Equipment: Facilitating Optical X-Ray Techniques for Research and Organized Training at Alabama State University (FOXTROT-ASU)

历史上的黑人学院和大学本科项目(HBCU-UP)为加强HBCU的STEM本科教育和研究提供了支持。该项目的重点是购买一台X射线衍射仪，以加强化学、法医生物学、法医化学和生物医学工程专业的教学和研究能力。STEM中代表性不足的学生将有机会利用主要工具进行研究，并通过利用这一技术回答问题。通过将这项技术纳入学位课程，学生可以通过接触这一工具来加强他们的研究背景，并了解理论和应用之间的联系。这一努力将在学生为STEM学科的劳动力和/或高级学位项目做好准备方面发挥作用，并与其他机构和附属研究中心建立当地合作。项目目标包括有效分析通过固态技术合成的新型晶体样品的复杂结构，通过替代或合成后还原步骤可以导致缺陷。X射线衍射将被用作监测和识别合成过程中的相的基本技术，并使人们对该过程的完成情况有更深入的了解。这项技术所分析的后续性质对基于样品的组成、结构、稳定性和原子的局部环境的变化提供了有价值的见解。该工具提供的Rietveld分析生成的精确的键距离和角度将用于提供合成产品的键价总和和全球不稳定指数，并与计算建模的键价值进行比较，以实现更具影响力的同行评审出版物。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) provides support to strengthen STEM undergraduate education and research at HBCUs. This project focuses on the acquisition of an X-ray diffractometer to enhance the teaching and research capabilities within the Chemistry, Forensic Biology, Forensic Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering programs. Underrepresented students in STEM will have the opportunity to conduct research with major instrumentation and have questions answered by utilizing this technique. Access to this instrument allows for students to strengthen their research background and understand the connection between theory and application by incorporating this technique into the degree program curricula. This endeavor will play a role in preparing students for the workforce and/or advanced degree programs in STEM disciplines and create local collaborations with other institutions and affiliated research centers.Project goals include the effective analysis of complex structures of novel crystalline samples synthesized from solid-state techniques by which defects can be induced via substitution or by a post-synthesis reduction step. X-ray diffraction will be used as an essential technique to monitor and identify phases within the synthetic process and gives insight to the completion of the process. The subsequent properties analyzed as a result of this technique gives valuable insight regarding the changes based on the sample’s composition, structure, stability, and local environment of atoms. Refined bond distances and angles generated from Rietveld analysis provided by the instrument will be used to provide bond valence sums and global instability indices for synthetic products and compared with computationally modeled bond valence values for optimization leading to higher impact peer-reviewed publications.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.