Equipment: MRI: Track 1: Acquisition of a Zeiss 560 VP FE-SEM for chemical and surface characterization and training.

表面形貌的纳米级变化被假设为干扰细菌制剂如何附着、增殖并随后形成生物膜，特别是当这些特征小于微生物本身时。该仪器将导致对纳米级形貌（即，形状、高度、节距、宽度、长度和密度）可以调节或抑制表面的细菌附着和定殖。例如，该仪器提供的信息可以提供新的见解，说明海洋酸化如何降低各种海洋生物建造外壳和外骨骼的能力。该仪器的成功使用有可能导致生物医学，电子，航空航天和环境修复应用的纳米材料与控制性能的发展。波多黎各大学-马亚圭斯（UPR-M）是岛上主要的工程和应用科学研究中心，拥有超过12，000名学生，其中95%来自STEM代表性不足的群体，超过51%的女性从事应用STEM课程。因此，该仪器将大大增强和加强研究和经验培训，为这些学生提供表征纳米材料，聚合物和生物标本的尖端工具。使用该仪器进行的研究将支持生物学，化学，环境科学和工程学的本科，研究生和专业教育和培训。该仪器的使用将支持研究培训100多名本科生和60多名研究生每年沿着与其他四所大学和研究和开发设施在100英里的岛屿。待获取的系统是高分辨率场发射扫描电子显微镜（FE-SEM），具有二次电子（SE）、能量色散X射线（EDS）和可变压力（VP）能力，特别是Zeiss 560 VP FE-SEM。该仪器将用于评估基本的表面参数，如形态，密度和空间分布施加在纳米材料和细菌剂的吸附和有效结合上，有兴趣开发可扩展和可转移的纳米结构，可以抑制化学试剂和病原体增殖或系统地调节细菌的结合和粘附。该仪器将用于评估使用复合材料作为生物聚合物中的基体增强材料用于生物杀灭剂应用和电子应用的效果。此外，该仪器还将用于研究加勒比海盆深水甲壳类动物的形态特征和外骨骼变化，这是亚微米塑料污染和全球变化的函数。该仪器的成功实施将使团队能够阐明可以调节结构完整性，细菌结合，生物传感和化学修复的表面和结构参数。由于其多样化的分析能力，该仪器有可能用于各种跨学科的应用，并为化学，材料科学与工程，生物学，生物技术，该项目由重大研究实施（MRI）计划和刺激竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）联合资助。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Nanoscale variations in surface topography are hypothesized to disturb how bacterial agents become attached, proliferate, and subsequently form biofilms, particularly when those features are smaller than the microorganism itself. This instrument will lead to new insights into how changes in nanoscale topographies (i.e., shape, elevation, pitch, width, length, and density) can regulate or inhibit bacterial attachment and colonization of a surface. Information provided by this instrument could, for example, provide new insights on how ocean acidification reduces the ability of various marine organisms to build shells and exoskeletons. The successful use of this instrument has the potential to lead to the development of nanomaterials with controlled properties for biomedical, electronics, aerospace, and environmental remediation applications. University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez (UPR-M) is the major engineering and applied sciences research center of the island with an academic population of over 12,000 students, 95% of them from underrepresented groups in STEM and over 51% females engaged in applied STEM programs. This instrument will thus substantially augment and enhance research and experiential training with a cutting-edge tool for the characterization of nanomaterials, polymers, and biological specimens for these students. Research conducted using this instrument will support undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and training in biology, chemistry, environmental sciences, and engineering. The use of the instrument will support the research training of over 100 undergraduate and more than 60 graduate students per year along with collaborations with four other universities and research and development facilities within 100 miles around the island. The system to be acquired is a high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), with secondary electron (SE), Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDS), and variable pressure (VP) capabilities, specifically a Zeiss 560 VP FE-SEM. The instrument will be used to assess the fundamental surface parameters such as morphology, density, and spatial distribution exerted on the sorption and effective binding of nanomaterials and bacterial agents with interest in developing scalable and transferable nanostructures that can either inhibit chemical agents and pathogen proliferation or systematically regulate bacterial binding and adhesion. The instrument will be used to evaluate the effect of the use of composite materials as matrix-reinforcements in biopolymers for biocidal applications and electronic applications. In addition, the instrument will also serve to study the morphological features and exoskeleton changes of deep-water crustaceans from the Caribbean basin as a function of sub-micron plastic pollution and global changes. The successful implementation of this instrument will enable the team to elucidate surface and structural parameters that can regulate structural integrity, bacterial binding, biosensing, and chemical remediation. Due to its diverse range of analytical capabilities this instrument has the potential to be used in a variety of interdisciplinary applications and to provide interdisciplinary training and research opportunities to a diverse group of undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, Biology, Biotechnology, and Marine Sciences.This project is jointly funded by the Major Research Implementation (MRI) Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.