Acquisition of a Viscoelastic Characterization Facility

这笔拨款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特性。VCF研究的材料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，帮助确定它们对机械变形的响应。粘弹性表征（或流变学领域）的性质是这样的，没有一种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，这笔赠款包括五种工具，其范围足够广泛，可以对最多数量的研究人员有用。具体来说，两种复杂的仪器将由具有特殊需求和专业知识的团队开发：1)定制版本的ThermoHaake Rheoscope成像流变仪-将与MRSEC教授合作构建，需要在聚合物网络中进行单分子成像。当前版本的流变镜将被修改，以安装在蔡司倒置显微镜与图像反卷积能力。2)采用透明样品外壳改进的Bohlin C-VOR-200流变仪，可与现有的散射设施（如动态光散射系统）接口，比现有仪器具有更强大的将分子结构与宏观性质联系起来的能力。另外三种工具将为商业工具满足其需要的广泛用户提供服务。这些仪器的不同之处在于它们最适合的样品类型（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以及测量所需的体积。该设备将被整合到生物工程系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本科生研究经验项目，以培训更多的本科生，并向未被充分代表的少数民族提供服务。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推广计划。VCF还将影响宾夕法尼亚大学的其他社区，正如参与该提案的研究人员所看到的那样，他们包括艺术与科学学院、工程与应用科学学院、医学院和宾夕法尼亚儿童医院的12个部门的22个小组。

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.