CAREER: Development of New Plasmonic Electrochemical Microscopy Centered Techniques for Advancing Single Entity Analysis

在化学系化学测量和成像计划的支持下，洛杉矶加州州立大学的王义贤博士和她的团队正在开发新技术，以研究单个纳米粒子、细胞、细胞组件和分子的化学。研究这些单一实体的化学成分的能力是重要的，因为许多复杂的系统由不完全相同的单个部件组成的组装。要了解整个系统的功能或行为，通常需要了解各个组件是如何工作的。例如，要了解一棵树是如何生长的，了解一片叶子是如何工作的是很重要的。王博士的新技术解决了研究人员使用一种专门的显微镜研究纳米颗粒化学所面临的关键挑战。新技术克服了污染和其他与样品制备有关的问题，特别是很难测量微小的物质，以及在测量一些化学反应时灵敏度较低。除了前沿研究，这项工作的综合教育活动还有助于提高STEM学习的质量和可及性，方法是为本科课程开发新的基于动画的教学模块，将独立研究项目整合到本科课程中，并通过一对一研究指导和虚拟学习机会吸引来自当地社区的学生。单一实体分析对于理解现实世界系统的基本动态至关重要。王义贤博士和她的团队正在开发三种以等离子体电化学显微镜(PEM)为中心的新技术，以提高PEM用于单实体分析的可行性、分辨率和灵敏度，并推动该领域的科学进步。具体地说，研究团队正在开发(1)用于无背景单纳米颗粒测量和无污染单泡传感的非接触式PEM，(2)扫描探针耦合PEM，以实现高时间和空间分辨率的亚纳米颗粒分析，以及(3)染料敏化PEM，以提高单泡含量化学识别的灵敏度。该项目的综合教育活动旨在缩小本科电化学教育中的学习差距，扩大学生对STEM研究的参与，消除不同学生群体之间的成就差距，并让当地社区的学生参与与STEM相关的活动。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry, Dr. Yixian Wang and her group at California State University, Los Angeles are developing new techniques to study the chemistry of single nanoparticles, cells, cellular components, and molecules. The ability to investigate the chemistry of these single entities is significant because many complex systems consist of assemblies of individual parts that are not all alike. Understanding the function or behavior of the entire system often requires knowing how the individual components work. For example, it is important to know how a single leaf works in order to understand how a tree grows. Dr. Wang’s new techniques address key challenges faced by researchers studying the chemistry of nanoscopic particles using a specialized kind of microscopy. The new techniques overcome problems caused by contamination and other issues related to sample preparation, difficulty measuring especially small entities, and poor sensitivity in measuring some chemical reactions. In addition to cutting-edge research, the integrated educational activities of this work help to improve the quality and accessibility of STEM learning through the development of a new animation-based teaching module for undergraduate courses, as well as the integration of independent research projects into the undergraduate curriculum, and by engaging students from the local community through one-on-one research mentoring and virtual learning opportunities.Single entity analysis is essential for understanding the fundamental dynamics of real-world systems that are often heterogeneous. Dr. Yixian Wang and her group are developing three new plasmonic electrochemical microscopy (PEM)-centered techniques to improve the feasibility, resolution, and sensitivity of PEM for single entity analysis and to advance scientific progress in this field. Specifically, the research team is developing (1) non-contact PEM for background-free single nanoparticle measurements and contamination-free single vesicle sensing, (2) scanning probe coupled PEM to allow both high temporal and spatial resolution sub-nanoparticle analysis, and (3) dye-sensitized PEM to improve sensitivity in the chemical identification of single vesicle contents. The integrated educational activities of the project are designed to close learning gaps in undergraduate electrochemistry education, broaden student participation in STEM research, eliminate achievement gaps among diverse groups of students, and engage students from the local community in STEM-related activities.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.