MRI: Acquisition of a Next Generation Small-Angle X-ray Scattering System for Nanoscale Characterization and Development of Advanced Functional Materials

非技术总结用于节能工艺、提高生活质量的生物医学应用的先进功能材料以及用于先进制造的纳米结构材料的开发取决于表征和理解多种长度范围内材料结构的精确组织所需的最先进工具。尺度。 在这些工具中，最重要的是小角X射线散射（SAXS），其中穿过材料的X射线传递了关于物质在整个化学成分中分布方式的长度尺度信息。 为了满足这一需求，该项目的重点是收购下一代（SAXS）系统，该系统将为弗吉尼亚理工大学（VT）的研究人员提供探测用于燃料电池应用的纳米相分离膜的结构细节，用于能量存储的安全有效的电解质，用于先进光学设备的精确有序的嵌段共聚物纳米复合材料，用于靶向药物输送的有序生物聚合物，用于轻质绝缘的凝胶和气凝胶，以及用于结构化弹性材料的3D打印水性乳胶。有了拟议的仪器，VT的关键基础设施作为小角度X射线散射的区域资源将得到深刻的增强。关于我们社会面临的巨大挑战，该项目将提供开发具有成本效益的，现成的材料替代品所需的基本结构细节，以满足能源储存，水净化膜，用于清洁能源转换的燃料电池膜，轻质建筑和航空航天材料以及医疗和保健行业的环保材料的关键需求。该项目研究活动的跨学科性质，从纯化学和物理到材料工程，将为渴望为我们国家的领导力做出贡献的公民和研究人员的多元化社区提供大量的教育机会，以确保更健康，技术概要本项目的重点是获得下一代小角X射线散射（SAXS）该系统具有先进的功能，包括用于薄膜表征的掠入射GISAXS模块;带有多种样品池的大型样品室;用于快速数据采集的大面积、超灵敏、无光束阻挡SAXS探测器;用于适应不同几何形状的自动光束对准/优化，以及便于快速培训和教学演示的用户友好的图形界面。 该项目的目标是为弗吉尼亚理工大学的研究人员提供在广泛的长度尺度上探测和量化结构细节的能力（从100纳米到几埃）的用于燃料电池应用的纳米相分离膜，用于能量存储的安全和有效的大分子电解质，用于等离子体超材料的精确有序的嵌段共聚物纳米复合材料，用于生物活性剂靶向递送的脂质双层结构和螺旋肽纳米线圈、用于建筑和航空航天应用中的轻质绝缘的分级凝胶和气凝胶、用于先进制造中的缸光聚合的3D可打印水性胶乳以及各向异性纤维素纤维素/聚合物复合材料。基于该团队的国际公认的成就，通过广泛的联邦/工业支持的项目进行验证，该项目中要完成的尖端研究工作将对关键能源解决方案，生物医学应用和先进制造的先进材料的科学和工程产生深远的影响。 主要研究人员在分散的基础知识，方法和分析方面拥有丰富的经验，并准备带领这个多元化的材料创新团队迈向结构-性能理解的新高度，以满足我们社会最复杂的材料挑战。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

NONTECHNICAL SUMMARYThe development of advanced functional materials for energy efficient processes, life-enhancing biomedical applications, and nanostructured materials for advanced manufacturing depends on state-of-the-art tools required to characterize and understand the precise organization of material structures over many length scales. Top among the list of such tools is small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), where x-rays traveling through the material relay length-scale information about the manner in which matter is distributed throughout the chemical composition. To meet this need, this project is focused on the acquisition of a next-generation (SAXS) system that will offer researchers at Virginia Tech (VT) the ability to probe structural details of nano-phase separated membranes for fuel cell applications, safe and efficient electrolytes for energy storage, precisely ordered block-copolymer nanocomposites for advanced optical devices, ordered biopolymers for targeted drug delivery, gels and aerogels for lightweight insulation, and 3D printable aqueous latexes for structured elastic materials. With the proposed instrument, VT’s critical infrastructure as a regional resource in small-angle x-ray scattering will be profoundly enhanced. With respect to the grand challenges facing our society, this project will provide fundamental structural detail needed to develop cost-effective, readily available materials alternatives needed to meet critical demands for energy storage, water purification membranes, fuel cell membranes for clean energy conversion, lightweight construction and aerospace materials, and environmentally friendly materials for the medical and healthcare industries. The interdisciplinary nature of research activities in this project, ranging from pure chemistry and physics to materials engineering, will provide a plethora of educational opportunities to a diverse community of citizens and researchers eager to contribute to our nation’s leadership in ensuring a healthier, more energy-efficient global society.TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis project is focused on the acquisition of a next-generation small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) system with advanced capabilities including a grazing-incidence GISAXS module for thin film characterization; large sample chamber with a broad range of sample cells; large-area, ultrasensitive, beamstopless SAXS detector for fast data acquisition; an automated beam alignment/refinement to accommodate diverse geometries and a user-friendly graphical interface to facilitate rapid training and educational demonstrations. The goal of this project is to offer researchers at Virginia Tech the ability to probe and quantify structural details over a wide range of length scales (from 100’s of nm to a few Angstroms) of nano-phase separated membranes for fuel cell applications, safe and efficient macromolecular electrolytes for energy storage, precisely ordered block-copolymer nanocomposites for plasmonic metamaterials, lipid bilayer constructs and helical peptide nanocoils for targeted delivery of bioactive agents, hierarchical gels and aerogels for lightweight insulation in construction and aerospace applications, 3D printable aqueous latexes for vat photopolymerization in advanced manufacturing, and anisotropic cellulose nanocrystal/polymer composites. Building upon internationally recognized accomplishments of the team, validated through a broad range of federally/industrially supported projects, the cutting-edge research efforts to be accomplished in this project will have far-reaching impact in the science and engineering of advanced materials for critical energy solutions, biomedical applications, and advanced manufacturing. The Principal Investigators have extensive experience in scattering fundamentals, methods, and analysis, and are poised to lead this diverse team of materials innovators toward new heights of structure-property understandings needed to meet our society’s most complex materials challenges.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.