NSF Award
0079580
With support from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) and Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) Programs, Robert L. Whetten of Georgia Institute of Technology and Joel H. Parks of the Rowland Institute for Science will develop a heavy-ion trap electron diffractometer, which will combine the advantages of mass spectrometry (sensitivity, efficiency, mass-selectivity) with those of electron diffraction (direct structural determination). A prototype instrument has been developed by Parks and coworkers. Whetten and Parks will significantly extend the capabilities of the existing prototype instrument by extending the range toward heavier ions (~100 kDa), to small-angle scattering and to shorter collection-time; developing interfaces to existing sources of heavy ions. As the instrument is developed, faculty members at Georgia Institute of Technology will exploit the instrument to carry out research on the following topics: a) iron-sulfur clusters; b) small proteins, solvation, salt-complexation, and folding; c) nucleic acids and bioconjugates; d) melting phase transition and alloy formation of metal clusters; e) atmospheric aerosol particulates; and f) synthetic macromolecules. <br/><br/>A severe limitation of current mass spectrometric-based instrumentation is that it does not include any general means of direct structure determination. The heavy-ion trap electron diffractometer (HITED) will provide a state-of-the-art instrument that will enable researchers to address many outstanding problems in materials sciences, atmospheric chemistry and biochemical sciences.
