Grant: Applied Research Tools and Instruments Grants

This proposal from the College of The North Atlantic (CNA) for NSERC-Applied Research Tools and Instruments Grant program aims at acquiring a state-of-the-art spectrofluorometer System; PicoMaster 2,TCSPC (Time-Correlated Single-Photon Counting) spectrofluorometer from Photon Technology International (PTI) for steady state and lifetime measurements research on materials.The equipment is mainly intended for our Materials Nanotechnology Research Laboratory (MNRL) at Lab West Campus, with extended usage to other college laboratories across the province in other areas of materials analysis research. The acquisition of this equipment will fill a critical gap in our research capacity. The equipment is normally used for analyzing samples through their optical and fluorescence characteristics and the changes therein. It is suited, in particular, for testing nano sized layers, crystals, colloids and other nano-structures. In our nanotech laboratory we have been outsourcing this type of analysis work from laboratories across Canada. The volume of work and demand for fluorescence analysis in our laboratories has gone up to a point where outsourcing has not only become too expensive but is turning into a stumbling block to our own productivity. In the naonotechnology lab, the equipment will be used for analyzing colloidal nanoparticles for a variety of applications including research into a revolutionary memory chip where fluorescence changes in atomic layers provide crucial information on material compositions and growth. The versatility of the equipment allows it to be used in a number of other research areas. A significant demand of the instrument exists at other college laboratories across the province including anti-cancer drug laboratory at Clarenville campus, drinking water analysis for Lab West region, nutraceutical research lab at Carbonear campus, environmental studies program at Corner Brook campus, etc. With the acquisition of this equipment, we expect a major impact on our research capacity in a positive manner.