Upgrading of the X-ray diffractometer at Mississippi State University

lynchan x射线衍射仪（XRD）是密西西比州立大学广泛研究人员使用的基础研究工具。最近的XRD用户来自地球科学、植物与土壤科学、化学、生物、农业与生物工程、机械工程和化学工程等部门。现有的设备被大量用于一系列外部资助的项目，从土壤矿物学、废物处理和精准农业，到含水层的沉积物和污染物转移，再到密西西比和整个东南部的岩石和沉积物的工程特性研究。XRD还用于密西西比州农林试验站指导的应用和理论项目。向公众传播这些项目的成果是密西西比州推广服务处的一项主要活动，该服务处通过密歇根州立大学植物和土壤科学系在全州范围内运作。在XRD实验室的经验是一些本科生、研究生和远程学习“K-12地球科学教师”课程的基本组成部分。上述研究项目的一个主要问题是需要较长的时间才能获得高质量的XRD光谱。NSF将通过购买高效x射线探测器和单色仪来改善XRD。这些硬件升级大大减少了XRD分析时间，并允许研究大量样品。资金还将用于购买完整的windows平台x射线衍射数据库和搜索/匹配程序。软件升级取代了dos平台软件包，将使XRD更加“用户（学生）友好”，并且对大学的研究人员更容易使用

EAR-0236748LynchAn X-ray diffractometer (XRD) is a fundamental research tool used by a broad cross-section of researchers at Mississippi State University. Recent XRD users have come from the Departments of Geosciences, Plants and Soil Sciences, Chemistry, Biology, Agriculture and Biological Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Chemical Engineering. The existing equipment is heavily used through a series of externally funded projects ranging from soil mineralogy, waste disposal, and precision agriculture, through sediment and pollutant transfer in aquifers, to studies on the engineering properties of rocks and sediments in Mississippi and throughout the Southeast. The XRD is also used in applied and theoretical projects directed by the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experimental Station. Dissemination of the results of these projects to the general public is a major activity of the Mississippi State Extension Service, which operates statewide out of the Plants and Soil Sciences Department at MSU. Experience in the XRD laboratory is a fundamental portion of several undergraduate, graduate, and distance-learning "K-12 Teachers in Geoscience" classes. A major concern in the aforementioned research projects is the long time needed to acquire high-quality XRD spectra. NSF support will be used to improve the XRD by purchasing a high-efficiency X-ray detector and monochrometer. These hardware upgrades significantly decrease XRD analysis time and allow large number of samples to be investigated. Funds will also be used to purchase a complete Windows-platform X-ray diffraction database and search/match programs. The software upgrades replace a DOS-platform software package and will make the XRD more "user (student) friendly" and accessible to researchers at the University.***