Request for Graduate Travel Support to Attend the Nanoelectronic Devices for Defense $ Security (NANO-DDS) Conference 2007. To be held June 18-21, 2007 in Crystal City Arlington

Objective: The objective of this proposal is to request travel funds from NSF to enable graduate students to attend the Nanoelectronic Devices for Defense and Security (NANO-DDS) Conference 2007 to be held on June 18-21, 2007 in Crystal City, Arlington, VA. Intellectual Merit: The NANO-DDS conference plans to bridge the intellectual gap between the frontier and application portions of the nanoelectronics deices spectrum for the purpose of accelerating nanotechnology payoffs that have relevance to national Defense and Security in the future. This is a biannual conference. The payoffs are expected to be in the core defense and security related areas such as sensing, data processing, computation and communications. Broader Impact: The scientific and technological information and the resulting Nanoscience Technology Roadmap will be widely disseminated throughout academia/universities, government and industrial institutions and the public at large (including the entire international community. It will produce a unique set of guidelines for future research and educational activities. The funds are expected to be used exclusively to support graduate student attendance and this will broaden the impact of the meeting to the education experiences and education of future scientists and engineers

2011 Nanoelectronic Devices for Defense & Security (NANO-DDS) Conference: A Request for Funding to Support Attendee Participation. To be held Aug. 29 to Sept 1, 2011 at NYU-POLY

Intellectual Merit: The Nanoelectronic Devices for Defense & Security (NANO-DDS) Conference is a bi-annual science and technology event which has been organized for the purpose of reviewing the evolving research and development (R&D) activities in the arena of nanoelectronic devices that have direct relevance to critical capability needs for national defense & security in the future. The charter of this special conference is to unify and focus the very broad array of nanoelectronic and supporting nanotechnology activities that are currently engaged in reaching the long expected applications payoffs in core defense and security related areas such as sensing, data processing, computation and communications. Broader Impacts: The inherent multidisciplinary nature of the nanoscale science & technology (Nano-S&T) field and the potential for impacting high priority objectives motivate the unique organization of this 2011 conference. The conference will support participation of many new faculty and graduate students

Request for Graduate Travel Support to Attend the Nanoelectronic Devices for Defense $ Security (NANO-DDS) Conference 2009. To be Held Sept 28-Oct. 2, 2009 in Ft. Lauderdale FL

The objective of this proposal is to support graduate student attendance to the Nanoelectronic Devices for Defense & Security (NANO-DDS) will be held at the Bahia Mar Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale, FL during the weeks of September 28 to October 2, 2009. The approach is to recruit students in the science and engineering areas related to nanoelectronic devices research and development with the aim that their attendance will broaden the impact of the meeting to the education experiences and education of future scientists and engineers. There will be a formal reporting procedure that includes a narrative that explains their estimation of the benefit in attending the conference that all student attendees will be required to complete. Intellectual Merit: The conference has been organized as a formal bi-annual meeting for the purpose of reviewing research and development (R&D) activities in the arena of nanoelectronic devices that have direct relevance to critical capability needs for national Defense & Security in the future. The charter of this special conference is to unify and focus the very broad array of nanoelectronic and supporting nanotechnology activities that are currently engaged in reaching the long expected applications payoffs in core defense and security related areas such as sensing, data processing, computation and communications. Broader Impacts: The scientific and technological information and the resulting nanoscale devices and systems Roadmap will be widely disseminated throughout academia/universities, government and industrial institutions and the public at-large (including the entire international community). The conference has made diligent effort to recruit student attendees from underrepresented groups from the nanoscience, nanomaterials, nanofabrication and nanoengineering communities

Collaborative Research: A Nanostructure Sensor for Measuring Dissolved Iron and Copper Concentrations in Coastal and Offshore Seawater

