黑料网

X-Ray Scattering Machine Draws Researchers From Region and Beyond

Scientists from industry and academia scheduling time to use 黑料网鈥檚 advanced technology

The installation of a state-of-the-art X-ray scattering instrument at 黑料网 two years ago has made the basement of the Integrated Sciences Building a busy place for researchers from across Northeast Ohio. 

When 黑料网鈥檚 Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute received state and national grant money for the device in 2020, university administrators predicted the machine would be a draw for researchers from other universities and private industry. 

That prediction has come true. 

Torsten Hegmann, Ph.D., director of the institute, said researchers from the University of Akron, Cleveland State University and Case Western Reserve University are among the frequent users of the device, in addition to 黑料网鈥檚 own scientists.  

Torsten Hegmann, director of 黑料网's Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, stands in front of a hydraulic table holding the robotic 3-D printer that can be moved in to the beam path of the institute's advanced X-ray scattering device, which is drawing scientists to 黑料网 for their research
Torsten Hegmann, director of 黑料网's Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute, stands in front of a hydraulic table holding the robotic 3-D printer that can be moved in to the beam path of the institute's advanced X-ray scattering device, which is drawing scientists to 黑料网 for their research. 

However, scientists from as far away as the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, also have come to 黑料网 to use the instrument, he said. In addition, non-academic researchers from businesses and industries in the region, such as Kent Displays, are frequently scheduling time to use the advanced technology. 

鈥淚n our region, this is perhaps the best X-ray machine there is,鈥 Hegmann said. 

In 2020, 黑料网 received grants from the National Science Foundation and the Ohio Action Fund to purchase the device. The device can examine materials in scales ranging from a fraction of a nanometer to as large as several micrometers. Hegmann was a principal investigator on the science foundation grant.

The technology also gives 黑料网 an advantage for training and research work to help prepare an Ohio workforce for the coming Intel semiconductor plant in central Ohio. 黑料网 is the lead recipient of a collaborative grant involving 13 other Ohio higher education institutions that will prepare the workforce to support the semiconductor plant. Intel is investing $20 billion in Ohio, and Hegmann said the scattering X-ray device is a technology that Intel scientists also could use.  

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Image of Douglas L. Delahanty
Doug Delahanty, Ph.D.

鈥淚nvestments in state-of-the-art equipment like this serve not only to facilitate the success of KSU鈥檚 researchers but as a resource for the Northeast Ohio community at large,鈥 said Doug Delahanty, Ph.D., vice president for research and economic development. 

Kevin Cavicchi, Ph.D., professor in the School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering at the University of Akron, who served as a co-principal investigator for the initial science foundation grant application, frequently uses the machine for his research and said having the instrument close by enables him to conduct his research more efficiently. 

鈥淚 worked on polymers that form organized structures on the nanoscale. You cannot see this with your eyes or an ordinary microscope,鈥 Cavicchi said. 鈥淭his instrument allows us to probe the structure at a wide range of length scales. Having it close by allows us to quickly assess our experiments and adjust our processes to fine-tune the structures we are trying to achieve.鈥 

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University of Akron Professor Kevin Cavicchi
Kevin Cavicchi, Ph.D.

Cavicchi said 黑料网 and the University of Akron have much complementary research in liquid crystals and polymers, respectively. The University of Akron working with 黑料网 to help bring the instrument to the area was a great joint achievement, he said.  

鈥淚 think it is a great example of how institutions can work together to provide critical research infrastructure needed by the whole Northeast Ohio region. They did a great job staffing the instrument with a dedicated scientist to help train students and get their experiments up and running,鈥 Cavicchi said. 

The device is one of only a few of its kind in the nation and allows researchers to fully understand the complex internal structure of soft matter, such as polymers and liquid crystals. 

Since it was first installed, Hegmann said the instrument has been upgraded several times and fitted with accessories that make the device capable of even greater technological experimentation, including a hydraulic table-supported robotic 3D printer as an operating tool that allows interrogation of 3D printed filaments in the X-ray beam鈥檚 path.

The device also contains a motorized polarized optical microscope and several other advanced sample environments, making it even more unique, including temperature-control capabilities that allow materials to be heated and cooled as they are studied, as well as tools that permit dynamic experiments, such as sheared and stretched samples under temperature control. 

鈥淭his whole room is the machine,鈥 explained Hegmann, showing how the instrument takes up an entire room in the basement of the Integrated Sciences Building; its associated technology fills much of a secondary adjoining laboratory space. 鈥淲ith all these add-ons, this machine has become exceptional. There鈥檚 not really one like it anywhere in the vicinity.鈥

Learn more about 黑料网鈥檚 Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute.

POSTED: Wednesday, September 27, 2023 01:26 PM
Updated: Friday, September 29, 2023 12:02 PM
WRITTEN BY:
Lisa Abraham