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

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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.