Acquisition of a Viscoelastic Characterization Facility

该补助金为宾夕法尼亚大学的一个共享粘弹性表征设施（VCF）提供资金，用于表征软材料的粘弹性。VCF的研究范围从合成凝胶和胶体到生物组织和碳纳米管。VCF将通过流变学方法表征软材料，以帮助确定其对机械变形的响应。粘弹性表征（或流变学领域）的性质使得没有单一仪器可以测量适合于所需实验系统的不同几何形状和变形程度。因此，该补助金涵盖了五种仪器，其范围足以对最大数量的研究人员有用。具体而言，两个复杂的仪器将由具有专业需求和专业知识的团队开发：1）定制版的ThermoHaake Rheoscope成像流变仪-将与MRSEC教师合作构建，需要聚合物网络内的单分子成像。目前版本的流变仪将被修改，安装在蔡司倒置显微镜与图像解卷积能力。2)Bohlin C-VOR-200流变仪，采用透明样品外壳进行改造，与现有的散射设备（如动态光散射系统）连接，与现有仪器相比，能够更强大地将分子结构与宏观性质联系起来。另外三种仪器将为广泛的用户服务，这些用户的需要由商业仪器来满足。这些仪器在最适合的样品类型上有所不同（例如固体与流体），它们施加的变形类型，它们工作的温度范围，该设备将被整合到生物工程和物理系的现有课程中，以培训本科生和研究生，并将用于NSF本科生研究体验培训更多本科生并为代表性不足的少数族裔提供外展服务的计划。该设施的管理计划为代表性不足的学生和行业提供了额外的培训和外联计划。VCF还将影响宾夕法尼亚州的其他社区，正如参与这项提案的调查人员所看到的那样，其中包括艺术和科学学院，工程和应用科学学院，医学和儿童医院内的12个部门的22个团体。

This grant provides funds for a shared Viscoelastic Characterization Facility (VCF) for the characterization of viscoelastic properties of soft materials at the University of Pennsylvania. The VCF has research studying materials ranging from synthetic gels and colloids to biological tissues and carbon nanotubes. The VCF will characterize soft materials by rheologic methods that assist in determining their response to mechanical deformation. The nature of viscoelastic characterization (or the field of rheology) is such that no single instrument can measure the different geometries and extent of deformation that are appropriate for desired experimental systems. Accordingly, this grant covers five instruments to span a range wide enough to be useful to the maximum number of researchers. Specifically, two complex instruments will be developed by groups with specialized needs and expertise: 1) A customized version of the ThermoHaake Rheoscope Imaging Rheometer - to be built in collaboration with MRSEC faculty that requires single molecule imaging within polymer networks. The current version of the Rheoscope will be modified to mount on a Zeiss inverted microscope with image deconvolution capability. 2) A Bohlin C-VOR-200 Rheometer modified with transparent sample housing to interface with existing scattering facilities, such as a dynamic light scattering system, allowing more powerful capabilities to relate molecular structures to macroscopic properties than possible with existing instruments. Three other instruments will serve a broad range of users whose needs are met by commercial instruments. These instruments will differ in types of samples for which they are best suited (e.g. solid versus fluid), the type of deformation they apply, the temperature range over which they operate, and the volume required for measurement.The equipment will be integrated into existing courses in the Bioengineering and Physics Departments to train both undergraduate and graduate students and will be used in the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates Program to train additional undergraduates and provide outreach to underrepresented minorities. The management plan for the facility provides additional plans for training and outreach to both underrepresented students and industry. The VCF would also impact other communities at PENN, as seen in the range of investigators involved in this proposal which include 22 groups in 12 departments within the Schools of Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Applied Sciences, Medicine, and the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania.