With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program, the Department of Chemistry at Johnson C. Smith University will acquire a 90 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer and an atomic absorption spectrometer. This equipment will enable researchers to carry out studies on the fate and transport of metals in the environment. Students at this primarily undergraduate institution will be active participants in the research projects and will also use these instruments in their advanced laboratory courses.
Atomic absorption (AA) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy are very powerful tools and are the mainstay of most modern analytical chemistry laboratories. NMR is used to identify unknown substances, to characterize specific arrangements of atoms within molecules, and to study the dynamics of interactions between molecules in solution. Access to state-of-the-art NMR spectrometers is essential to chemists who are carrying out frontier research. AA spectroscopy allows for the unequivocal identification of atomic species. The results from these studies will have an impact in environmental chemistry.
