MRI: Acquisition of a modern powder X-ray diffractometer with in situ capabilities

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This award is supported by the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) and the Chemistry Research Instrumentation (CRIF) programs. Professor Kevin Kittilstved from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and colleagues Dhandapani Venkataraman, Wei Fan and Friederike Jentoft are supported for the acquistion of a powder X-ray diffractometer. A powder X-ray diffractometer probes solid materials with X-rays to reveal its internal composition and structure. Successful research conducted with this instrument enables investigators to synthesize new materials with potential to promote society's transition to sustainable fuels and energy. This diffractometer expands the materials structural characterization capabilities in the Five College Consortium in Western Massachusetts. Besides the home institution, the consortium includes Mt. Holyoke College, Amherst College, Hampshire College and Smith College. The instrument is being integrated into the undergraduate and graduate curriculum at U Mass Amherst. The instrument is also being integrated with several outreach programs with area school teachers, students, and their parents.The diffractometer enhances research and education at all levels. It especially aids in studies of the role that oxygen vacancies play in regulating charge neutrality in strontium titanate bulk powders and free-standing nanocrystals and determining the structures of molecular metal-chalcogenide clusters with specific metal dopants. The instrumentation is also used for analyzing structural changes that accompany ion transport in metal halide perovskites with organic cations and investigating phase transitions in metal carbide catalysts. The spectrometer facilitates understanding crystallization processes during zeolite synthesis; studying structural changes during the operation of oxide electrocatalysts and searching for nanophase iron oxide phases within hyperthermophilic microbes.