Research Initiation Award: Toward Bionanoscience - Binding of Amino Acids with Graphene and N-doped Graphene

历史黑人学院和大学-本科项目(HBCU-UP)研究启动奖(RIA)为HBCU的STEM初级教员提供支持，他们开始建立研究项目，以及职业生涯中期的教师，他们可能在担任行政职位后重返教职队伍，或者需要重新定向和重建研究项目。教职员工可以在他们的家乡机构、NSF资助的中心、研究密集型机构或国家实验室进行研究。RIA项目有望帮助教师进一步提高研究能力和效率，改善其所在机构的研究和教学，并让本科生参与研究体验。在国家科学基金会的支持下，克拉克·亚特兰大大学(CAU)将开展研究，旨在了解石墨烯和氮掺杂(N-掺杂)石墨烯与氨基酸的结合特性，这可能有助于生物传感器的开发。该项目将用于加强中大的教与学，从而通过培训中大生物科学研究领域的下一代非裔美国本科生，帮助他们做好准备。这些研究和教育努力将有助于实现该大学的目标，即增加与计算科学相关的研究，并通过本科生研究增加学生与课堂外教师的接触。此外，对CAU学生的研究培训和教育相结合将导致毕业生为管理研究生院做好充分的准备，并有资格在不同的劳动力中竞争。拟议的研究的目标是通过量子化学计算来研究所有20种天然氨基酸(AAs)在气相和水介质中与石墨烯的结合。计算将扩展到检查AAs与氮掺杂(N掺杂)石墨烯的结合，以深入了解N掺杂在石墨烯中的影响和类型。该项目的具体目标是：(1)通过在气相和水介质中的计算研究，对氨基酸(AAs)与石墨烯和氮掺杂石墨烯的结合有一个基本的了解；(2)将计算结果与实验数据进行比较；以及(3)通过在CAU生物科学研究领域对未被充分代表的非洲裔美国本科生进行培训，为他们做好准备。这项研究的发现将为利用基于石墨烯的纳米材料开发生物传感器和药物输送应用提供重要的知识。此外，拟议的研究将增强我们目前关于如何将石墨烯工程用于生物应用的知识。该项目将与杰克逊州立大学合作进行。

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities-Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) Research Initiation Awards (RIAs) provide support to STEM junior faculty at HBCUs who are starting to build a research program, as well as for mid-career faculty who may have returned to the faculty ranks after holding an administrative post or who needs to redirect and rebuild a research program. Faculty members may pursue research at their home institution, at an NSF-funded Center, at a research intensive institution or at a national laboratory. The RIA projects are expected to help further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, to improve research and teaching at his or her home institution, and to involve undergraduate students in research experiences. With support from the National Science Foundation, Clark Atlanta University (CAU) will conduct research aimed at understanding the binding properties of graphene and nitrogen-doped (N-doped) graphene with amino acids that may be useful for the development of biosensors. This project will be used to enhance teaching and learning at CAU and thus, help to prepare the next-generation of underrepresented African American undergraduate students by training them in the research area of Bionanoscience at CAU. The research and educational efforts will contribute to the University's goal to increase research related to computational sciences and to increase student engagement with faculty outside of the classroom through undergraduate research. In addition, the combined research training and education for the CAU students will result in graduates that are well-prepared to manage graduate school and well-qualified to compete in a diverse workforce.The goal of the proposed study is to investigate the binding of all twenty naturally occurring amino acids (AAs) with graphene at gas phase and aqueous medium using quantum chemical calculations. The computations will be extended to examine the binding of AAs with nitrogen doped (N-doped) graphene to gain insight on the effect and the type of N-doping in graphene. The specific aims of this project are to: (1) obtain a fundamental understanding of the binding of amino acids (AAs) with graphene and N-doped graphene through computational investigations in gas phase and aqueous medium; (2) compare the computed results with the experimental data; and (3) prepare the next-generation of underrepresented African American undergraduate students by training them in the research area of Bionanoscience at CAU. The findings from this study will provide significant knowledge that will be useful for the development of biosensors and drug delivery applications using graphene-based nanomaterials. In addition, the proposed research will enhance our current knowledge on how to engineer graphene for biological applications. This project will be conducted in collaboration with Jackson State University.