MRI: Acquisition of an Ultra-Small-Angle to Wide-Angle Dual Source X-ray Scattering Instrument for Materials Characterization

该奖项支持购买最先进的x射线散射仪器，该仪器将作为开放访问设施在物质结构研究实验室（LRSM）内运行，该实验室是美国国家科学基金会资助的MRSEC在宾夕法尼亚大学（Penn）的主机。Xenocs的Xeuss 2.0允许在0.09到600nm的长度尺度上进行结构表征，从而促进了在广泛的硬和软材料中分层结构的研究。预计要研究的材料范围包括金属、陶瓷、塑料、生物组织以及这些材料的新组合。该仪器还将在参与LRSM项目的许多高中生、本科生和研究生、访问科学家、博士后助理和当地高中教师的材料教育和培训中发挥重要作用。该设施还将编制和管理讲习班和联机培训材料，以促进初学者广泛使用该设施，并充分培养专家用户，从而促进知识交流和技术转让。这个开放的设施将供当地公司和学院/大学的科学家和工程师使用，以推进他们的研究。除了在对美国技术竞争力至关重要的领域提供独特的培训外，新仪器所促进的发现和理解将巩固未来的技术，从而为工业提供信息，刺激经济，并为整个社会带来好处。这笔拨款用于购买最先进的x射线散射仪器，用于宾夕法尼亚大学物质结构研究实验室（LRSM）的开放访问设施，该实验室是美国国家科学基金会资助的MRSEC的主机。Xenocs的Xeuss 2.0能够在宾夕法尼亚大学和费城/特拉华山谷地区的广泛前沿研究项目中进行材料表征。双Cu-Mo源和可调节的样品到探测器的距离，在宽长度范围（0.09至600 nm）内提供高和低空间分辨率的结构信息。各种各样的样品环境使材料能够在原位和操作中进行操作，以探测它们的结构演变，以响应温度、拉伸应力和电场/磁场，甚至在潮湿和液体环境中也是如此。因此，该仪器将推进对各种材料系统的合成、制造、加工和组装的研究，并将提供与化学、电、磁、机械、光学、热和输运性质相关的结构的重要见解。预计的材料使用组合包括用于催化和储能的纳米多孔金属；光收集用纳米晶体、纳米棒和纳米晶体超晶格；聚合物纳米复合薄膜的热管理、光学性能和抗划伤性能；含酸和含离子聚合物显示微相分离离子传输；树突、树状大分子及其自组装结构；用于控制润湿的分级聚合物基薄膜；具有新型自组装结构和相变的慢性液晶；无机微层压薄膜，其制备方法控制磁性能；具有可控稳定性和韧性的薄膜分子玻璃；鱿鱼晶状体和其他组织中的分层蛋白质结构；聚碳酸酯在离子液体中操纵化学反应性；以及用于机电耦合的定向蛋白薄膜。新仪器对至少17个研究小组至关重要，其中12个来自宾夕法尼亚大学的7个学术部门，3个来自当地大学。此外，该仪器将促进附近工业合作伙伴的专有/公开出版研究。Xeuss 2.0将在参与LRSM项目的许多高中生、本科生和研究生、访问科学家、博士后助理和当地高中教师的材料教育和培训中发挥重要作用。

This award supports the purchase of a state-of-the-art X-ray scattering instrument that will be operated as an open-access facility within the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter (LRSM), host of an NSF-funded MRSEC at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). The Xeuss 2.0 from Xenocs allows the structural characterization over length scales from 0.09 to 600 nm and thus facilitates study of hierarchical structures in a wide range of hard and soft materials. The anticipated scope of materials to be studied includes metals, ceramics, plastics, biological tissue, and novel combinations of these. The instrument will also play a vital role in the materials education and training of the many high school, undergraduate and graduate students, visiting scientists, post-doctoral associates and local high school teachers who participate in LRSM programs. The facility will also develop and administer workshops and online training materials to promote its broad use by beginners and to fully develop expert-users and thus promote knowledge exchange and technology transfer. The open-access facility will be used by scientists and engineers from local companies and colleges/universities to advance their research. Besides providing unique training in fields critical for US technological competitiveness, the discoveries and understanding facilitated by the new instrumentation will underpin future technologies, thereby informing industry, stimulating the economy, and offering benefits to society at large. This grant enables the purchase of a state-of-the-art X-ray scattering instrument for an open-access facility within the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter (LRSM), host of an NSF-funded MRSEC at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). The Xeuss 2.0 by Xenocs enables materials characterization across an extraordinarily wide range of cutting-edge research programs at Penn and in the Philadelphia/Delaware-Valley region. The dual Cu-Mo source and adjustable sample to detector distances provide structural information at both high and low spatial resolution across a wide range of length scales (0.09 to 600 nm). An assortment of sample environments enables materials to be manipulated in situ and operando to probe their structural evolution in response to temperature, tensile stress and electric/magnetic fields, even in humid and liquid environments. Thus, the instrument will advance research on the synthesis, fabrication, processing, and assembly of a wide range of materials systems, and will provide crucial insight about structure relevant to their chemical, electrical, magnetic, mechanical, optical, thermal, and transport properties. The anticipated materials usage portfolio includes nanoporous metals for catalysis and energy storage; nanocrystals, nanorods, and nanocrystal superlattices for light harvesting; polymer nanocomposite films for thermal management, optical properties, and scratch resistance; acid- and ion-containing polymers displaying micro-phase separation for ion transport; dendrons, dendrimers, and their self-assembled structures; hierarchical polymer-based films for controlled wetting; chromonic liquid crystals with novel self-assembled structures and phase transitions; inorganic microlaminated thin films wherein fabrication methods control magnetic properties; thin film molecular glasses with controlled stability and toughness; hierarchical protein structures in squid lenses and other tissues; polycarbonates in ionic liquids to manipulate chemical reactivity; and oriented protein films for electromechanical coupling. The new instrumentation is critical for at least 17 research groups, including 12 from Penn spanning 7 academic departments, and 3 from local universities. Additionally, the instrument will advance proprietary/open-publication research of nearby industrial partners. The Xeuss 2.0 will play a vital role in the materials education and training of the many high school, undergraduate and graduate students, visiting scientists, post-doctoral associates and local high school teachers who participate in LRSM programs.