The grand challenge in the field of materials science, and soft materials research in particular, is to generate, customize, and control structure at the various length scales, ranging from nanometers to micrometers. The problem requires sophisticated characterization techniques that can interrogate the internal structure of these materials. X-ray scattering is a fundamental technique for analyzing the small features and periodicities in soft matter, such as polymers, liquid crystals, colloids and biomaterials. This Major Research Instrumentation award supports the acquisition of a laboratory beamline instrument for measuring ultrasmall-, small- and wide-angle x-ray scattering. This instrument supports the research of more than 24 research teams at Kent State University, the University of Akron, Miami University, and several other universities and research centers in Northeast Ohio and beyond. Research topics includes materials for tissue engineering and understanding processes of multiple sclerosis, sensors that will save the lives of first responders or detect disease as well as materials that help understand cancer processes. Other investigations utilize the instrument to produce groundbreaking insights into plastic recycling and biorenewable plastics that will help save the planet and generate results that will advance our understanding of biogeochemical processes involved in groundwater contamination. The educational component of this project provides benefits to new users, particularly graduate students, and lowers barriers to entry for researchers at interdisciplinary boundaries or small undergraduate institutions who are not traditional users but would benefit from access to a front-line x-ray scattering facility. Outreach activities provide novel STEM activities for K-12 teachers and undergraduate research students and expose them to exciting, cutting-edge materials and the techniques that help analyze them.
To study the structure of and structural evolution in soft and active matter, composites or mixtures, nanomaterials, minerals, and biogeochemical processes, this project supports the acquisition of a laboratory beamline instrument for measuring ultrasmall-, small- and wide-angle x-ray scattering. At the center of these research thrusts is the recently expanded Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute (AMLCI) with active research programs in materials chemistry, physics and engineering, active matter, liquid crystals, and polymers. This fully automated and expandable instrument is used to measure features with size scales ranging from about 0.15 nm (i.e. distances between atoms) to 5 microns (about the width of a red blood cell). Investigations include the analysis of structure evolution in polymers, DNA, colloids, swarming bacteria, and organic transistors. Furthermore, this facility enables active and future collaborations at the interface between soft matter and nanoscience. The instrument configuration ? featuring an x-ray source, a large sample compartment, and versatile sample manipulation options (heating, cooling, stress, strain, grazing incidence, controlled humidity, polarized microscopy) ? is optimized for a wide variety of challenging samples and characterization tasks. The instrument also incorporates two unique features ? simultaneous polarized optical microscopy as well as an expansion space between the x-ray source and the sample chamber to permit more challenging sample environments in the future. Finally, these frontier sample manipulation options, co-developed in cooperation with beamline scientists at Brookhaven National Labs and the Advanced Light Source (Berkeley Lab) make this a future-oriented and highly versatile x-ray characterization facility.
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.
