This Major Research Instrumentation award will fund the acquisition of a modern X-ray scattering instrument to support soft materials research in the Tennessee Valley and surrounding region. The instrument will be installed at the University of Tennessee in the Polymers Characterization Lab, an established user facility for academic and industrial researchers. This acquisition will enable measurements of hierarchical structure in soft materials under controlled environmental conditions, thereby informing the design of new materials for strong and lightweight composites, safe batteries, gas and water purification, oil spill remediation, drug delivery, and 3D printing. The proposed instrument is extremely flexible, easy to use, and well-suited to a large user base with a diverse and continuously evolving research portfolio. The team is highly experienced with the design, implementation, and analysis of X-ray scattering measurements, so students will receive training in advanced materials characterization, which is critical to maintaining US technological competitiveness in the global market.
This award will fund the acquisition of a multimode X-ray scattering system to support soft materials characterization in targeted or extreme environments. The system will be installed at the University of Tennessee in the Polymers Characterization Lab, an established, sustainable, and centrally-supported user facility. The proposed acquisition will enable four workhorse techniques for characterization of hierarchical structure in soft and hybrid materials: transmission small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), transmission wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS), grazing-incidence small angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS), and grazing-incidence wide angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS). The instrument can accommodate samples in a variety of states, including bulk powders, liquids, and films, and is equipped with integrated environmental controls to examine material responses to temperature, humidity, gases, applied tension, and applied shear. X-ray scattering measurements will inform fundamental studies of structure-property-processing relations in soft and hybrid materials, providing immediate support to a variety of federally funded research programs in nanocomposites, energy storage, separations, renewable materials, and biomaterials. The team will leverage the acquisition of the X-ray scattering instrument for the design of new course modules and a regional immersion workshop, thereby elevating the educational experience of undergraduate and graduate students through training in advanced materials characterization.
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.
