Technical Summary: The goal of this MRI grant is to acquire a transmission electron microscope (TEM) to support the ongoing research and instruction in engineering and science at the University of Michigan?]Dearborn. The desired TEM will operate at 120kV and will be equipped with CCD camera and EDS microanalysis system. The ongoing research projects involve automotive alloys, biomaterials and nanoscale materials, and critically require this TEM to understand the structure/properties relationship. For example, the energy storage capacity of nanocrystals is highly dependent on the defect density and chemical homogeneity, which in turn depends on their synthesis conditions. The TEM can reveal the structural details and enhance our understanding to develop innovative materials. The ability to investigate the details of materials at nanoscale is critical to the success of many ongoing research projects. Further, the access to such modern equipment will insure that our students are prepared to take part in this exciting field and broaden their research experience. Two undergraduate courses that will benefit the most from this equipment are ENG 350 (Nanoscience and Nanotechnology) and CHEM 490E (Nanobiotechnology). ENG 350 includes a weekly 3 hr lab component where students use different analytical equipment and the TEM is a component in the lab curriculum. This is a very popular course and usually runs in full capacity (30). This course draws students from many disciplines across the campus. This equipment is also critical for our upcoming new and first Ph. D. program in Automotive Systems Engineering.
Layman Summary: In recent years, the University of Michigan-Dearborn has established a core of faculty members and an array equipment to support basic research on automotive alloys, biomaterials and nanoscale materials. The properties materials depend on the internal arrangements and chemical identities of the atoms that comprise the materials. Transmission electron microscopy is the highest resolution method that is available to determine this structure property relationship. Currently, there is no functioning transmission electron microscope (TEM) available on campus, which imposes significant impedance to the success of funded research. This new microscope will replace a 20 year old TEM. The microscope to be acquired during this project will provide us the capability to understand the structure-properties relationship of many new and exciting advanced materials at nanoscale and it will also provide an essential educational infrastructure for our students. There are a host of important materials problems that will be investigated using this microscope, such as how impurity atoms and defects affect the behavior of materials. This microscope will be installed and operated in the engineering analytical laboratory, a multi-user facility in the university. It will also be accessible for cutting edge materials research by industrial users. Importantly, this instrument will contribute to existing university efforts to recruit and retain a diverse student population and expose students to discovery, science and a variety of learning perspectives.
