MRI: Acquisition of an Integrated Bionanomaterials Characterization and Imaging System for Research and Education Initiatives in Bioengineering

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This award is to purchase a bio/nanomaterials characterization and imaging system, which will be used by seven North Texas academic research institutions. The proposed instrument offers multi-functional capabilities by integrating a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM), atomic force microscope (AFM), and digital light processing (DLP). This new system will enable 20 research groups to perform material imaging, manipulation, and property measurements of synthetic and biological nano/microstructures with optical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal stimulations in both ambient air and liquid environments. The equipment will be housed at the Biological, Actuation, Sensing, and Transport Laboratory on Southern Methodist University campus, a centralized location in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in this state-of-the-art facility, allowing students to build a rich foundation for studying biological cells and organic/inorganic nano/microstructures. The proposed imaging instrument will benefit a number of ongoing research projects. The DLP system will provide fully controllable patterns of light, where the CLSM-AFM system will improve the capability of property measurement of biological and synthetic materials. The use of the CLSM-AFM-DLP will broaden the capability of research in molecular dynamics, bacterial swarms, flagellar mechanics, biologically-inspired robotics, determination of dielectric and mechanical properties of biological cells and materials, laser-assisted micro/nanofabrication, and imaging reactive oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur species. This instrument can lead to important findings for nature-inspired technology and enable future research in various areas: 1) advanced imaging and property measurement of organic/inorganic nano/microstructures, 2) spatial light modulated techniques for live cell imaging, 3) thermal transport and wettability of some low energy surfaces at the liquid-solid interface, and 4) electrical investigation of bio-templated advanced nanostructures.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.