MRI: Acquisition of a Laboratory-Based X-ray Absorption and Emission Spectroscopy Instrument

MRI：购置实验室 X 射线吸收和发射光谱仪器

• 批准号: 2117198
• 负责人: Jeffrey Catalano
• 金额: $ 29.55万
• 依托单位: Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2117198&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Acquisition; Laboratory; Based; ray

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program award supports the purchase of an X-ray absorption and emission spectrometer that will be hosted by Washington University in St. Louis. The new instrument will be available for use by researchers at the university, in the surrounding region, and further afield. It will be the first of its kind at a university in the United States that is optimized for research in the field of Earth and environmental science. Scientists will use this new tool to study a wide array of questions, such as how life forms minerals, how soils and treatment methods remove contaminants from water, and how gases and water in molten rock affect volcanic eruptions. In addition, this instrument will be used to train the next generation of scientists and as part of research internships for college and high school students, including those from the City of St. Louis. The instrument laboratory will accept samples by mail in addition to in-person usage. This mail-in service opens up access to this unique research capability to students at undergraduate-serving institutions that lack their own major instrumentation and to persons with disabilities who would otherwise need to travel to one of the four major national facilities where these X-ray techniques have traditionally been available.The proposed instrument will enable two types of measurements in a laboratory setting that until recently were only accessible at a synchrotron lightsource: transmission X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and high-resolution X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES). The XAS capability will allow quantification of oxidation state, coordination environment, and local structure of elements occurring at 1 wt.%. The XES capability extends sensitivity to elements occurring at concentrations as low as 10 to 100 μg/g, providing information on oxidation state, transition metal spin state, and coordination. Diverse solid, liquid, or biological samples can be studied using both methods. The instrument will facilitate research on a diverse array of topics, including biogeochemical mineral formation and transformation, biosignatures and prebiotic chemistry on the early Earth, bacterial and fungal metabolisms and products, metal contaminant fate and remediation, volatiles that drive volcanic eruptions, conditions during the formation and evolution of the Solar System, signatures of sedimentary and diagenetic processes in the rock record, drinking water treatment and supply, and recovery of nutrient and energy resources from wastewaters. The instrument enables migration of a subset of XAS measurements from a synchrotron to a laboratory setting, freeing time at beamlines for the many experiments that uniquely require a lightsource facility. In addition, the proposed instrument facilitates the development of XES for Earth and environmental sciences applications, where this technique has seen little usage to date, and will serve as a testbed for wider migration of X-ray spectroscopic methods into a laboratory setting over the coming decade.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.

该主要研究仪器（MRI）项目支持购买x射线吸收和发射光谱仪，该光谱仪将由位于圣路易斯的华盛顿大学主办。新仪器将可供大学、周边地区和更远地区的研究人员使用。这将是美国大学中第一个为地球和环境科学领域的研究而优化的大学。科学家们将使用这个新工具来研究一系列广泛的问题，比如生命是如何形成矿物质的，土壤和处理方法是如何从水中去除污染物的，熔融岩石中的气体和水是如何影响火山爆发的。此外，该仪器将用于培训下一代科学家，并作为大学和高中生（包括来自圣路易斯市的学生）研究实习的一部分。仪器实验室将接受邮寄样品，也可以亲自使用。这种邮寄服务为缺乏自己的主要仪器的本科院校的学生和残疾人提供了使用这种独特研究能力的机会，否则他们就需要前往四个主要的国家机构之一，这些机构传统上可以使用这些x射线技术。提议的仪器将在实验室环境中实现两种类型的测量，直到最近还只能在同步加速器光源上进行：透射x射线吸收光谱（XAS）和高分辨率x射线发射光谱（XES）。XAS功能将允许量化氧化态、配位环境和元素在1 wt %时的局部结构。该系统对浓度低至10至100 μg/g的元素具有灵敏度，可提供氧化态、过渡金属自旋态和配位的信息。不同的固体，液体或生物样品可以使用这两种方法进行研究。该仪器将促进对各种主题的研究，包括生物地球化学矿物形成和转化、早期地球上的生物特征和益生元化学、细菌和真菌代谢和产物、金属污染物的命运和修复、驱动火山爆发的挥发物、太阳系形成和演化期间的条件、岩石记录中沉积和成岩过程的特征、饮用水处理和供应。从废水中回收养分和能源资源。该仪器能够将XAS测量的一个子集从同步加速器迁移到实验室设置，从而为需要光源设施的许多实验腾出光束线时间。此外，拟议的仪器促进了地球和环境科学应用中x射线的发展，该技术迄今为止很少使用，并将作为未来十年x射线光谱方法更广泛迁移到实验室环境的测试平台。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。