Acquisition of Instrumentation for a Materials Characterization and Fabrication Facility

在重大研究仪器(MRI)计划的支持下，芒特霍利奥克学院化学系将获得一套材料表征和制造仪器，包括光刻设备、光学显微镜、差示扫描量热仪和动态光散射测量仪器。该设备将用于芒特霍利奥克大学的四个研究项目，全部涉及本科生：使用光刻技术制备表面支撑的微凝胶；表征蛋白多肽中的随机卷曲/β-片断/聚集转变；使用三重有机受体作为新的供体-受体组装材料的构建块；以及研究弱相互作用胶体在图案化界面上的自组装。此外，该设备将用于新开设的纳米技术高级选修课的实验室实验，以及现有的实验方法和化学热力学课程。这项建议中描述的研究项目和实验室实验将用于使本科生接触到化学科学前沿的问题和方法。曼荷莲大学化学系在让本科生女性参与生产性研究方面有着良好的记录，拟议中的项目将有助于维持和扩大这一努力。将向更广泛的化学教育界传播利用该项目的仪器开发的新课程材料和教学方法。

With support from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program, the Department of Chemistry at Mount Holyoke College will acquire a suite of instruments for the characterization and fabrication of materials, including equipment for photolithography, a light microscope, a differential scanning calorimeter, and an instrument for measuring dynamic light scattering. The equipment will be used in four research projects at Mount Holyoke, all involving undergraduate students: the preparation of surface supported microgels using photolithography; the characterization of random coil/beta- sheet/aggregate transitions in a prion peptide; the use of threefold organic acceptors as building blocks for new donor-acceptor assembled materials; and the study of self-assembly of weakly interacting colloids on patterned interfaces. In addition, the equipment will be used in laboratory experiments in a new upper-level elective course in nanotechnology and existing courses in experimental methods and chemical thermodynamics.The research projects and laboratory experiments described in this proposal will be used to expose undergraduate students to problems and methodologies at the cutting edge of chemical science. The chemistry department at Mount Holyoke has a well-established track record for involving undergraduate women in productive research, and the proposed project will help to sustain and expand that effort. New curricular materials and pedagogical approaches developed with the instrumentation from this project will be disseminated to the broader chemical education community.