Upgrading of the X-ray diffractometer at Mississippi State University

EAR-0236748Lynch X射线衍射仪(X射线衍射仪)是密西西比州立大学广泛研究人员使用的基本研究工具。最近的X射线衍射仪用户来自地球科学、植物和土壤科学、化学、生物、农业和生物工程、机械工程和化学工程系。现有设备通过一系列外部资助项目得到大量使用，从土壤矿物学、废物处理和精准农业，到含水层中的沉积物和污染物转移，再到密西西比州和整个东南部岩石和沉积物的工程性质研究。X射线衍射仪还用于密西西比州农林实验站指导的应用和理论项目。向公众传播这些项目的结果是密西西比州推广服务的一项主要活动，该服务在密西西比州州立大学植物和土壤科学部的全州范围内运作。在X射线衍射学实验室的经验是几个本科生、研究生和远程教育“K-12地球科学教师”课程的基本部分。上述研究项目中的一个主要问题是获得高质量的X射线衍射谱需要很长的时间。NSF的支持将通过购买高效率的X射线探测器和单色仪来改进X射线衍射仪。这些硬件升级显著减少了X射线衍射分析时间，并允许对大量样品进行研究。资金还将用于购买一个完整的视窗平台X射线衍射数据库和搜索/匹配程序。软件升级取代了DOS平台的软件包，并将使X射线衍射仪对用户(学生)更加友好，大学的研究人员也可以使用。

EAR-0236748LynchAn X-ray diffractometer (XRD) is a fundamental research tool used by a broad cross-section of researchers at Mississippi State University. Recent XRD users have come from the Departments of Geosciences, Plants and Soil Sciences, Chemistry, Biology, Agriculture and Biological Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Chemical Engineering. The existing equipment is heavily used through a series of externally funded projects ranging from soil mineralogy, waste disposal, and precision agriculture, through sediment and pollutant transfer in aquifers, to studies on the engineering properties of rocks and sediments in Mississippi and throughout the Southeast. The XRD is also used in applied and theoretical projects directed by the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experimental Station. Dissemination of the results of these projects to the general public is a major activity of the Mississippi State Extension Service, which operates statewide out of the Plants and Soil Sciences Department at MSU. Experience in the XRD laboratory is a fundamental portion of several undergraduate, graduate, and distance-learning "K-12 Teachers in Geoscience" classes. A major concern in the aforementioned research projects is the long time needed to acquire high-quality XRD spectra. NSF support will be used to improve the XRD by purchasing a high-efficiency X-ray detector and monochrometer. These hardware upgrades significantly decrease XRD analysis time and allow large number of samples to be investigated. Funds will also be used to purchase a complete Windows-platform X-ray diffraction database and search/match programs. The software upgrades replace a DOS-platform software package and will make the XRD more "user (student) friendly" and accessible to researchers at the University.***