Equipment: MRI: Track 1: Acquisition of a Zeiss 560 VP FE-SEM for chemical and surface characterization and training.

假设表面形貌的纳米级变化会干扰细菌因子如何附着、增殖并随后形成生物膜，特别是当这些特征比微生物本身更小时。该仪器将对纳米级地形（即形状、仰角、间距、宽度、长度和密度）的变化如何调节或抑制细菌在表面的附着和定植提供新的见解。例如，该仪器提供的信息可以为海洋酸化如何降低各种海洋生物构建外壳和外骨骼的能力提供新的见解。该仪器的成功使用有可能导致生物医学、电子、航空航天和环境修复应用中具有可控性能的纳米材料的发展。波多黎各大学马亚圭斯分校（UPR-M）是波多黎各主要的工程和应用科学研究中心，拥有12000多名学生，其中95%来自STEM领域代表性不足的群体，超过51%的女性从事STEM应用项目。因此，该仪器将大大增加和加强研究和经验培训，为这些学生提供表征纳米材料，聚合物和生物标本的尖端工具。使用该仪器进行的研究将支持生物、化学、环境科学和工程领域的本科生、研究生和专业教育和培训。该仪器的使用将支持每年100多名本科生和60多名研究生的研究培训，并与该岛周围100英里内的其他四所大学和研究与发展设施合作。要获得的系统是高分辨率场发射扫描电子显微镜（FE-SEM），具有二次电子（SE），能量色散x射线（EDS）和变压（VP）功能，特别是蔡司560 VP FE-SEM。该仪器将用于评估纳米材料和细菌剂的吸附和有效结合的基本表面参数，如形态、密度和空间分布，并对开发可扩展和可转移的纳米结构感兴趣，这些纳米结构既可以抑制化学剂和病原体的增殖，也可以系统地调节细菌的结合和粘附。该仪器将用于评估复合材料作为生物聚合物的基体增强剂在生物杀灭应用和电子应用中的效果。此外，该仪器还将用于研究加勒比盆地深水甲壳类动物的形态特征和外骨骼变化对亚微米塑料污染和全球变化的影响。该仪器的成功实施将使团队能够阐明可以调节结构完整性、细菌结合、生物传感和化学修复的表面和结构参数。由于其多样化的分析能力，该仪器有潜力用于各种跨学科应用，并为化学、材料科学与工程、生物学、生物技术和海洋科学领域的本科生和研究生提供跨学科培训和研究机会。该项目由主要研究实施（MRI）计划和建立计划刺激竞争研究（EPSCoR）共同资助。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。

Nanoscale variations in surface topography are hypothesized to disturb how bacterial agents become attached, proliferate, and subsequently form biofilms, particularly when those features are smaller than the microorganism itself. This instrument will lead to new insights into how changes in nanoscale topographies (i.e., shape, elevation, pitch, width, length, and density) can regulate or inhibit bacterial attachment and colonization of a surface. Information provided by this instrument could, for example, provide new insights on how ocean acidification reduces the ability of various marine organisms to build shells and exoskeletons. The successful use of this instrument has the potential to lead to the development of nanomaterials with controlled properties for biomedical, electronics, aerospace, and environmental remediation applications. University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez (UPR-M) is the major engineering and applied sciences research center of the island with an academic population of over 12,000 students, 95% of them from underrepresented groups in STEM and over 51% females engaged in applied STEM programs. This instrument will thus substantially augment and enhance research and experiential training with a cutting-edge tool for the characterization of nanomaterials, polymers, and biological specimens for these students. Research conducted using this instrument will support undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and training in biology, chemistry, environmental sciences, and engineering. The use of the instrument will support the research training of over 100 undergraduate and more than 60 graduate students per year along with collaborations with four other universities and research and development facilities within 100 miles around the island. The system to be acquired is a high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), with secondary electron (SE), Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDS), and variable pressure (VP) capabilities, specifically a Zeiss 560 VP FE-SEM. The instrument will be used to assess the fundamental surface parameters such as morphology, density, and spatial distribution exerted on the sorption and effective binding of nanomaterials and bacterial agents with interest in developing scalable and transferable nanostructures that can either inhibit chemical agents and pathogen proliferation or systematically regulate bacterial binding and adhesion. The instrument will be used to evaluate the effect of the use of composite materials as matrix-reinforcements in biopolymers for biocidal applications and electronic applications. In addition, the instrument will also serve to study the morphological features and exoskeleton changes of deep-water crustaceans from the Caribbean basin as a function of sub-micron plastic pollution and global changes. The successful implementation of this instrument will enable the team to elucidate surface and structural parameters that can regulate structural integrity, bacterial binding, biosensing, and chemical remediation. Due to its diverse range of analytical capabilities this instrument has the potential to be used in a variety of interdisciplinary applications and to provide interdisciplinary training and research opportunities to a diverse group of undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, Biology, Biotechnology, and Marine Sciences.This project is jointly funded by the Major Research Implementation (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.