This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program Professor Brian F. Woodfield and colleagues Juliana Boerio-Goates, Branton J. Campbell and Roger G. Harrison from the Department of Chemistry at Brigham Young University will acquire a powder X-ray diffractometer capable of carrying out routine phase identification and advanced structural analysis including phase identification of synthetic products, nanoparticle-size determination, and Rietveld structural analysis. Specific applications are: 1) studies of products of nanoparticle and catalyst syntheses; 2) nanocrystal growth kinetics; 3) relationships between nanoparticle and bulk structure; 4) semiconductor nanoparticle chemistry; 5) bioinorganic nanoparticle chemistry; and 6) materials physics.
An X-ray diffractometer allows accurate and precise measurements of the full three dimensional structure of a molecule, including bond distances and angles, and provides accurate information about the spatial arrangement of a molecule relative to neighboring molecules. A powder diffractometer allows diffraction studies in powdered crystalline materials. The data provide information on particle sizes, phase identification and sample purity. The studies described here will impact a number of areas, including chemistry and materials chemistry. This instrument will be an integral part of teaching as well as research.
Research Activities Research activities at Brigham Young University (BYU) that involve powder x-ray diffraction (XRD) are diverse, but all involve aspects of phase identification of synthetic products, nanoparticle-size determination, and Rietveld structural analysis under both ambient and non-ambient conditions. Phase identification, particle size estimates, and ambient Rietveld analysis are critical tools for the research groups of Juliana Boerio-Goates and Brian Woodfield (JBG/BFW) and of Roger G. Harrison (RGH), all of whom are heavily involved in the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles. Non-ambient Rietveld capabilities are currently of pressing interest to the JBG/BFW group and physicist Branton J. Campbell's (BJC) group. Previously, the PIs had limited access to an old and failing powder diffractometer owned and operated by the BYU Department of Geology. While functional, this older instrument can do only exceedingly slow qualitative phase identification and particle-size estimates; source instabilities render it unsuitable for detailed structural analysis. The purpose of this project was to acquire a new state of the art powder XRD instrument capable of satisfying the research needs of the PIs and train graduate and undergraduates in standard x-ray diffraction analytical techniques. As described in the proposal, a PANalytica Alpha 1 XRD system best met our research needs when price, functionality, and features were compared. As soon as we were notified of the award, the XRD instrument was ordered from PANalytical and delivery of the instrument was made in late June 2010. In the first year after receiving the instrument, our primary research activities involved training with and without PANalytical and optimization of the instrument. Now nearing the second full year with the new XRD instrument we have moved into a routine operation mode with users integrating the new XRD instrument into their standard sample characterization activities. The instrument is now used consistently by the RGH and JBG/BFW research groups (the primary users) as well as materials groups in physics and materials engineering. Usage on the instrument now averages 12 hours per day with frequent bursts of usage approaching 24 hours per day 7 days per week. Outreach Activities Many research groups at BYU have made use of the new instrument to further critical research projects, including groups in chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, and mechanical (materials) engineering. Two local small businesses (Megadiamond, Inc. and Cosmas, Inc.) have already made contact with us and have setup training sessions so they can use the XRD instrument as part of their R&D effort. Both companies have or have had NSF SBIR awards and collaborate with BYU on various research projects. Several research groups from the University of Utah have also expressed interest in using the instrument. All outreach activities will provided free of charge by the university. Extending Research The XRD instrument has greatly increased the speed and efficiency of the overall research work, in addition to making it possible to obtain publishable results from nanoparticle samples, very small polycrystalline samples (BJC), thin-film samples, oriented metallic sheets (BJC), air-sensitive samples (RGH), and variable-temperature measurements (BFW). All of the new research directions described above depend heavily on the new instrument. BJC has recently secured funding to study nanocomposites of graphene and transition-metal compounds. BFW is currently submitting a proposal to NSF to develop improved computational techniques to understand surfaces of nanomaterials, confirm these theoretical approaches using experiment, and then apply this knowledge to more directed synthetic techniques to improve battery electrodes. The XRD instrument has made a dramatic impact in the materials research effort at Brigham Young University and for the surrounding startup business.
