MRI: Acquisition of FTIR Spectroscopic Imaging System towards material characterization with contributions to health, clean energy generation, and efficient processing techniques

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The project will acquire a Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic imaging system. The FTIR spectroscopic imaging system will enable faculty and students at California State University, Chico (CSUC) to contribute to the knowledge base required to improve the health of humans, animals, and plants, contribute to the development of clean green energy generation, increase the lifespan and efficiency of materials in harsh environments, and develop more efficient processing techniques to fabricate various chemicals and materials. The acquired spectroscopic imaging system will support the development of interdisciplinary collaborations between faculty in the College of Agriculture, College of Natural Sciences, and College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Construction Management. Approximately 650 students from Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering will use the FTIR spectroscopic imaging system or analyze data collected by this system. CSUC has significant student populations from underrepresented and underserved groups, including those who are first-in-family to enter college, veterans, and Hispanics. CSUC students will gain exposure to this state-of-the-art system and enhance their skills for both theoretical and experimental work. The proposed FTIR spectroscopic imaging system will enable many research projects. The FTIR system with its ability to perform fast FTIR hyperspectral imaging makes it a powerful tool for the identification of key compounds in highly variable heterogeneous biomaterials as well as identification of unknown materials in a homogeneous matrix. An added benefit of FTIR spectroscopic imaging systems is that it is a non-invasive characterization tool, which makes it an emerging technology used in the structural analysis of biological samples. The research projects that will benefit from this system include: (a) the characterization of the plants containing terpene, a chemical that provide protections from herbivores and may have reduce healing inflammation and bacterial infections; (b) the study of bifunctional organic linker molecules as they bind to nanomaterials for photovoltaic and biochemical sensing applications; (c) the elucidation of reaction mechanisms including those involved in the synthesis of natural products such as antioxidants and the catalysis/generation of reactive oxygen species by wide bandgap nanoparticles; (d) the analysis of the surface configuration of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles (e.g., tin, which is an anode material for Li-ion batteries); and (e) the study of oxidation and reduction of particles in air and other environments coupled with the evaluation of techniques to improve the particles' stability or their reactivity. This system will be used to support several active research projects, to develop an undergraduate and graduate teaching laboratory, and to initiate new areas of research within the CSUC Electrical and Computer Engineering Department in collaboration with several other departments, schools, and colleges across the university.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.