A $560,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, with cost sharing from JHU, will support the acquisition of a 500 MHz solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) spectrometer. The effort to acquire this instrument was led by faculty at JHU (Prof. Rebekka S. Klausen, PI; Prof. Sara Thoi, co-PI; Prof. Howard Fairbrother, co-PI) and George Washington University (Prof. Adelina Voutchkova-Kostal, co-PI). The spectrometer will be housed in the JHU Chemistry NMR Core Facility on the Baltimore Homewood Campus.

As a nondestructive, versatile and highly sensitive technique compatible with in situ characterization, SSNMR spectroscopy is almost uniquely able to probe hierarchically structured materials of almost any composition, as well as interfaces. This acquisition will have a wide-ranging impact on research activities in the MD-DC corridor, including research thrusts in Energy, Environmental, Biological, and Materials Science. The award also supports the development of new undergraduate teaching laboratory experiments and inter-institutional mentoring efforts.