MRI: Acquisition of a Scanning/Transmission Electron Microscope for Materials Research and Education

材料在生物制药、医药、环境和能源储存等领域发挥着重要作用。材料在纳米尺度上的结构对这些材料在更宏观、更物理相关的尺度上的行为起着重要作用。因此，在尽可能小的比例下获得材料的高保真图像非常重要。通过这笔赠款获得的最先进的扫描/透射电子显微镜(S/透射电子显微镜)将能够在纳米尺度上对各种材料进行可视化和化学表征。这些信息将被用来了解材料的功能，以及为诊断和靶向药物输送、污染物捕获和电池应用开发新材料。该工具将通过现有的和新的互动服务于几所大学和行业。数十名研究生、博士后和本科生将接受使用这种尖端分析工具的培训，使他们做好准备，有效地为材料科学和工程研究的快速发展做出贡献。透射电子显微镜将用于成像(A)装载药物和磁性纳米颗粒的生物兼容聚合物微珠，用于联合治疗和诊断(B)暴露在细菌中的银纳米颗粒，以揭示其生物杀菌特性背后的原因(C)生物工程蛋白质和细胞表面，以获得对蛋白质功能的基本了解(D)锂离子电池电极中不断变化的结构，能够设计安全和持久的更高能量密度的电池(E)纳米粒子在溶液中的形成和演化，进一步设计用于硬水和消费品的软化剂。S/TM将是所有这些项目的关键推动因素。该项目由CBET-MRI计划和既定的激励竞争性研究计划(EPSCoR)联合资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Materials play an important role in the areas of biopharmaceuticals, medicine, the environment and energy storage. The structure of materials at the nanoscale play an important role in how these materials behave at more macroscopic, physically relevant scales. Thus, it is important to get high fidelity images of materials at the smallest possible scales. A state-of-the art scanning/transmission electron microscope (S/TEM), acquired through this grant, will enable visualization and chemical characterization of a broad variety of materials at the nanoscale. This information will be used to understand material functionalities, as well as develop new materials for applications in diagnostics and targeted drug delivery, pollutant capture and batteries. The instrument will serve several universities and industries through existing and new interactions. Dozens of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and undergraduates will be trained to use this cutting edge analytical tool, preparing them to contribute effectively to the fast-paced advances in materials science and engineering research.The transmission electron microscope will be used to image (a) biocompatible polymer beads loaded with drugs and magnetic nanoparticles for combined therapeutics and diagnostics (b) silver nanoparticles exposed to bacteria to uncover the causes behind their biocidal properties (c) bioengineered proteins and cell surfaces, to get a fundamental understanding of protein function (d) evolving structures in lithium ion battery electrodes, to be able to design higher energy density batteries that are safe and long lasting (e) nanoparticle formation and evolution in solution, to further the design of softeners for hard water, and for consumer products. The S/TEM will be a key enabler for all of these projects.This project is jointly funded by CBET-MRI Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.