Freeze Dryer for Research in Materials and Biological Chemistry

我们迫切需要资金购买冷冻干燥机，以支持材料科学、生物化学和分析化学领域的积极研究项目。冷冻干燥，或冷冻干燥，是一种脱水技术，有助于在真空下从先前冷冻的样品中去除水或溶剂。冷冻干燥通常被用来处理 温度敏感型化合物的浓度和 生物产品的保存，如酶， 微生物菌株和环境样本。对于材料的表征，冷冻干燥是保存材料孔隙度和通过电子显微镜和其他技术可视化结构的关键步骤。使用冷冻干燥器预计会有重大的新发现，例如开发以甲壳素纳米晶体气凝胶为载体的催化纳米材料，治疗阿尔茨海默氏症的新药，以及更好地了解大气中气溶胶颗粒上冰晶的形成。 冷冻干燥机将安装在不列颠哥伦比亚大学化学系的生物研究设施(生物服务)中。BioServices是一家完全致力于提供全面的 针对特定需求定制的生物学研究支持 化学领域的跨学科研究计划。该设施是 专门为分子和细胞生物学研究而设计并获得认证 用于处理II类生物危害病原体。将冷冻干燥机放置在这个得到良好支持的设施中，将确保无数NSERC资助的研究人员可以使用它。此外，该设施的全职工作人员在冷冻干燥机和相关设备方面拥有丰富的工作经验，并将能够确保设备的适当维护。 冷冻干燥机对我们HQP的培训至关重要。研究生、本科生和博士后将从生物服务设施的工作人员(他们有30多年的冷冻干燥机经验)那里获得冷冻干燥机的实践培训，以制备气凝胶、多孔纤维材料、多孔甲壳素材料和化合物，用于蛋白质化学、抗癌化合物发现、抗生素、酶、高通量筛选、纳米机械设备和生物医学应用等领域的重要研究。

We urgently need funding for a freeze dryer to support active research programs in materials science, biological chemistry, and analytical chemistry. Freeze drying, or lyophilization, is a dehydration technique that facilitates the removal of water or solvents under a vacuum from previously frozen samples. Freeze drying is generally employed for the concentration of temperature-sensitive compounds and for the preservation of biological products such as enzymes, strains of microorganisms, and environmental samples. For materials characterization, freeze drying is a critical step for preserving porosity in materials and enabling visualization of the structure by electron microscopy and other techniques. Significant new discoveries are anticipated using the freeze dryer, such as the development of catalytic nanomaterials supported on chitin nanocrystal aerogels, new drugs for treating Alzheimer's, and a better understanding of the formation of ice crystals on aerosol particles in the atmosphere. The freeze dryer will be situated in the Biological Research Facility (BioServices) in the Chemistry Department at UBC. BioServices is a facility entirely devoted to offering comprehensive biological research support customized to the specific needs of interdisciplinary research programs in chemistry. The facility is specially designed for molecular and cell biology research and certified for work with Class II biohazard pathogens. Placing the freeze dryer in this well-supported facility will ensure that it is available to numerous NSERC-funded researchers. As well, the full-time staff in the facility have extensive experience working with freeze dryers and related equipment, and will be able to ensure proper maintenance of the equipment. The freeze dryer is critical to the training of our HQP. Grad students, undergrad students, and post-docs will obtain hands-on training with the freeze dryer from the staff in the BioServices facility (who have more than 30 years of experience with freeze dryers) to prepare aerogels, porous cellulosic materials, porous chitin materials, and compounds for important studies in the areas of protein chemistry, anticancer compound discovery, antibiotics, enzymes, high-throughput screening, nanomechanical devices, and biomedical applications.