Acquisition of a Viscoelastic Characterization Facility

这笔赠款为宾夕法尼亚大学共享粘弹性表征工具(VCF)提供资金，用于表征软材料的粘弹性特性。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将通过帮助确定软材料对机械变形的响应的流变学方法来表征软材料。粘弹性表征(或流变学领域)的本质是，没有一台仪器可以测量适用于所需实验系统的不同几何形状和变形程度。因此，这笔赠款涵盖了五种工具，涵盖的范围足够广，对最大数量的研究人员有用。具体地说，具有特殊需求和专业知识的团队将开发两种复杂的仪器：1)定制版本的ThermoHaake流变仪成像流变仪-将与MRSEC教职员工合作建造，需要在聚合物网络中进行单分子成像。当前版本的风变仪将被修改为安装在具有图像去卷积能力的蔡司倒置显微镜上。2)采用透明样品外壳改装的Bohlin C-VOR-200流变仪，可与现有的散射设备(如动态光散射系统)对接，具有比现有仪器更强大的将分子结构与宏观性质相关联的能力。另外三项文书将为广泛的用户提供服务，这些用户的需求由商业文书来满足。这些仪器将在它们最适合的样本类型(例如固体和液体)、它们应用的变形类型、它们操作的温度范围和测量所需的体积上有所不同。这些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本科生研究体验计划，以培训更多的本科生并向未被充分代表的少数族裔提供服务。该设施的管理计划为培训和面向任职人数不足的学生和行业提供了额外的计划。VCF还将影响宾夕法尼亚大学的其他社区，从参与这项提案的调查人员范围内可以看出，这些调查人员包括文理学院、工程和应用科学学院、医学院和宾夕法尼亚儿童医院内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.