MRI: Acquisition of XRD Attachments for Extending X-Ray Lab Capabilities with Temperature and Atmosphere Control

技术摘要：对于能源、环境和基础设施应用的材料开发的快速发展，原位x射线研究正成为越来越重要的技术。田纳西理工大学（TTU）的研究人员正在进行以下项目：(1)燃料电池、电池、燃气轮机和能源转换；(2)先进、高性能材料。用于汽车和飞机结构系统的矿物增强聚合物基体的下一代纳米复合材料，用于基础设施应用的先进胶凝系统，以及用于燃料电池和高性能热机开发的薄膜材料，是两个推力领域中代表的材料和材料系统的具体示例。该项目将扩大TTU不断增长的仪器集群的能力，专注于材料系统的多尺度研究，进一步加强田纳西州更广泛的科学、技术和工程社区的研究和教育设施。新的仪器，一系列的三个温度阶段和大气控制室（附件），用于x射线衍射系统，将成为现有的协同基础设施的一部分，包括新购买的x射线衍射系统，环境扫描电子显微镜（ESEM），闭环机械测试负载框架和光学成像站，所有这些都是由NSF资助的，并将对整个TTU研究社区开放。工业合作者、区域K-12科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教育界和其他大学研究人员。虽然多尺度解释的概念并不新鲜，但TTU团队努力将这一概念作为一种普遍的调查形式，扩展到多个学科。x射线仪器附件代表了一个协同元素，与现有工具相结合，将使TTU研究团队能够开发环境，结构无机和有机材料系统的多尺度实验数据集，具有广泛的21世纪影响，包括氢经济，基础设施和纳米级处理。除了新的x射线附件外，该团队还将集成通信、学习和可视化技术，以增强这些先进工具在教学环境中的适用性。外行人总结：许多材料的行为只能通过掌握许多长度尺度上的结构和性质的详细信息来解释。探索材料的各种工具包括机械试验机和显微镜。这些仪器揭示了大尺度性质，即那些影响cm（厘米）或m（米）尺度性能的性质和微观性质，即那些影响mm（毫米）甚至？Ym(微米)。为了在更小的纳米尺度上揭示信息，科学家和工程师们利用了x射线衍射等工具。衍射是一种在原子间距离的尺度上产生物质结构信息的方法。这种相当奇怪的材料成像方式可以揭示从材料的组成到每个原子精确位置的细节。这些信息对于在最小的化学长度尺度上理解材料的性质至关重要。田纳西理工大学（TTU）的研究人员正在研究一些新的材料系统，他们希望这些系统将影响国家的能源、环境和基础设施的未来；其中包括用于汽车和飞机结构系统的由微小纳米级矿物增强聚合物基质制成的下一代复合材料，用于基础设施应用的先进胶凝系统，以及用于燃料电池和高性能热机开发的薄膜。为了快速推进这项工作，TTU团队将扩展他们现有的x射线实验室能力，包括特殊的室，使他们能够在模拟材料在其应用中的使用方式的环境中研究这些材料。例如，用于涡轮机的薄膜将暴露在非常高的温度下。至关重要的是，科学家们要在这些温度下直接研究这些材料，也就是所谓的实时，这意味着要进行直接观察。此外，TTU团队知道，对大学生、高中教师和大学前学生的科学培训对我们国家的科技和经济未来至关重要。因此，TTU团队计划将新工具整合到许多现有的和新的学生课程中，并在正在进行的教师培训和推广活动中使用这些工具，通过TTU扩大的影响力范围，尽可能多地接触到潜在的新科学家和工程师。

0923042BiernackiTennessee Technological U.Technical Summary: In situ x-ray studies are becoming increasingly important techniques for the rapid advancement of materials development for energy, environment and infrastructure applications. Researchers at Tennessee Technological University (TTU) have ongoing projects on: (1) fuel cells, batteries, gas turbines and energy transformation; and (2) advanced, high performance materials. Next generation nano-composites made of mineral reinforced polymer matrices for structural automotive and aircraft systems, advanced cementitious systems for infrastructure applications and thin film materials for fuel cell and high performance heat engine development are specific examples of materials and material systems that are represented within the two thrust areas. This project will expand the capabilities of TTU¡¦s growing instrument cluster for focused multi-scale studies of material systems to further enhance research and educational facilities for the broader science, technology, and engineering community in Tennessee. The new instruments, a series of three temperature stages and atmospherically controlled chambers (attachments) for an x-ray diffraction system, will become part of existing synergistic infrastructures consisting of a newly purchased X-ray diffraction system, an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM), a closed loop mechanical testing load frame and an optical imaging station, all previously funded by the NSF, and will be accessible to the entire TTU research community, industrial collaborators, the regional K-12 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education community and other university researchers. While the concept of multi-scale interpretation is not new, the TTU team endeavors to engage the concept as a pervasive form of investigation, extending across multiple disciplines. The X-ray instrument attachments represents a synergistic element that, in combination with existing tools, will enable TTU research teams to develop multi-scale experimental datasets for environmental, structural inorganic and organic materials systems with broad reaching 21st Century implications including the hydrogen economy, infrastructure and nano-scale processing. In addition to the new x-ray attachments, the team will also integrate communications, learning and visualization technology to enhance the applicability of these advanced tools in teaching and learning environments. Layman Summary: The behavior of many materials can only be explained by having detailed information about the structure and properties at many length scales. Various tools for exploring materials include mechanical testing machines and microscopes. These instruments reveal both large-scale properties, those affecting the performance on the cm (centimeter) or m (meter) scale and microscopic properties, those one the scale of mm (millimeters) or even ?Ým (micrometers). To reveal information at an even smaller scale, the nanometer scale, scientists and engineers utilize tools such as X-ray diffraction. Diffraction is a way to generate information about the structure of matter on the scale of the distances between the very atoms. This rather strange way of imaging a material can reveal everything from the composition to details of the exact location of every atom in the material. Such information is critical for to understand the material¡¦s properties at the very smallest chemically significant length-scale. Researchers at Tennessee Technological University (TTU) are working on a number of new material systems that they hope will impact the Nation¡¦s energy, environmental and infrastructure future; these include next generation composites made of tiny nano-scale mineral reinforced polymer matrices for structural automotive and aircraft systems, advanced cementitious systems for infrastructure applications and thin films for fuel cell and high performance heat engine development. To rapidly advance this work, the TTU team will be extending their existing X-ray laboratory capabilities to include special chambers that will enable them to study these materials in environments that simulate the way the materials will be used in their applications. For example, films to be used in turbine will be exposed to very high temperatures. It is critical that scientists directly study these materials at those temperatures in what is called real-time, this means ¡§to make direct observations.¡¨ In addition, the TTU team knows that science training for both college students, high school teachers and pre-college age students is crucial to our Nation¡¦s technological and economic future. The TTU team, therefore, has plans to integrate the new tools, into many existing and new courses for their students and to use the same in ongoing teacher training and outreach initiatives to reach as many potential new scientists and engineers as possible through TTU¡¦s extended sphere of influence.