Technical Abstract This Major Research Instrumentation Award supports the acquisition of an environmental transmission electron microscope (ETEM), a high-resolution electron microscope with a simplified differential pumping system that permits gas introduction directly into the column. As a conventional TEM the instrument will enhance the current electron microscopy capabilities in teaching, user training and research. The capability to visualize structural changes at the sub-nanoscale level under operational environmental conditions will bring essential insights to many materials issues, such as the effect of dopants and impurities on processing and corrosion, defect (dislocation, grain boundaries and interface) migrations, thermally induced phase transformations, heterogeneous catalyses, nano-scale functional materials, and the environmental stability of materials in general. The low accelerating voltage minimizes damage of oxide species and soft materials, thereby providing the ability to visualize the dynamics of polymers, tissue engineering, drug delivery, biomaterials and biomineralization. This will be the first ETEM in the greater Western Pennsylvania area. It will be housed at the University of Pittsburgh in the Swanson School of Engineering (SSoE) and will be a part of the Nanofabrication and Characterization Facility (NFCF) in the Peterson Institute of NanoScience and Engineering (PINSE). It will be linked to the electron microscopy facility in the Structural Biology department, School of Medicine. The NFCF is a user facility available to all national and international researchers. The broad visibility and access to this instrument will contribute to nano- and meso-scale science and technology, biology, energy and sustainability research and to the training of post-docs, graduate students and undergraduate students. This instrument will also be used in teaching courses in Electron Microscopy, Nano-characterization, Thin Films, Biomaterials, Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology. As a part of PINSE, it will contribute to the education of high school students and under-represented groups, especially African-American, as part of the NSF-Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) outreach program and Pitt Engineering Career Access Program (PECAP) program, respectively. ****** This award from the Major Instrumentation program will support the installation of the first Environmental Transmission Electron Microscope (ETEM) in the greater Western Pennsylvania area. The instrument will be housed at the University of Pittsburgh in the Swanson School of Engineering (SSoE) as part of the Nanofabrication and Characterization Facility (NFCF), a user facility available to all national and international researchers. TEM is a powerful tool to visualize materials at the nanoscale and below. ETEM enables unique insights on the dynamic processing/structure/property relationships of nanomaterials with impact in a broad spectrum of science and engineering areas, such as oxidation, corrosion, catalysis, nano-processing, bio-mineralization, tissue engineering and drug delivery. The broad visibility and access to this instrument will contribute to nano- and meso-scale science and technology, biology, energy and sustainability research and education of post-docs, graduate students and undergraduate students. This instrumentation will also be used in teaching Electron Microscopy, Nano-characterization, Thin Films, Biomaterials, Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology courses. It will contribute to the education of high school students and under-represented groups, especially African-American, as part of the NSF-Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education outreach program and Pitt Engineering Career Access Program, respectively.
