MRI: Acquisition of a Nano-Computed Tomography System for Nondestructive 3D Microstructural Imaging

该合同将在北卡罗莱纳州立大学（NC State）购买高分辨率计算机断层扫描（CT）系统。这类系统的工作原理与用于获取人体内部3D图像的医疗扫描仪非常相似，但它可以在更小的尺度上提供细节——小到不到1微米。该系统将使科学家和工程师能够研究许多材料中非常小的内部特征的复杂结构，包括恐龙骨、尖端塑料、用于储能的新材料和用于人造关节的专用金属。更好地了解内部结构将推动材料设计和制造技术的发展，并有助于医学和工程创新方法的发展。新的高分辨率CT系统将把学生培训整合到现有的十多个研究生和本科生课程中，从而提高大学教育水平。研究人员将在正在进行的推广活动中使用该仪器的图像和结果，以加强K-12教育和社区参与。获得高分辨率纳米CT系统将填补该地区目前CT和显微镜设备的关键空白。该技术将增加非破坏性纳米级成像，需要最少的样品制备，并同时适应大样品、低密度和高密度材料以及原位环境条件下的相对较大的视野。它将促进对内部纳米和微尺度结构以及广泛材料（例如，恐龙骨，生物聚合物，多层电容器，增材制造的金属部件和纤维材料）内复杂界面的基本理解。这些独特的能力对于北卡州立大学和周边地区的五个战略研究领域至关重要：生物医学科学、生物和社会科学、材料科学和表征、材料合成和制造、纺织品和纤维材料。该仪器位于北卡罗来纳州立大学的分析仪器设施内，这是一个领先的开放获取材料表征设施，将使其广泛地提供给区域和国家用户，促进跨学科合作，以推进科学和工程领域的许多研究领域的范围和影响。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。

This award will enable the purchase of a high-resolution computed tomography (CT) system at North Carolina State University (NC State). This type of system works much like medical scanners used to obtain 3D images of the inside of the body, but it can provide details at a much smaller scale - down to less than 1 micrometer. This system will allow scientists and engineers to study the intricate structures of very small internal features within many materials, including dinosaur bone, cutting-edge plastics, new materials for energy storage, and specialized metals for artificial joints. A better understanding of internal structure will advance technologies in material design and fabrication and will aid the development of innovative approaches for medicine and engineering. The new high-resolution CT system will enhance college education by integrating student training into more than a dozen existing graduate and undergraduate courses. Researchers will use images and results from the instrument in ongoing outreach activities that will enhance both K-12 education and community engagement. The acquisition of a high-resolution nano-CT system will fill a critical gap in current CT and microscopy equipment in the region. This technology will add nondestructive nanoscale imaging that requires minimal sample preparation and accommodates a relatively large field of view for large samples, low- and high-density materials simultaneously, and in situ environmental conditions. It will advance fundamental understanding about internal nano- and microscale structures and complex interfaces within a broad range of materials (e.g., dinosaur bone, biopolymers, multilayer capacitors, additive manufactured metal parts, and fibrous materials). These unique capabilities are essential for five strategic research areas at NC State and in the surrounding region: biomedical sciences, biological and social sciences, materials science and characterization, materials synthesis and fabrication, and textiles and fibrous materials. Locating the instrument within NC State's Analytical Instrumentation Facility, a leading open-access materials characterization facility, will make it broadly available to regional and national users, catalyzing interdisciplinary collaborations to advance the scope and impact of many research areas in science and engineering.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.