Minnesota State University, Mankato science professors have been awarded $226,290 by the National Science Foundation to purchase a sophisticated new X-ray diffractometer for research and teaching.
The grant’s principal investigator, geology faculty member Steven Losh, along with co-investigators Youwen Xu, Bryce Hoppie, Lyudmyla Ardanova, Chad Wittkop and James Wilde, received National Science Foundation approval in August. It was the team’s third attempt to win the grant.
“This is a state-of-the-art instrument that will position Minnesota State Mankato to conduct varied research that can engage and attract capable faculty and students and enrich the educational experience for many,” Losh said. “The university currently has an XRD, but it is over 30 years old and its capabilities are very limited.”
The new diffractometer will allow faculty and student researchers to determine the three-dimensional atomic structure of a material by bombarding it with X-rays and analyzing the rays’ paths. The information will allow researchers to identify the composition of unknown materials.
Faculty members from several departments will use the instrument for research and as a teaching tool. In addition, researchers from other area universities will have access to the diffractometer, and high school teachers will be able to use it to spark interest in science among their students.
The diffractometer will be installed in a Ford Hall geology instrument room. The machine requires up to four months to assemble in the factory, and is expected to be delivered by April.
X-ray diffraction was discovered in 1912 in Germany, and shortly thereafter was used by English scientists for X-ray crystallography. Today it is used in mining, semiconductor manufacture, drug research and a variety of other fields to determine the structure of crystals, metals and powders. In addition to molecular composition, the diffractometer can tell scientists about the texture and stress points in a sample.
The grant is the second major National Science Foundation research instrumentation award received by the university this year. Earlier in the year Department of Biological Sciences researchers were granted $199,475 to purchase a scanning electron microscope.
The National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950. With an annual budget of $6.06 billion, it is the funding source for 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities.
Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive, doctoral university with 14,950 students and two satellite sites, is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, which comprises 32 institutions across the state.
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