructured Materials Research and Education

该奖项来自材料研究仪器计划，用于为普林斯顿大学的小角X射线散射(SAXS)能力的重大增强提供资金。该合同允许购买一台定点SAXS仪器，主要由普林斯顿大学和新泽西理工学院(NJIT)的用户共享。该仪器使用双聚焦镜/单色器光学元件，将大量立体角度的x射线聚焦到探测器平面上的一个小光点上。这种光学几何结构提供了表征尺寸尺度为1-100纳米的结构所需的非常小的角度。SAXS还具有易于适应现场测量的重要优势；可在高温下运行的电池和扫描量热计阶段将被纳入SAXS系统。由于该仪器允许对具有纳米级结构的各向异性样品进行详细的表征，因此它将支持以控制纳米结构特征的取向为目的的一系列研究途径。该仪器将支持的普林斯顿大学和NJIT大学的项目针对：介孔硅酸盐通过外加电场的引导自组装；嵌段共聚物的模板化结晶；用于质子交换膜燃料电池的新型纳米结构有机/无机复合材料；嵌段共聚物和嵌段共聚物/碳纳米管复合材料的取向；以及结晶聚合物纤维和可结晶离聚体的结构-性能-加工关系。该仪器将被从博士后到本科生、来自普林斯顿、NJIT和其他地方的研究人员使用。此外，SAXS系统的模块化性质鼓励设计新的样品阶段和修改现有模块，从而使学生有机会在仪器设计方面获得宝贵的经验。%该奖项来自材料研究仪器计划，用于资助普林斯顿大学对小角X射线散射(SAXS)能力的重大增强。SAXS是一种用于表征纳米结构材料(尺寸范围从1-100纳米)的强大技术，完全补充了普林斯顿现有的电子和扫描探针显微镜设施。新的SAXS仪器将在普林斯顿和新泽西理工学院(NJIT)以及其他地方的用户之间共享，用于有机、无机和复合材料的研究，应用范围广泛，包括纳米孔过滤器、便携式燃料电池膜和可生物降解的聚合物纤维。这种最先进的仪器将被合并到一个设施中，其中有两个现有的SAXS系统(功能互补，但更有限)。用户将包括博士后研究人员、研究生和本科生，他们中的最后一批人通过本科生研究和在本科生材料科学实验室课程中使用该仪器来实现。

This award from the Instrumentation for Materials Research program funds a major enhancement of the capabilities for small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) located at Princeton University. The award permits the acquisition of a point-focusing SAXS instrument, which will be shared principally amongst users at Princeton and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). This instrument uses double-focusing mirror/monochromator optics to focus a substantial solid angle of x-radiation to a small spot in the detector plane. This optical geometry provides access to the very small angles needed to characterize structures with size scales from 1-100 nm. SAXS also has the important advantage of being readily adapted for in-situ measurements; cells for operation at elevated temperature and a scanning calorimeter stage will be incorporated into the SAXS system. Since this instrument permits detailed characterization of anisotropic specimens with structure on the nanoscale, it will support a range of research avenues where controlling the orientation of nanostructural features is the aim. Projects at Princeton and NJIT which will this instrument will support are directed towards: guided self-assembly of mesoporous silicates through applied electric fields; templated crystallization in block copolymers; new nanostructured organic/inorganic composites for proton exchange membrane fuel cells; orientation of block copolymers and block copolymer/carbon nanotube composites; and structure-property-processing relationships in crystalline polymer fibers and crystallizable ionomers. The instrument will be used by researchers ranging from postdocs to undergraduates, from Princeton, NJIT, and elsewhere. Moreover, the modular nature of the SAXS system encourages the design of new sample stages and modification of existing modules, thus allowing students the opportunity to gain valuable experience in instrument design.%%%This award from the Instrumentation for Materials Research program funds a major enhancement of the capabilities for small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) located at Princeton University. SAXS is a powerful technique for characterizing nanostructured materials (size scales from 1-100 nm), and fully complements existing electron and scanning probe microscopy facilities at Princeton. The new SAXS instrument will be shared amongst users at Princeton and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and elsewhere in the study of organic, inorganic, and composite materials with applications as diverse as nanoporous filters, membranes for portable fuel cells, and biodegradable polymer fibers. The state-of-the-art instrument will be incorporated into a facility with two existing SAXS systems (of complementary, but more limited, capabilities). Users will include postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduates, the last of these through both undergraduate research and by utilizing the instrument in an undergraduate materials science laboratory course.