Samantha Breuer Rose Hills
NMR Optimization and Application to MOFs
In the Ajoy Lab, we use a custom nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) apparatus that uses high-powered lasers and microwaves to hyperpolarize samples for signal enhancement. My project will work to optimize the microwave frequency, sweep rate, and bandwidth of our apparatus to increase the lifetime of a nanodiamond sample. Increasing the lifetime of the nanodiamond sample is beneficial to resolution, as it increases the amount of time we can collect data from milliseconds to minutes. This is relevant to the field as the optimization of the nanodiamond sample, and increase in the sample lifetime, improves resolution. This increased timescale is paramount in the field of NMR. While we currently work exclusively with nanodiamonds, we aspire to expand to other materials, such as pentacene-based metal organic frameworks (MOFs). MOFs are used frequently due to their ability to be easily tailored with different metals and different linkers. For this expansion, I will also be working to synthesize single crystal pentacene.
Message To Sponsor
Thank you so much for your donation. Your donation has allowed me to conduct important and innovative research. My work as a SURF Fellow will push me to grow immensely as a student and as a scholar, all thanks to you!