ATR-FTIR microscope and fluid cell for tracking hierarchical assembly of molecules to materials

ATR-FTIR 显微镜和流体池用于跟踪分子到材料的分层组装

• 批准号: RTI-2021-00152
• 负责人: Harrington, Matthew
• 金额: $ 10.93万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=718807
• 关键词: ATR; FTIR; microscope; fluid; cell

Based on urgent needs within several NSERC-funded projects, we propose to purchase an FTIR microscope with ATR objective and polarizer for investigating biopolymeric and polymeric materials and a coupled ATR fluid flow cell for investigating biopolymer/polymer solutions. The special features provide a one-stop device capable of following an entire material fabrication process spectroscopically from precursor solution to hierarchically structured material. For example, an ATR objective will enable local spectral measurements on heterogenous biological tissues without damaging sample preparation, while polarization dependent spectra provide information about anisotropic molecular arrangement in hierarchically structured materials. In addition, an ATR fluid flow cell enables small volume measurements of dilute solutions under different buffering conditions/temperature or flowing solutions over the ATR crystal to observe structural changes in situ. Within the proposed research projects, this infrastructure will enable: 1) Characterization of biological material assembly processes and the use of extracted principles to produce sustainable bio-inspired materials and tissue scaffolds (Harrington). 2) Analysis of recombinant protein building blocks towards production of smart devices, including wearable electronics and sensors (Dorval Courchesne). 3) Investigation of diseased bone in an avian model system toward development and assessment of specific targeted treatments (Willie). This work has tangible benefits in two main areas health and sustainable materials. a) Efforts to elucidate the nature of diseased tissue and to generate hierarchically structured tissue scaffolds will have an important impact in the areas of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine with benefits for aging Canadians. b) Waste accumulation from plastics is a major environmental threat. Our efforts to understand the assembly principles of sustainably produced biological materials may inspire greener fabrication processes for advanced materials with tangible environmental impacts, establishing Canada as a world leader in the Green Materials revolution. In addition, the requested infrastructure will provide essential hands on training of HQP within the research groups. This is integral to the well-rounded cross-disciplinary training they receive, providing a skillset sought after in the academic, industrial and health sectors. The current lack of availability to a device with these necessary parameters has significantly impeded a number of HQP projects in the Harrington and Willie groups, while access to this infrastructure will fill a major gap in the research of Dorval-Courchesne. This infrastructure will benefit beyond the described research plans, as it will be associated with the McGill Institute of Advanced Materials (MIAM) of which Harrington is a co-director, thus reaching the Montreal materials community.

基于几个NSERC资助的项目中的紧急需求，我们建议购买具有ATR目标和偏振器的FTIR显微镜，用于研究生物聚合物和聚合物材料，以及一个偶联的ATR液流量细胞来研究生物聚合物/聚合物溶液。特殊功能提供了一种一站式设备，能够从前体溶液到层次结构化的材料遵循整个材料制造过程。例如，ATR目标将对异源生物组织进行局部光谱测量，而不会损害样品制备，而偏振依赖性光谱则提供了有关层次结构化材料中各向异性分子排列的信息。另外，ATR流体流动池可以在不同的缓冲条件/温度或ATR晶体上流动溶液下稀释溶液的少量测量，以观察原位的结构变化。 在拟议的研究项目中，该基础设施将实现：1）生物材料组装过程的表征以及使用提取的原理来生产可持续的生物风格的材料和组织支架（Harrington）。 2）分析重组蛋白质构建块，用于生产智能设备，包括可穿戴电子和传感器（Dorval Courchesne）。 3）研究禽模型系统中患病的骨骼，以开发和评估特定靶向治疗（Willie）。这项工作在两个主要领域的健康和可持续材料中具有切实的好处。 a）阐明患病组织的性质并产生层次结构化的组织支架的努力将对组织工程和再生医学领域产生重要影响，并对加拿大衰老的加拿大人有好处。 b）塑料的废物积累是主要的环境威胁。我们为了解可持续生产的生物材料的集会原则的努力可能会激发具有切实环境影响的先进材料的绿色制造过程，从而使加拿大成为绿色材料革命的世界领导者。 此外，所需的基础设施将为研究小组中HQP培训提供重要的帮助。这是他们接受的全面跨学科培训不可或缺的一部分，为学术，工业和卫生部门提供了一种技能。目前，使用这些必要参数的设备缺乏可用性，严重阻碍了哈灵顿和威利组的许多HQP项目，而对此基础架构的访问将填补Dorval-Courchesne研究的主要空白。该基础设施将受益于所描述的研究计划，因为它将与Harrington是共同导演的麦吉尔高级材料研究所（MIAM）相关联，从而到达了蒙特利尔材料社区。