Spectrofluorometer for Advanced Materials Characterization and Sensor Development

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The chemical properties of many molecules enable them to absorb energy from light, and in the process, be converted to an excited state. The molecules in their excited states release their excitation energy in the form of light or heat. The requested spectrofluorometer, enables the measurement of the photophysical properties of matter, including, amount of energy required to excite the molecule, the type of excitation state, the lifetime or how long the molecule remains in its excited state(s), the energy or colour of the emitted light, and how efficiently the absorbed energy is converted to the emitted light. The ability to measure these parameters enables researchers to tune the structure of materials to optimize the performance of devices like solar cells, light emitting diodes (LED), transistors, dyes and optical sensors with applications in bioimaging, diagnostics and the sensitive and specific detection of analytes including environmental contaminants, etc. The spectrofluorometer is requested by a group of NSERC-funded researchers, engaged in materials, biomaterials, and biochemistry research, with a total of over $2.1M in funding (DG, RTI, Engage, CRC, CFI/ORF) in the past three years. However, both their short-term research progress and the longer-term impact of their research programs is severely hampered by the lack of a state-of-the-art spectrofluorometer capable of lifetime and steady state fluorescence measurements of solids, films, gels and solutions, with high sensitivity. The requested instrument is an essential addition to the suite of tools for the design and characterization of advanced materials. The University has recently demonstrated strong commitment to Advanced Materials Research with a new research building (Essex CORe), the strategic filling of four new positions in Chemistry & Biochemistry with soft materials researchers (Trant, Marquardt, Rondeau-Gagné and Tong) to complement existing strengths in Materials science led by Loeb, Rawson, Eichhorn, Schurko and Carmichael and the founding of a cross disciplinary research institute (WINRAM). The University's strong commitment to the User Group and to Advanced Materials Research continues with the provision of an additional $29,615 to supplement the requested funding for this proposal. The requested spectrofluorometer will support research programs of 8 groups (5-applicants and 3-frequent users) including a Tier 1 CRC, across 3 Departments and aid in the training of many HQP in an essential molecular characterization technique. The research outcomes aided by the requested instrument include, inorganic and organic dyes for industrial catalysis; molecular machines that move in response to light; light emitting nanoparticles for displays; dynamic monitoring of cellular membrane architecture; development of materials for delivery of drugs and imaging agents; live monitoring of enzymes in cells; and the detection of environmental contaminants.