Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

The applicants for this equipment are active in a variety of areas including biotechnology, nanotechnology and materials.  They apply the fundamentals they are developing in these areas to the production of new materials, such as biocomposites for use into automotive parts, production of neutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals, development of novel architectures for cellular support in tissue engineering applications, drug delivery systems and other emerging technologies.  They rely heavily on sophisticated analysis techniques to get a picture of what is happening at the molecular and nano level.  Surface Plasmon Resonance, or SPR, is a surface sensitive optical technique that measures the change in refractive index of a surface due to the binding of a material to that surface.  SPR is a useful technique because it is sensitive to very small concentrations and because molecules of interest in terms of very specific interactions can be attached to the surface.  SPR works for metals where the electrons behave as a free electron gas with gold the metal of choice when working with biological analytes - because is largely inert in terms of most biological systems.  The types of interactions that can be followed depend on the size of the analyte, but large particles, such as cells and viruses can be followed.  For molecules smaller than 5000 Daltons, the surface must be modified in combination with small molecules in order to show direct binding.   Because the system can be operated in a flow-through configuration, kinetic measurements can be made.  This group does not have access to this equipment, and its availability would add considerably to their arsenal for probing the fundamentals of their systems for practical applications.