Upgrade of LA-ICP-MS for research and education at Western Washington University

西华盛顿大学 LA-ICP-MS 升级用于研究和教育

• 批准号: 2138789
• 负责人: Susan DeBari
• 金额: $ 46.86万
• 依托单位: Western Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-02-01 至 2024-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2138789&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Upgrade; LA; ICP; MS; research

This award will provide funding to Western Washington University (WWU) to upgrade an existing but aging inductively-coupled-plasma-mass spectrometer and associated 213 nm laser (LA-ICP-MS) to a significantly-improved LA-ICP-MS system with an advanced 193 nm laser. This instrument will add exciting new opportunities for faculty research, thesis research of undergraduate and graduate students, and course-based research at a dominantly undergraduate institution that has an outstanding record of well-cited publications involving students. Of the 5 co-principal investigators and 2 senior personnel on this grant, 5 are early career researchers within the first four years of their appointment at WWU and this instrument will significantly enhance their research productivity. The new instrument will support grant-funded research with students that covers topics as broad-ranging as utilization of chemical signatures in volcanic glasses/crystals to discern eruption processes, characterization of deep-Earth materials, timescales and rates of ancient subduction zone processes, transport of plastic nanoparticles in the environment, geochemical signatures in biogenic carbonates as recorders of past climate, ore deposit genesis, abundances of particulate matter pollution, and toxicity of metals in marine and terrestrial systems. The LA-ICP-MS will continue to be used to promote research and education partnerships via outreach to pre-college students, nearby community colleges and entering WWU freshman with an interest in STEM, but this grant specifically develops new collaborations with nearby Whatcom Community College (WCC) and WWU Geology and Environmental Sciences departments to develop course-based undergraduate research experiences and paid summer research experiences for undergraduates.The ICP-MS and associated laser upgrade will improve and expand the current high quality and broad scope of research, including NSF-funded projects, conducted within the Geology Department and the College. Replacing the current unsupported instrument is essential to ensure the uninterrupted functioning of our facility, and the new Agilent 7900 ICP-MS will provide significantly improved detection limits, count sensitivity, plasma stability, and handling of laser particles. A coupled laser, the RESOlution-SE system, will provide a reliable introductory system for non-aqueous samples, which historically make up half of the total samples analyzed at WWU. Specifically, this system will expand the range of materials that can be analyzed (in terms of both composition and size), minimize fractionation, and significantly enhance precision, detection limits, and sample navigation and programming. It will also provide for an additional LIBS detector permitting periodic table masses at a weight percent to ppm range. These upgrades to the ICP-MS and laser ablation system are necessary for researchers working with nanoparticles and toxins, translucent solid materials (e.g., minerals such as quartz and plagioclase), trace element concentrations below 10 μg/g, small solid samples (100 μm diameter), large solid samples that do not fit in the sample chamber, and more. The intuitive designs and excellent coupling of the Agilent 7900 and RESOlution-SE operational programs will also improve user accessibility and training (dominantly students).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.

该奖项将为西华盛顿大学（WWU）提供资金，将现有但老化的电感耦合等离子体质谱仪和相关的213 nm激光器（LA-ICP-MS）升级为具有先进193 nm激光器的显著改进的LA-ICP-MS系统。该工具将为教师研究，本科生和研究生的论文研究以及以课程为基础的研究增加令人兴奋的新机会，该研究所主要是本科院校，拥有涉及学生的良好引用出版物的杰出记录。在5名共同主要研究人员和2名高级人员中，有5名是在WWU任职的前四年内的早期职业研究人员，该仪器将显着提高他们的研究生产力。新仪器将支持赠款资助的研究与学生，涵盖广泛的主题，利用火山玻璃/晶体中的化学特征来辨别喷发过程，深地球材料的表征，古代俯冲带过程的时间尺度和速率，环境中塑料纳米颗粒的运输，生物碳酸盐中的地球化学特征作为过去气候的记录器，矿石存款成因，海洋和陆地系统中颗粒物污染的丰度和金属的毒性。LA-ICP-MS将继续用于促进研究和教育伙伴关系，通过推广到大学预科学生，附近的社区学院和进入WWU大一与STEM的兴趣，但这笔赠款专门与附近的Whatcom社区学院（WCC）和WWU地质与环境科学系开展新的合作，以开发课程-ICP-MS和相关的激光升级将改善和扩大目前的高质量和广泛的研究范围，包括NSF资助的项目，在地质系和学院内进行。更换目前不受支持的仪器对于确保我们设施的不间断运行至关重要，新的Agilent 7900 ICP-MS将显著提高检测限、计数灵敏度、等离子体稳定性和激光粒子处理。耦合激光器，RESOlution-SE系统，将提供一个可靠的非水样品的介绍系统，历史上占一半的总样品分析在WWU。具体而言，该系统将扩大可分析材料的范围（在成分和尺寸方面），最大限度地减少分馏，并显着提高精度，检测限以及样品导航和编程。它还将提供额外的LIBS检测器，允许周期表质量在重量百分比至ppm范围内。ICP-MS和激光烧蚀系统的这些升级对于研究纳米颗粒和毒素、半透明固体材料（例如，矿物（如石英和斜长石）、微量元素浓度低于10 μ g/g、小固体样品（直径100 μ m）、不适合样品室的大固体样品等。Agilent 7900和RESOlution-SE操作程序的直观设计和出色的耦合还将提高用户的可访问性和培训（主要是学生）。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。