MRI: Acquisition of an Advanced X-Ray Diffraction System to Support Interdisciplinary Research and Education

非技术性： 这NSF重大研究仪器奖先进的X射线衍射（XRD）系统，材料结构和尺寸分析能力下降到原子尺度，满足关键的研究和教育需求，在印第安纳州普渡大学印第安纳波利斯（IUPUI）。XRD系统增强了IUPUI的共享仪器配置文件，并通过提供一系列跨学科科学发现和劳动力培训的能力，为许多学校和部门的教师和学生提供支持。这种仪器大大拓宽了研究人员表征固体材料特性的能力，特别是纳米尺度，为基础研究项目提供了地球科学应用的基础（矿石和能源矿床，水质和矿物对人类健康的影响），纳米技术（能源、工业和生物医学应用的新材料开发）和生物物理研究（生物材料中的生物膜功能，包括氨基酸、洗涤剂和药物）。支持国家的21世纪世纪科学和工程劳动力的发展，这种仪器在几个学科的关键课程中使用，并且是印第安纳州和美国K-12学生和教师教育推广计划的核心。 固态材料结构和尺寸的表征是一系列IUPUI研究人员的关键研究需求。先进的X射线衍射（XRD）系统通过提供高分辨率和高吞吐量的衍射数据、获取受控温度和大气室中样品数据的能力以及收集固体和薄膜小角度X射线散射信息的能力，支持许多领域不断增长的研究工作。这些进展使许多纳米材料特性的量化成为可能，支持22个正在进行的主要项目，并为IUPUI的至少20名教师及其相关研究小组开辟了跨学科研究的新途径。目前的教师研究领域包括：地球科学，了解矿物分布和与人类健康相关的反应性，并表征对水质，矿石和能源材料，地球和生命随时间演变的关键矿物转化，以及温度，压力和大气条件范围内的结构地质学;能源存储和光伏技术，用于先进的能源应用;纳米材料，用于工业和生物材料应用（例如，植入物和陶瓷材料）;生物物理学，研究生物膜内蛋白质和脂质的分子排列。该系统能够进行科学活动，包括详细分析环境和地质环境中的样品，并能够在不同的温度和大气条件下表征矿物组合，以探测矿物反应性。通过高分辨率XRD和小角度X射线散射的纳米材料表征大大增强，增加了确定孔径、结晶度和结构变化的能力，这对新材料的开发至关重要。通过XRD和小角度X射线散射能力也可以评估脂质膜的基本性质，这些能力可以测量小长度尺度下的分子相关性，以解决结构域形成，这是一种被认为与生物膜功能相关的结构特征。除了对研究的影响外，该系统还增强了IUPUI跨学科的教育产品和学生培训。仪器驻留在共享的研究设施中，这将用户群扩展到其他学术研究人员和当地工业。

Non-technical: This NSF-Major Research Instrumentation award for an advanced X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) system, with materials structure and size analysis capabilities down to atomic scale, fulfills critical research and educational needs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). The XRD system enhances IUPUI's shared instrumentation profile, and supports faculty and students across many schools and departments by providing capabilities for a range of interdisciplinary scientific discovery and workforce training. This instrumentation significantly broadens investigator ability to characterize the properties of solid materials, especially of nanoscale-size, for fundamental research projects that provide the basis for applications in Earth Sciences (ore and energy deposits, water quality, and minerals impacts on human health), Nanotechnology (new materials development for energy, industry, and biomedical applications), and Biophysical research (biological membrane function in biomaterials including amino acids, detergents, and pharmaceuticals). Supporting the development of the nation's 21st century science and engineering workforce, this instrumentation is used in both key coursework across several disciplines and is central to educational outreach programs for K-12 students and teachers across Indiana and the U.S. Technical: Characterization of solid state material structure and size is a critical research need for an array of IUPUI researchers. The advanced X-ray diffraction (XRD) system supports growing research efforts in many fields by providing high resolution and high throughput diffraction data, the ability to acquire data on samples contained in a controlled temperature and atmospheric chamber, and the capability of gathering small angle X-ray scattering information for both solids and thin films. These advances make quantification of many nanoscale material properties possible, support 22 major ongoing projects and open new avenues of interdisciplinary research for at least 20 faculty and their associated research groups at IUPUI. Current faculty research areas include: Earth Sciences, understanding mineral distribution and reactivity linked to human health and characterizing mineral transformations key to water quality, ore and energy materials, evolution of earth and life through time, and structural geology in a range of temperature, pressure, and atmospheric conditions; Energy Storage and Photovoltaic Technologies, for advanced energy applications; Nanomaterials, for industrial and biomaterials applications (e.g., implants and ceramic materials); and Biophysics, investigating the molecular arrangement of proteins and lipids within biological membranes. The system enables scientific activities including detailed analysis of samples from environmental and geologic settings coupled with the ability to characterize mineral assemblages at varying temperature and atmospheric conditions to probe mineral reactivity. Nanomaterials characterization via both high resolution XRD and small-angle X-ray scattering is greatly enhanced, with added ability to determine pore size, crystallinity, and structural variations key to development of new materials. Assessing the fundamental properties of lipid membranes is also made possible through XRD and small-angle X-ray scattering capabilities that can measure molecular correlations at small length scales to address domain formation, a structural feature considered relevant to functions of biomembranes. In addition to its impact on research, the system enhances educational offerings and student training across disciplines at IUPUI. The instrumentation resides in shared research facility, which expands the user base to other academic investigators and local industry.