NSF-DFG Confine: Spin-Probe-Enabled Sensing of Fluids in Confined Geometries and Interfaces

NSF-DFG Confine：利用自旋探针对受限几何形状和界面中的流体进行传感

基本信息

批准号：
2223461
负责人：
Carlos Meriles
金额：
$ 60万
依托单位：
CUNY City College
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2022
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2022-10-01 至 2025-09-30
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2223461&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
NSF DFG Confine Spin Probe

项目摘要

With support from the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program (CMI) in the Division of Chemistry, Carlos Meriles of CUNY City College and Nicolas Giovambattista of CUNY Brooklyn College are using atomic defects near the surface of a host crystal as nanoscale probes to characterize the structure and motion of water molecules confined to extremely small spaces (at the nanometer scale). Strong confinement modifies water in ways that are central to technological applications, but the small sample dimensions and the heterogeneities of the confining surfaces makes it challenging for experimentalists to provide detailed information on the molecular behavior at the nanoscale. To mitigate these limitations, Dr. Meriles and his students are developing a sensing approach based on individual point defects in diamond that can serve as a detector of small amounts of liquids in general, and water, in particular. Dr. Giovambattista and his students are using computer simulations and theoretical modeling to help interpret the signals that come from these point-defect-aided measurements. Activities also include the exchange of graduates and postdocs between the US and collaborators at the University of Stuttgart in Germany, an initiative aimed at simultaneously enriching the professional training and networking opportunities of all participating students. Enabling this research program is the so-called nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond, a paramagnetic defect whose charge and spin states can be prepared and readout by all-optical means. The overarching goals revolve around two research thrusts: (i) The first one capitalizes on novel NV-based magnetic resonance spectroscopy methods to investigate water diffusion under variable confinement and surface hydrophobicity within ad-hoc nanostructures produced via 2D-material engineering; also part of this effort is the development of alternative sensing strategies adapted to heavy water, an area where activities include both experiments and path-integral molecular dynamics simulations. (ii) The second research thrust zeroes in on the use of external magnetic gradients, here leveraged to non-invasively probe molecular diffusion and image surface-induced order in confined water. Of special interest is the investigation of hydration at boundaries separating hydrophobic and hydrophilic sections of engineered substrates based on 2D materials. The results derived from this effort may prove relevant to various open problems of fundamental and practical importance, such as the interplay between nanoscale confinement and chemical reactivity, or the impact of confined water in biological processes such as ion flow in cell membranes.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.

在化学系化学测量和成像项目 (CMI) 的支持下，纽约市立大学城市学院的 Carlos Meriles 和纽约市立大学布鲁克林学院的 Nicolas Giovambattista 正在利用主晶体表面附近的原子缺陷作为纳米级探针来表征结构和水分子的运动被限制在极小的空间（纳米级）。强约束以对技术应用至关重要的方式改变水，但小样本尺寸和约束表面的异质性使得实验人员很难提供有关纳米尺度分子行为的详细信息。为了缓解这些限制，Meiles 博士和他的学生正在开发一种基于金刚石中单个点缺陷的传感方法，该方法可以用作一般少量液体（特别是水）的探测器。 Giovambattista 博士和他的学生正在使用计算机模拟和理论建模来帮助解释来自这些点缺陷辅助测量的信号。活动还包括美国与德国斯图加特大学合作者之间的毕业生和博士后交流，这一举措旨在同时丰富所有参与学生的专业培训和交流机会。钻石中所谓的氮空位（NV）中心使这一研究计划成为可能，这是一种顺磁缺陷，其电荷和自旋态可以通过全光学手段制备和读出。总体目标围绕两个研究重点：（i）第一个利用基于 NV 的新型磁共振波谱方法来研究通过 2D 材料工程产生的特设纳米结构内可变约束下的水扩散和表面疏水性；这项工作的另一部分是开发适用于重水的替代传感策略，该领域的活动包括实验和路径积分分子动力学模拟。 (ii) 第二个研究重点是外部磁梯度的使用，这里利用外部磁梯度来非侵入性地探测承压水中的分子扩散和图像表面诱导的秩序。特别令人感兴趣的是基于二维材料的工程基材的疏水性和亲水性部分分离边界处的水合研究。这项工作的结果可能证明与各种具有基本和实际重要性的开放问题相关，例如纳米级限制和化学反应性之间的相互作用，或限制水对生物过程的影响，例如细胞膜中的离子流。该奖项反映了通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，NSF 的法定使命被认为值得支持。