MRI: Acquisition of a modern powder X-ray diffractometer with in situ capabilities

该奖项由主要研究仪器（MRI）和化学研究仪器（CRIF）计划支持。来自马萨诸塞州阿默斯特大学的Kevin Kittilstved教授及其同事Dhandapani Venkataraman、Wei Fan和Friederike Jentoft获得了粉末X射线衍射仪的支持。粉末X射线衍射仪用X射线探测固体材料，以揭示其内部组成和结构。 利用该仪器进行的成功研究使研究人员能够合成具有促进社会向可持续燃料和能源过渡潜力的新材料。该衍射仪扩展了马萨诸塞州西部五所大学联盟的材料结构表征能力。除了家庭机构，该财团还包括山。霍利奥克学院、阿默斯特学院、汉普郡学院和史密斯学院。该仪器正在被整合到本科和研究生课程在U马萨诸塞州阿默斯特。该仪器还与地区学校教师、学生及其家长的几个推广计划相结合。衍射仪增强了各级的研究和教育。它特别有助于研究氧空位在调节钛酸锶散装粉末和自支撑纳米晶体中的电荷中性和确定具有特定金属掺杂剂的分子金属硫属化物簇的结构中所起的作用。该仪器还用于分析伴随金属卤化物钙钛矿与有机阳离子的离子传输的结构变化，并研究金属碳化物催化剂中的相变。该光谱仪有助于理解沸石合成过程中的结晶过程;研究氧化物电催化剂运行过程中的结构变化，并在超嗜热微生物中寻找纳米氧化铁相。

This award is supported by the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) and the Chemistry Research Instrumentation (CRIF) programs. Professor Kevin Kittilstved from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and colleagues Dhandapani Venkataraman, Wei Fan and Friederike Jentoft are supported for the acquistion of a powder X-ray diffractometer. A powder X-ray diffractometer probes solid materials with X-rays to reveal its internal composition and structure. Successful research conducted with this instrument enables investigators to synthesize new materials with potential to promote society's transition to sustainable fuels and energy. This diffractometer expands the materials structural characterization capabilities in the Five College Consortium in Western Massachusetts. Besides the home institution, the consortium includes Mt. Holyoke College, Amherst College, Hampshire College and Smith College. The instrument is being integrated into the undergraduate and graduate curriculum at U Mass Amherst. The instrument is also being integrated with several outreach programs with area school teachers, students, and their parents.The diffractometer enhances research and education at all levels. It especially aids in studies of the role that oxygen vacancies play in regulating charge neutrality in strontium titanate bulk powders and free-standing nanocrystals and determining the structures of molecular metal-chalcogenide clusters with specific metal dopants. The instrumentation is also used for analyzing structural changes that accompany ion transport in metal halide perovskites with organic cations and investigating phase transitions in metal carbide catalysts. The spectrometer facilitates understanding crystallization processes during zeolite synthesis; studying structural changes during the operation of oxide electrocatalysts and searching for nanophase iron oxide phases within hyperthermophilic microbes.