CAREER: Unveiling the structure and stability of prenucleation clusters and their roles in crystallization pathway and final crystal structure

职业：揭示成核前团簇的结构和稳定性及其在结晶途径和最终晶体结构中的作用

• 批准号: 2338173
• 负责人: John Lee
• 金额: $ 66.02万
• 依托单位: Iowa State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-03-01 至 2029-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2338173&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Unveiling; structure; stability; prenucleation

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYFor over a century, scientists have been studying nucleation because it greatly affects various aspects of our lives, such as public health through drug production and dealing with urinary stones, as well as impacting industries like fertilizers and foods. Despite the long history of research, understanding the mechanism and influence of nucleation on crystal structures is still challenging due to the difficulty in characterizing tiny and random phenomena at the sub-nanoscale level. This CAREER award, jointly funded by the Solid State and Materials Chemistry program in NSF’s Division of Materials Research and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), aims to figure out how the structure of salt solutions changes as their concentration increases and how this structure affects the final crystal formation. To overcome the challenges, a levitation technique and powerful X-ray and neutron scattering will be combined, collaborating with Argonne National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The outcomes of this study will significantly enhance our understanding of the complex process of crystallization and its impact on the final crystal structure. This knowledge could benefit industries like pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, and batteries. Throughout the project, a consortium will be formed as an educational platform to promote diversity in the STEM field, educate young scientists and engineers, and share our findings with K-12 students, teachers, and parents in Iowa through existing outreach programs led by Iowa State University.TECHNICAL SUMMARYNucleation dominates the subsequent crystallization, crystal growth, and the structure and properties of final crystals. Recently, nucleation has been reported to occur in multiple steps, forming pre-nucleation clusters (PNCs). It is apparent that PNCs play a critically important role in multi-step nucleation and the final crystal structure, yet their nature is poorly understood. The rationale for the proposed research is that a mechanistic understanding of complex crystallization will likely provide new opportunities to develop a method to control the nucleation and growth of desired crystal phases. For this reason, this CAREER award, jointly funded by the Solid State and Materials Chemistry program in NSF’s Division of Materials Research and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), aims to identify the concentration-dependent structural evolution of PNCs in aqueous salt solutions and the influence of solution structure on the crystallization pathways and the final crystal structure. The current experimental obstacles will be overcome by integrating the solution electrostatic levitator (SEL) with synchrotron X-ray scattering at Argonne National Laboratory and neutron scattering at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The long-term goal of the project is to develop a predictive framework to anticipate and control the multi-pathway and multi-step crystallization in various aqueous solutions to obtain desired microstructures in the final crystal products. The proposed research will lead to a vertical-step advancement toward elucidating the mechanism of complex crystallization in electrolyte solutions and its influence on the final crystal structure.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.

非技术性的摘要一个多世纪以来，科学家一直在研究成核，因为它极大地影响了我们生活的各个方面，例如通过药物生产和处理泌尿石的公共卫生以及影响肥料和食品等行业。尽管研究的历史悠久，但由于难以表征在亚纳米级水平上表征微小和随机现象的困难，因此了解成核对晶体结构的机制和影响仍然具有挑战性。该职业奖是由NSF材料研究部的固态和材料化学计划共同资助的，旨在刺激竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCOR），旨在弄清盐溶液的结构如何随着其浓度的增加以及这种结构如何影响最终晶体形成。为了克服挑战，将结合悬浮技术以及强大的X射线和中子散射，与Argonne National Laboratory和Oak Ridge国家实验室合作。这项研究的结果将显着增强我们对结晶过程及其对最终晶体结构的影响的理解。这些知识可以使制药，肥料和电池等行业受益。在整个项目中，将通过爱荷华州立大学领导的现有外展计划与爱荷华州的K-12学生，老师和父母分享我们的发现，以促进STEM领域的多样性，教育年轻科学家和工程师的多样性。最近，据报道，成核发生了多个步骤，形成了核前簇（PNC）。显然，PNC在多步成核和最终晶体结构中起着至关重要的作用，但其性质知之甚少。拟议的研究的理由是，对复杂结晶的机械理解可能会提供新的机会来开发一种控制所需晶体相的成核和生长的方法。因此，该职业奖是由NSF材料研究部的固态和材料化学计划共同资助的刺激竞争研究的计划（EPSCOR），旨在确定PNC在水溶液解决方案中PNC的浓度依赖性结构演化，以及解决方案结构对结晶通路和最终晶体结构的影响。当前的实验障碍物将通过将溶液静电悬浮剂（SEL）与Argonne国家实验室的同步X射线散射整合到Oak Ridge National Laboratory的中子散射中来克服。该项目的长期目标是开发一个预测框架，以预测和控制各种水溶液中的多步骤和多步结晶，以在最终的水晶产品中获得所需的微观结构。拟议的研究将导致垂直步骤的进步，以阐明电解质溶液中复杂结晶的机制及其对最终晶体结构的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的审查标准，通过评估来诚实地通过评估来诚实地支持。