9612878 Guggenheim This grant provides $48,355 as one-half support of the costs of upgrading the single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) instruments at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Upgrades to the single crystal instrument would include a new precession camera, automation software and a new workstation to process X- ray images. Upgrades to the powder XRD instrument would include automation software which requires a PC platform, a thin film attachment, a new camera and a water recirculator and new X-ray tube. Upgrades to these instrument were well justified and will allow continued productive research on phyllosilicate mineralogy and crystallography over a wide range of temperatures and pressures, studies of the adsorption/desorption reactions between organic molecules and clay minerals, experimental petrology of carbonate-aqueous fluid interactions, studies of the kinetics of manganese oxide dissolution as a result of interactions with organic compounds in waste waters, characterization of semiconductor surfaces and characterization of catalysts. These upgrades will therefore benefit a wide range of research conducted both by departmental faculty and by faculty from the Departments of Physics, Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering as well as by regional users. ***
