Acquisition of a Powder X-ray Diffractometer to Enhance Multi-Departmental Materials Research and Training at Southeast Missouri State University

这项主要研究仪器（MRI）计划资助支持在东南密苏里州州立大学，一个主要的本科大学与农村服务区的粉末X射线衍射仪（PXRD）的收购。该仪器将被安置和维护在化学和物理系，同时服务于一系列学科的广泛用户社区。PXRD允许研究人员分析未知材料的结构，并在化学，冶金学，矿物学，法医学，考古学，物理学以及生物和制药科学等领域进行材料表征。结合现有的单晶X射线衍射（SCXRD）设施，这是在大量使用的研究和本科生培训，PXRD将提高研究生产力和学生在化学和物理培训的机会。它还将吸引农业、地球科学、历史保护和人类学方面的非传统用户。这些设备将用于教师指导和基于课程的本科生研究的研究培训，后者是更广泛的STEM参与的公平和包容性门户。在工业和学术研究中常用的PXRD技术将为学生的职业生涯和研究生院做好准备。PXRD还将用于K-12教师和教育专业的STEM课程，为他们提供可以与学生分享的研究经验。PXRD是一种领先的技术，用于快速、非破坏性地分析样品的化学和内部结构特性，并补充了该机构提供的SCXRD功能。虽然SCXRD需要一个微小的，均匀的纯单晶和几个小时的数据收集和分析，PXRD使用散装，多晶样品，可能不是均匀的纯，扫描可以在几分钟内完成与标准库的模式匹配，以提供快速识别。分子和材料的性质是微妙地依赖于原子的结构安排，使这些系统。这些结构排列很容易使用XRD技术进行研究。在合成应用中，PXRD提供了批量样品均匀纯净的证据，并使研究人员能够自信地进行其他表征，例如SCXRD、磁或电测量、热分析、催化或光谱学。该技术也适用于研究非晶体材料的结构，如薄膜和非晶固体。此外，PXRD还提供了一种快速识别来自现场的异质或混合样品的化学特性的方法，例如农业土壤成分，地球科学矿物成分或历史保护建筑材料成分。PXRD支持的现有项目包括1）新型磁性材料的制备和开发，如多功能，磁热和硬磁材料，2）在低pH条件下或磁场存在下操作的非均相析氧电催化剂的活性和稳定性，以及3）表现出热致变色的混合有机/金属卤化物化合物的合成和结构表征，多态性和有趣的磁性。PXRD和SCXRD设施将共同促进服务不足地区的结构科学，并实现与邻近大学的互利合作。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program grant supports the acquisition of a powder X-ray diffractometer (PXRD) at Southeast Missouri State University, a primarily undergraduate university with a rural service region. The instrument will be housed and maintained in the Department of Chemistry and Physics while serving a broad community of users across a range of disciplines. PXRD allows researchers to analyze the structure of unknown materials and perform materials characterization in such fields as chemistry, metallurgy, mineralogy, forensic science, archeology, physics, and biological and pharmaceutical sciences. Combined with the existing single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) facility, which is in heavy use for research and undergraduate training, the PXRD will increase research productivity and student training opportunities in chemistry and physics. It will also engage non-traditional users in agriculture, geosciences, historic preservation, and anthropology. The equipment will be used for research training in both faculty-mentored and course-based undergraduate research, the latter being an equitable and inclusive gateway to broader STEM participation. Incorporating PXRD techniques commonly used in industry and academic research will prepare students for careers and graduate school. PXRD will also be used in STEM courses for K-12 teachers and education majors, providing them with research experience they can share with their students. PXRD is a leading technique for the rapid, non-destructive analysis of the chemical and internal structural identity of a sample and complements the SCXRD capabilities available at the institution. While SCXRD requires a tiny, homogeneously pure single crystal and several hours for data collection and analysis, PXRD uses a bulk, multicrystalline sample that may not be homogenously pure, and a scan can be completed in minutes with pattern matching against a standard library to provide rapid identification. The properties of molecules and materials are exquisitely dependent upon the structural arrangements of the atoms that make up these systems. These structural arrangements are readily studied using XRD techniques. In synthetic applications, PXRD provides evidence that the bulk sample is homogeneously pure and allows a researcher to proceed confidently with other characterization such as SCXRD, magnetic or electrical measurements, thermal analysis, catalysis, or spectroscopy. The technique is also suitable for studying the structure of non-crystalline materials such as thin films and amorphous solids. Additionally, PXRD provides a means of rapid identification of the chemical identity of heterogeneous or mixed samples from the field, such as soil composition for agriculture, mineral composition for geosciences, or building material composition for historic preservation. Existing projects supported by the PXRD include 1) the preparation and development of novel magnetic materials, such as multifunctional, magnetocaloric, and hard magnetic materials, 2) the activity and stability of heterogeneous oxygen evolution electrocatalysts operating in low pH conditions or in the presence of a magnetic field, and 3) the synthesis and structural characterization of hybrid organic/metal halide compounds that exhibit thermochromism, polymorphism, and interesting magnetic properties. The PXRD and SCXRD facilities together will promote structural science in an underserved region and enable mutually beneficial collaborations with neighboring universities.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.