Iron and Copper serve as key co-constituents for numerous enzymes in a wide range of biological systems, and their elevated or impoverished levels in aqueous systems have dramatic consequences at organismal, ecosystem, and human health scales. Over the last decade these effects have increasingly been recognized to be important in ocean systems. Identifying sites and times where these metals cause negative environmental outcomes is greatly hampered by their comparatively sparse datasets. This problem is a direct consequence of the analytical challenge of obtaining accurate Fe and Cu determinations in saline waters at very low (trace) concentrations, and the limitations of ship-dependent sampling regimes. The PI\u27s request funding to build on research and technology advances in the Tripp, Wells and King laboratories to develop active nanostructures that can serve as platforms amenable for detection of a wide range of environmentally important dissolved metals in seawater. Preliminary work has validated a biologically-inspired sensor platform in the subarctic N. Pacific, providing the first demonstration of dissolved Fe measurements at very low (\u3c50 pM) concentrations in oceanic waters by a solid state sensor. The proposed work will 1) optimize this prototype sensor by tuning the active nanostructures to measure dissolved Fe and Cu, and 2) develop a detection device that migrates the current ship-board method to operate on rosette profiling platforms as well as on moorings and autonomous vehicles. Broader Impacts:This project has the potential to further develop a sensor that will provide unique information about the chemical speciation of the biologically important metals Fe and Cu. The work proposed here fills an important need for high spatial and temporal resolution data of these metals identified as priority by researchers in marine chemistry and marine biogeochemistry. This interdisciplinary approach has the potential to fill an analytical void for data that continues to stymie efforts to understand how and Cu and more specifically Fe availability in the oceans modulates the cycling of carbon and nitrogen in the marine environment. The proposal is well balanced in its goal of marrying nanotechnology with IR spectroscopy to address a analytical void while providing specific support for the training of students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The PIs plan to develop minority student involvement in their research. This will have the most important impact, since bringing smart students into our field and stimulating young students to consider careers in science is essential for the continued growth of our national science capabilities

Electrostatic Interactions to Attach Latex to Pigment Surface to Reduce Binder Migration

For many paints, paper coatings, and other pigmented coatings, latex and soluble binders are used to impart mechanical properties. However, non-uniform latex binder distributions are often observed in the thickness direction during application and drying, leading to quality issues. While several publications have documented this issue, few solutions are offered in the literature. Here we report a simple process to use electrostatic interactions to attach latex binder to pigments. Coating suspensions are generated using cationic precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) pigments that are mixed with anionic styrene-butadiene (SB) latex binders resulting in latex-covered pigments. The migration of latex binder in coatings generated on various substrates under various drying conditions was measured using Raman spectroscopy and compared with reference coatings. The new system shows reduced latex binder migration for most situations than those obtained with the reference coating. The coated papers were also measured for strength, opacity, gloss, water drainage rate, and porosity. Little difference is seen in the picking strength of the coating and gloss compared to coatings prepared with standard formulations. Water drainage rate, opacity, and porosity were higher for latex-covered pigment (LCP) coatings than the reference standard coating; this increased porosity is likely due to the strong electrostatic attraction that exists between the cationic pigment and anionic latex binder that reduces the densification of the coating during drying

SENSORS: A Novel Lateral Field Excited Acoustic Wave Sensor for Chemical and Biological Agents

Sensors for the sensitive and selective detection of chemical agents and a biological agent are being developed. The sensor structure consists of a piezoelectric platform that is coated with a film that selectively sorbs a chemical or biological agent of interest. The sensitivity of the sensor is embodied in the sensor platform, which consists of a quartz crystal that is excited by a lateral electric field. The exciting electrodes are placed opposite to the sensing surface, and the sensing film is attached directly to the sensor platform. This arrangement is in contrast to the standard quartz microbalance (QCM), where the sensing surface is normally coated with a gold film, and it offers increased sensitivity along with selectivity. The high sensitivity exhibited by this novel lateral-field-excited (LFE) QCM is attributed to the fact that the sensor can measure both electrical and mechanical property changes in the sensing film caused by the sorbed chemical or biological agent. The selectivity of the LFE-QCM sensor is obtained by performing molecular filtering directly in the sensing film. In this specific project the LFE-QCM sensor is being designed to detect two specific chemicals and one biological agent. The target chemicals are dimethyl phosponate (DMMP), which simulates VX and G nerve agents, and an organophosphate pesticide that is chemically similar to many other chemical-warfare agents. The biological agent is E. coli O157:H7, which could appear in food or water supplies. In order to realize the desired chemical and biological sensors, the research team is exploring several issues relating to the LFE-QCM platform and the sensing film. These issues include the optimum electrode geometry in the LFE-QCM platform, the development of novel polymer and silica films for the detection of organophosphates in water, and the coupling of E. coli antibodies to the sensing surface. Homeland security as well as environmental and industrial health concerns dictate that improved chemical and biological sensors must be developed and deployed. After various sorbate-selective films have been attached to the LFE-QCM surface, they will be exposed to the chemical simulants and the biological agent in order to determine the sensing properties. It is anticipated that the proposed work on these organo-phosphorus chemicals and E. coli can be extended to development of selective sensors for other significant chemical and biological agents. In addition, by coupling with existing GK-12 and REU programs, this project will contribute to the education of a number of students and teachers who will participate in the research program

