MRI: Acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer for Multi-Disciplinary Research in South Dakota

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Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a technique which allows users to measure concentrations of rare elements with superior sensitivity. With many applications in a wide range of scientific fields, this fast, multi-element technique has become an indispensable tool in trace elemental analysis. This award will be used to establish an ICP-MS at Black Hills State University (BHSU) that will provide high sensitivity analysis capabilities for researchers in South Dakota and surrounding areas. The ICP-MS will be used by researchers in many disciplines including Physics, Chemistry, Geology, and Engineering. Undergraduate students will be involved in sample preparation, operation, instrument maintenance, and data analysis. This will expand BHSU's program of undergraduate research in the Black Hills region and throughout the state of South Dakota and increase the exposure of undergraduate students to state-of-the-art instrumentation. ICP-MS labs and training will be incorporated into Analytical Chemistry, Instrumental Analysis, Hydrogeology, Volcanology, Mineralogy and Petrology classes serving a combined estimated 90 students per year. BHSU's close proximity to six of the nine Indian reservations in South Dakota results in a large enrollment of American Indian students, many of whom will benefit from the acquisition of the ICP-MS.With this ICP-MS, BHSU will be capable of screening the radio-purity of materials used in rare-event physics experiments at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF). The ICP-MS facility will also be used in support of SURF projects by characterizing the germanium crystals grown at the University of South Dakota and at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and in the study of ancient metamorphosed basalts in and near SURF. Additional geological applications include petrogenesis studies of volcanic and metavolcanic rocks, paleoenvironmental analyses, research of biotic responses to past climate change and analyses of the incorporation and impact of trace metals and organic compounds derived from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on coastal molluscan species in the Gulf of Mexico. Assessing the toxicity of nanomaterials for renewable energy generation, evaluating lanthanide dopant concentration in upconversion nanomaterials and the determination of complex ferrite compositions and impurities in attrition milled and surface functionalized metallic and intermetallic nanopowders are among the chemistry applications.