MRI/RUI: Acquisition of a Nuclear Microprobe System for Interdisciplinary Research and the Integration of Research and Undergraduate Education at Hope College

Hope College, Holland MI

Investigators

Abstract

A grant has been awarded to Hope College under the direction of Dr. Graham Peaslee for a particle accelerator and attached microprobe facility to enhance the research efforts of faculty and undergraduate students. This new instrumentation will be used in a variety of interdisciplinary research projects conducted in the areas of environmental chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics, condensed matter physics and materials science, electrochemistry, paleontology and geochemistry. While the disciplines affected by this state-of-the-art instrumentation vary, the intellectual merits of these research projects are consistent in that they each advance a field of basic scientific research, and they each involve significant opportunities for undergraduate training in doing so. Additionally, most of the research projects proposed will strengthen interdisciplinary connections between two or more research groups. Ion beam analysis techniques that will be available with this instrumentation include microPIXE, STIM and RBS, which allow characterization and quantitative measurement of elements on the surface of materials. Specific examples of the work to be pursued with this instrumentation include direct measurement of anthropogenic metals in the lake sediment and quantitative assessment of metals in protein gel assays. Other projects will simply use the analytical tools provided by this instrumentation to further the understanding of materials developed on campus or to solve problems that cannot be answered by other methods. Examples of this include characterization of amorphous nitrite films for optical and electronic devices and phthalocyanine films for use in electrochemical sensors, or studying the chemical surroundings of dinosaur bones between the time of their death and their discovery as fossils. In addition to these valuable research contributions that become possible with this instrumentation, the broader impact of this proposal includes the training of undergraduate students in some of the state-of-the-art analytical methods employed in physics, chemistry, biology, geology and environmental science. What is novel about this particular instrumentation is that it will form a common tool that multidisciplinary teams of undergraduates (and their research mentors) will use together to solve complex research problems. In addition, it is anticipated that companies will be able to obtain sophisticated materials analysis from this facility occasionally, which will help local industries stay competitive.