Atom Probe Tomography (APT) development and optimization for applications in Earth Sciences

原子探针断层扫描 (APT) 开发和优化在地球科学中的应用

• 批准号: 1647012
• 负责人: Alberto Perez-Huerta
• 金额: $ 34.22万
• 依托单位: University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-08-15 至 2021-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1647012&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Atom; Probe; Tomography; APT; development

Geologists try to answer questions about how the Earth works by studying rocks. What, for example, can rocks tell us about the age of the Earth? What can we know about the origin of those rocks we call meteorites and their role in planet formations? Rocks even allow us to examine Earth processes like volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. One way geologists use rocks to better understand the Earth and its processes is by looking at specific chemical elements, such as uranium, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen, that are found in the minerals that form rocks. Until recently, geologists have been unable to examine the chemistry of those minerals beyond their elements, which has limited their ability to understand how minerals form and replicate that formation or record and explain geological processes. This award will fund the development of a technique that will allow geologists to see inside minerals and analyze the most basic components of elements, that is to say atoms. At the University of Alabama, we have the newest instrument that can analyze atoms in rocks. We will also use the funding to train students to use this instrument and to invite geologists across the United States to collaborate and use our facilities. This technique allows geologists to see the chemistry in minerals from a new perspective that can ultimately produce a better understanding of how volcanoes work, how gems form, how oil and gas are trapped in rocks, among other geological processes with importance to our society. With this new knowledge, geologists will be able to, for example, predict and mitigate hazards, replicate resources that are currently limited, and produce and harness energy in ways that are harmless to the environment.The study of chemical mineralogy has been a major source of information within Earth Sciences for more than a century, as minerals actively record geological processes during and after their formation. Atom probe tomography (APT) has been recently added to the currently available techniques for the characterization of minerals. This technique can provide fundamental information about mineral chemistry at atomic scale and offers the additional possibility of analyzing information in 3D for nanoscale volumes of material. Despite a rising interest on APT in Geosciences, the use of this novel analytical technique is still very limited. Funding for this proposal will be used to develop and optimize the technique of atom probe tomography for high-resolution geochemical characterization of minerals of importance in geological studies. This work is expected to help geologists better link mineralogy and geochemistry with regards to the following aspects: i) Diffusion kinetics in minerals (volume, grain-boundary, trace elements, etc.); ii) Element partitioning; iii) Isotopic fractionation; iv) Mineral dissolution and recrystallization; and v) Transformation of transient amorphous phases into crystalline counterparts. Funding will be also used to train a new generation of geoscientists in nanogeochemistry and to provide access to geologists across the United States to our APT facilities at the University of Alabama through direct research partnerships and institutional collaborations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

地质学家试图通过研究岩石来回答有关地球如何运转的问题。例如，岩石可以告诉我们什么有关地球年龄的信息？关于那些我们称之为陨石的岩石的起源以及它们在行星形成中的作用，我们能知道什么？岩石甚至使我们能够研究火山爆发和地震等地球过程。地质学家利用岩石更好地了解地球及其过程的一种方法是观察形成岩石的矿物中发现的特定化学元素，例如铀、碳、氧和氮。直到最近，地质学家还无法检查这些矿物超出其元素的化学性质，这限制了他们了解矿物如何形成和复制该形成或记录和解释地质过程的能力。该奖项将资助一项技术的开发，使地质学家能够观察矿物内部并分析元素（即原子）最基本的成分。在阿拉巴马大学，我们拥有可以分析岩石中原子的最新仪器。我们还将利用这笔资金来培训学生使用该仪器，并邀请美国各地的地质学家合作并使用我们的设施。这项技术使地质学家能够从一个新的角度看待矿物的化学成分，最终可以更好地了解火山如何工作、宝石如何形成、石油和天然气如何被困在岩石中，以及其他对我们社会重要的地质过程。有了这些新知识，地质学家将能够预测和减轻危害，复制目前有限的资源，并以对环境无害的方式生产和利用能源。一个多世纪以来，化学矿物学研究一直是地球科学的主要信息来源，因为矿物积极记录其形成期间和之后的地质过程。原子探针断层扫描（APT）最近已被添加到当前可用的矿物表征技术中。该技术可以提供原子尺度矿物化学的基本信息，并提供分析纳米尺度材料的 3D 信息的额外可能性。尽管地球科学领域对 APT 的兴趣日益浓厚，但这种新颖的分析技术的使用仍然非常有限。该提案的资金将用于开发和优化原子探针断层扫描技术，以对地质研究中重要矿物进行高分辨率地球化学表征。这项工作预计将帮助地质学家在以下方面更好地将矿物学和地球化学联系起来：i）矿物中的扩散动力学（体积、晶界、微量元素等）； ii) 元素划分； iii) 同位素分馏； iv) 矿物溶解和重结晶； v) 瞬态非晶相转变为结晶相。资金还将用于培训新一代纳米地球化学地球科学家，并通过直接研究伙伴关系和机构合作，为美国各地的地质学家提供使用我们位于阿拉巴马大学的 APT 设施的机会。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Effect of crystallographic orientation on atom probe tomography geochemical data?

晶体取向对原子探针断层扫描地球化学数据的影响？

• DOI: 10.1016/j.micron.2020.102910
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Micron
• 影响因子: 2.4
• 作者: Cappelli, Chiara;Pérez-Huerta, Alberto
• 通讯作者: Pérez-Huerta, Alberto

Atom Probe Tomography (APT) Characterization of Organics Occluded in Single Calcite Crystals: Implications for Biomineralization Studies

单方解石晶体中夹带有机物的原子探针断层扫描 (APT) 表征：对生物矿化研究的启示

• DOI: 10.3390/c5030050
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: C — Journal of Carbon Research
• 作者: Pérez-Huerta, Alberto;Suzuki, Michio;Cappelli, Chiara;Laiginhas, Fernando;Kintsu, Hiroyuki
• 通讯作者: Kintsu, Hiroyuki

Exploring Biases in Atom Probe Tomography Compositional Analysis of Minerals

• DOI: 10.1111/ggr.12395
• 发表时间: 2021-07-08
• 期刊: GEOSTANDARDS AND GEOANALYTICAL RESEARCH
• 影响因子: 3.8
• 作者: Cappelli, Chiara;Smart, Sandi;Perez-Huerta, Alberto
• 通讯作者: Perez-Huerta, Alberto

Functional analyses of chitinolytic enzymes in the formation of calcite prisms in Pinctada fucata

珠母贝方解石棱柱形成中几丁质分解酶的功能分析

• DOI: 10.1016/j.micron.2021.103063
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Micron
• 影响因子: 2.4
• 作者: Kintsu, Hiroyuki;Pérez-Huerta, Alberto;Ohtsuka, Shigeru;Okumura, Taiga;Ifuku, Shinsuke;Nagata, Koji;Kogure, Toshihiro;Suzuki, Michio
• 通讯作者: Suzuki, Michio

Atom Probe Tomography Analysis of Exsolved Mineral Phases

溶解矿物相的原子探针断层扫描分析

• DOI: 10.3791/59863
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Journal of Visualized Experiments
• 作者: Genareau, Kimberly;Perez-Huerta, Alberto;Laiginhas, Fernando
• 通讯作者: Laiginhas, Fernando