Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

<p><span style=""line-height: 1.5em; font-size: 12.8px;""></span></p> <p>This application requests a critical upgrade for the Bruker EMX electron spin resonance (ESR, also known as electron paramagnetic resonance or EPR) spectrometer in the Saskatchewan Structural Sciences Centre (SSSC) at the University of Saskatchewan. The SSSC (http://www.usask.ca/sssc/) is a core research facility that supports multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research, as well as fostering collaborative research with industrial partners. The combination of sharing instruments and interacting with professional staff members allows for efficient usage of the instruments by researchers and HQP across disciplines. The SSSC supports ~50 NSERC funded researchers and ~150 HQP per year. Fifteen research groups are major users of the ESR spectrometer, producing 15 successfully defended theses (7 PhD, 3 MSc, 1 MEng, 1 visiting graduate student, and 3 HBSc) with ESR as the primary or major research tool over the last 6 years.</p> <p>ESR spectroscopy requires the presence of at least one unpaired electron in the material of interest and has unrivaled sensitivity for characterizing dilute species. The material for ESR research can be a gas, liquid or solid. Properties of the unpaired electron(s) can be measured at low temperatures, high temperatures or high pressures. The unpaired electron(s) may be present intrinsically in the material of interest or can be generated by artificial irradiations or chemical reactions. Measuring spin transitions of the unpaired electron(s) in a magnetic field makes it possible to extract quantitative information about the geometric and electronic structure of a material, and the reactivity and other properties of the material. The ESR spectrometer in the SSSC has been developed to conduct experiments in all aforementioned conditions. The principal applicant's research program, which depends heavily on the ESR spectrometer in the SSSC, investigates minerals and other Earth materials (green fertilizers, mine tailings and soils), with contributions to fundamental questions in Earth Sciences and applications to the mining industry and environmental protection. Other major users apply novel ESR techniques to investigate radicals in or reactivity of molecules, defect structures in nanomaterials and amorphous materials, catalysts, metal-protein interactions, peptides and DNA, and materials for solar cells. The five proponents of this application represent a cross section of the growing number of major users of and the diverse research areas in ESR spectroscopy.&nbsp;</p> <p>The ESR spectrometer in the SSSC after 10 years of continuous operation since its installation in 2005 now experiences frequent failures due to an obsolete operating system and several aging parts. The proposed upgrade will install a new operating system and replacement parts to ensure its successful operation for the next 10 years and, more importantly, open up opportunities for new innovative research.</p>