Acquisition of State-of-the-Art Solid-State NMR Instrumentation Enabling Characterization of Nanoparticles, Catalysts, Other Novel Materials, and Biochemical Systems

This project funds the acquisition of a state-of-the-art solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) instrument for the Chemistry Department Instrumentation Center. UW-Madison ranks as a premiere institution in the world for research support involving NMR spectroscopy, but nearly all of UW-Madison’s capabilities are directed at liquid samples. NMR studies of solid or semi-solid materials require different technologies and instrumentation than conventional liquids NMR. Solid-state NMR has experienced dramatic advances in recent years, and the new capabilities will be unique in the state of Wisconsin. The project will enable significant areas of materials research to be more competitive.

Advanced materials in the areas of nanoparticle research, catalysis, inorganic and organometallic chemistry, and biochemical systems will greatly benefit from the new instrumentation. As an example, solid-state NMR will enable newly discovered methods to characterize the surfaces of functionalized nanoparticles. The functionalization is critical to nanoparticle properties, and better characterization has been a vital need for enabling more optimal designs applied to a myriad of practical uses of nanoparticles. Catalytic research, vitally important in the world’s chemical productivity, is another area where solid-state NMR will provide new previously unavailable characterization methods.

The new areas of research enabled by this request promise to impact many areas, from medical treatments of cancer and other diseases, to catalysis involving a very broad range of chemical production, for electrochemistry, fuel cells and advanced batteries, medical diagnostics, and more.

Principal Investigator

• Ive Hermans
  Associate Professor of Chemistry, and Chemical and Biological Engineering
  
  

 Co-Investigators

• Katherine Henzler-Wildman
  Associate Professor of Biochemistry
• John Berry
  Professor at Chemistry
  
• Weibo Cai
  Associate Professor of Radiology
  
• Kyoung-Shin Choi
  Professor of Chemistry
• Ying Ge
  Associate Professor of Cell and Regenerative Biology
• Randall Goldsmith
  Assistant Professor of Chemistry
• Sundaram Gunasekaran
  Professor of Biological Systems Engineering
• Robert Hamers
  Professor of Chemistry
• Song Jin
  Professor of Chemistry
• Clark Landis
  Professor of Chemistry
• Joel Pedersen
  Professor of Soil Science
• Jennifer Schomaker
  Associate Professor of Chemistry
• Shannon Stahl
  Professor of Chemistry
• John Wright
  Professor of Chemistry