MRI: Acquisition of FTIR Spectroscopic Imaging System towards material characterization with contributions to health, clean energy generation, and efficient processing techniques

该项目将获得傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）光谱成像系统。FTIR光谱成像系统将使加州州立大学奇科分校（CSUC）的教职员工和学生能够为改善人类、动物和植物健康所需的知识库做出贡献，为清洁绿色能源的发展做出贡献，增加恶劣环境下材料的使用寿命和效率，并开发更有效的加工技术来制造各种化学品和材料。获得的光谱成像系统将支持农业学院、自然科学学院、工程、计算机科学和建筑管理学院之间跨学科合作的发展。大约650名来自化学、生物化学、生物学、计算机工程、电气工程和机械工程专业的学生将使用FTIR光谱成像系统或分析该系统收集的数据。CSUC有大量来自未被充分代表和服务不足的群体的学生，包括那些第一个进入大学的家庭成员，退伍军人和西班牙裔。CSUC的学生将接触到这个最先进的系统，并提高他们的理论和实验工作技能。提出的FTIR光谱成像系统将使许多研究项目成为可能。FTIR系统具有快速FTIR高光谱成像的能力，使其成为鉴定高度可变异质生物材料中关键化合物以及鉴定均质基质中未知物质的有力工具。FTIR光谱成像系统的另一个好处是，它是一种非侵入性的表征工具，这使它成为一种用于生物样品结构分析的新兴技术。将受益于该系统的研究项目包括：(a)含有萜烯的植物的特性，萜烯是一种化学物质，可以保护植物免受食草动物的侵害，并可能减少愈合炎症和细菌感染；(b)双功能有机连接分子的研究，因为它们与纳米材料结合，用于光伏和生化传感应用；(c)阐明反应机制，包括那些涉及合成天然产物，如抗氧化剂和通过宽带隙纳米粒子催化/生成活性氧的机制；(d)金属和金属氧化物纳米颗粒（例如，锂离子电池的负极材料锡）的表面结构分析；(e)研究空气和其他环境中颗粒的氧化和还原，并对提高颗粒稳定性或其反应性的技术进行评估。该系统将用于支持几个活跃的研究项目，开发一个本科和研究生教学实验室，并在CSUC电气与计算机工程系与大学其他几个部门，学院和学院合作开展新的研究领域。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The project will acquire a Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic imaging system. The FTIR spectroscopic imaging system will enable faculty and students at California State University, Chico (CSUC) to contribute to the knowledge base required to improve the health of humans, animals, and plants, contribute to the development of clean green energy generation, increase the lifespan and efficiency of materials in harsh environments, and develop more efficient processing techniques to fabricate various chemicals and materials. The acquired spectroscopic imaging system will support the development of interdisciplinary collaborations between faculty in the College of Agriculture, College of Natural Sciences, and College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Construction Management. Approximately 650 students from Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering will use the FTIR spectroscopic imaging system or analyze data collected by this system. CSUC has significant student populations from underrepresented and underserved groups, including those who are first-in-family to enter college, veterans, and Hispanics. CSUC students will gain exposure to this state-of-the-art system and enhance their skills for both theoretical and experimental work. The proposed FTIR spectroscopic imaging system will enable many research projects. The FTIR system with its ability to perform fast FTIR hyperspectral imaging makes it a powerful tool for the identification of key compounds in highly variable heterogeneous biomaterials as well as identification of unknown materials in a homogeneous matrix. An added benefit of FTIR spectroscopic imaging systems is that it is a non-invasive characterization tool, which makes it an emerging technology used in the structural analysis of biological samples. The research projects that will benefit from this system include: (a) the characterization of the plants containing terpene, a chemical that provide protections from herbivores and may have reduce healing inflammation and bacterial infections; (b) the study of bifunctional organic linker molecules as they bind to nanomaterials for photovoltaic and biochemical sensing applications; (c) the elucidation of reaction mechanisms including those involved in the synthesis of natural products such as antioxidants and the catalysis/generation of reactive oxygen species by wide bandgap nanoparticles; (d) the analysis of the surface configuration of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles (e.g., tin, which is an anode material for Li-ion batteries); and (e) the study of oxidation and reduction of particles in air and other environments coupled with the evaluation of techniques to improve the particles' stability or their reactivity. This system will be used to support several active research projects, to develop an undergraduate and graduate teaching laboratory, and to initiate new areas of research within the CSUC Electrical and Computer Engineering Department in collaboration with several other departments, schools, and colleges across the university.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.