NIRT: Developing a Nanoscale Sensing Device for Measuring the Supply of Iron to Phytoplankton in Marine Systems

There is increasing evidence that Fe has a singularly unique role in marine ecosystems, both regulating total phytoplankton production in high nitrate, low chlorophyll regions of the world, and influencing the predominant composition of the phytoplankton assemblages found in others. It is remarkable then that there is no agreement about how to define biologically available Fe, in contrast to the macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorous or silicon. Current attempts to attain predictive insights to how ocean ecosystems will influence the magnitude of climate change are blocked in large part by this question, along with an extreme shortage of data on Fe distributions in the oceans. There is recent evidence that Fe availability can be regulated in bulk seawater incubations by small additions of the fungal siderophore desferrioximine B (DFB). The Fe-DFB complex is not readily available to eukaryotic phytoplankton, so that if the quantity of Fe complexed by DFB were measured and calibrated to Fe uptake by phytoplankton it could yield a novel first order measure of Fe availability. Building from our current research we have developed liposomes that specifically acquire DFB-bound Fe from solution. These devices, 100 nm in diameter, open the way to applying nanotechnology to create a new breed of Fe biosensors in marine waters. The project goals are to 1) optimize these nanodevices by improving their physical robustness, identifying the size/functionality relationship, and examining the efficacy of other DFB-Fe transporter molecules, 2) develop self-reporting capabilities for quantifying Fe uptake by these nanodevices, and 3) to calibrate the capture of Fe by these nanodevices to the Fe uptake by various phytoplankton species. The anticipated final product will be a calibrated nanoscale biosensor for laboratory-scale use that could then be adapted for deploying on remote vehicles. Broader Impacts Resulting from the Proposed Activity: The two institutions involved in this project (U. Maine and Colby College) have a strong track record for involving undergraduate and graduate students in cutting edge research in marine science and chemistry, and this project will continue this process

Evaluation of Load Transfer in the Cellulosic-Fiber/Polymer Interphase Using a Micro-Raman Tensile Test

The objectives of this research were (1) to use a Raman micro-spectroscopic technique to determine the tensile stress distributions of a cellulosic-fiber/polymer droplet interphase, and (2) to examine if the stress profile could be used to evaluate load transfer in fiber/polymer adhesion. Cellulosic fibers were treated with various silanes (amino, phenylamino, phenyl, and octadecyl functionalities) and a styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer to create different interphases upon bonding with polystyrene. A single fiber, bonded with a micro-droplet of polystyrene in the mid-span region of its gage length, was strained in tension. Raman spectra were collected at five-micrometer intervals along the embedded region of the fiber. The stress-dependent peak of cellulose (895 cm-1) was analyzed for frequency shift so that the local tensile stress in the interface region could be determined. Results showed that the local tensile stresses of the strained fiber were lower in the embedded region compared to the exposed region, suggesting a transfer of load from the fiber to the matrix polymer. A deeper and sharper decline of the stress profile was observed when the fiber/droplet interaction was enhanced. Further analyses, involving conversion of tensile stress profiles to shear stress distributions in the interphase, confirmed that the micro-Raman/tensile test can be employed to evaluate fiber/matrix interfacial bonding in composites. This success signifies the possibility of evaluating adhesion between cellulosic fibers and brittle polymers, which is difficult to study using common micromechanical tests. Use of the micro-Raman technique can improve our understanding of wood/polymer adhesion

Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Rotavirus Molecular Signatures Using Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Human enteric virus infections range from gastroenteritis to life threatening diseases such as myocarditis and aseptic meningitis. Rotavirus is one of the most common enteric agents and mortality associated with infection can be very significant in developing countries. Most enteric viruses produce diseases that are not distinct from other pathogens, and current diagnostics is limited in breadth and sensitivity required to advance virus detection schemes for disease intervention strategies. A spectroscopic assay based on surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been developed for rapid and sensitive detection of rotavirus. The SERS method relies on the fabrication of silver nanorod array substrates that are extremely SERS-active allowing for direct structural characterization of viruses. SERS spectra for eight rotavirus strains were analyzed to qualitatively identify rotaviruses and to classify each according to G and P genotype and strain with >96% accuracy, and a quantitative model based on partial least squares regression analysis was evaluated. This novel SERS-based virus detection method shows that SERS can be used to identify spectral fingerprints of human rotaviruses, and suggests that this detection method can be used for pathogen detection central to human health care