MRI: Acquisition of a Powder/Thin Film X-ray Diffractometer for Alternative Energy Research and Education

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This award to South Dakota State University (SDSU) is for the acquisition of an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) system to advance alternative energy research and education. The system will enable thin film, variable temperature/atmosphere, reflectance, scattering, and powder refinement measurements. It will become a core research facility on the SDSU campus to support several NSF, NASA, DOE funded projects, including hybrid nanomaterials for efficient solar energy conversion, extremely thin absorber solar cells, growth of CdSe nanorods, crystalline low bandgap conjugated polymers for photovoltaic applications, and novel catalysts for biomass conversion. The instrument will be housed in the Center for Advanced Photovoltaics at SDSU with assigned space in a newly completed building, guaranteeing the instrument will be fully operational and remain at full capacity upon installation. The acquisition of a state-of-the-art single-crystal X-ray diffractometer will substantially improve the research capability, competitiveness, and productivity of SDSU, and is expected to attract more researchers to this sparsely populated state. This tool will be integrated into SDSU's Center for Advanced Photovoltaics, an active research cluster that engages graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and senior investigators in materials research. Research enabled by this instrument is expected to generate a tremendous amount of information on the developed materials, advancing technology in cost-effective solar cells and alternative energy to meet our Nation's needs. The instrument will enable multiple academic departments to improve education by providing research experiences to undergraduate and graduate students. This project will also broaden participation in science and engineering research by incorporating the instrument into established outreach programs, such as the Success Academy and the South Dakota Science and Engineering Fair, to encourage high school, middle school, and Native American students to pursue careers in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics.