MRI: Acquisition of a Transmission Electron Microscope for Materials Research

MRI：购买透射电子显微镜用于材料研究

• 批准号: 1827557
• 负责人: Matthew Libera
• 金额: $ 49.96万
• 依托单位: Stevens Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-10-01 至 2021-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1827557&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Acquisition; Transmission; Electron; Microscope

This project is upgrading the ability of researchers at the Stevens Institute of Technology to study the structure of advanced materials by replacing a 25-year old transmission electron microscope with a new and modern microscope. The new microscope is able to take advantage of computer control and digital image acquisition that has transformed such instruments over the past decade. The new microscope is used by a broad and interdisciplinary group of professors and their students to study advanced materials being developed for applications in healthcare and in energy, including materials used in biomedical implants such as hip and knee replacements as well as materials used to make flexible solar cells. The new microscope is also used in lecture and laboratory courses as well as in one-on-one mentoring to train students about the microscopic structure of advanced materials and how this structure can be quantitatively studied with modern transmission electron microscopes. The microscope is essential to a broad array of graduate students pursuing their doctoral dissertation research.This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) project provides funds to purchase a JEOL 1400 transmission electron microscope. This instrument is a 120 keV thermionic (LaB6) microscope, and it is optimized for cryo-electron microscopy, tomography, and diffraction-contrast and mass-thickness-contrast imaging. It replaces a 25 year-old microscope purchased in 1992 partly with NSF funding. Six specific projects are being substantially advanced with this new microscope, including two projects led by women Faculty members. One research project is developing infection-resisting biomaterials. Another is developing advanced scaffolds for tissue engineering. A third is developing gold nanostructures for monitoring focal-adhesion formation. The other three projects fall within the energy space. One is developing a new materials platform for high-temperature label-free sensing. Another pursues novel cryo-microscopy experiments involving organic solvents in order to understand solvent-induced gel formation and create organic solar cells using scalable processing methods. The third uses tomography to characterize network formation involving magnetic nanoparticles. These core projects, as well as other research projects, all require the spatial and image resolution afforded by transmission electron microscopy in order for them to advance.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.

该项目正在提升史蒂文斯理工学院研究人员研究先进材料结构的能力，用新的现代显微镜取代已有25年历史的透射电子显微镜。新的显微镜能够利用计算机控制和数字图像采集，在过去十年中改变了这些仪器。新的显微镜被广泛的跨学科教授和学生群体用于研究正在开发的用于医疗保健和能源应用的先进材料，包括用于生物医学植入物的材料，如髋关节和膝关节置换以及用于制造柔性太阳能电池的材料。新的显微镜也用于讲座和实验室课程，以及在一对一的指导，以培训学生先进材料的微观结构，以及如何用现代透射电子显微镜定量研究这种结构。该显微镜是从事博士论文研究的广泛研究生的必备设备。本重大研究仪器（MRI）项目提供购买JEOL 1400透射电子显微镜的资金。该仪器是一个120 keV的电子（LaB6）显微镜，它是优化的冷冻电子显微镜，断层扫描，衍射对比度和质量厚度对比度成像。它取代了1992年购买的一台有25年历史的显微镜，部分由NSF资助。利用这种新的显微镜，六个具体项目正在取得实质性进展，其中两个项目由女教员领导。一个研究项目是开发抗感染的生物材料。另一个是为组织工程开发先进的支架。第三个是开发金纳米结构来监测焦点粘附的形成。其他三个项目属于能源领域。一个是开发用于高温无标记传感的新材料平台。另一个追求新的低温显微镜实验涉及有机溶剂，以了解溶剂诱导的凝胶形成，并使用可扩展的处理方法创建有机太阳能电池。第三个使用断层扫描来表征涉及磁性纳米颗粒的网络形成。这些核心项目，以及其他研究项目，都需要透射电子显微镜提供的空间和图像分辨率，以使他们进步。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得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的支持。