April 03, 2001

WKU Thermal Analysis Lab Receives $119,000
Air Force Grant

Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University is one of 16 universities selected for nanotechnology research by the U.S. Air Force and the Department of Defense.

The Thermal Analysis Laboratory in the Materials Characterization Center has been awarded a grant of $119,000 for "Acquisition of an X-ray Diffractometer (XRD) for Nanotechnology Research." The Center is housed at the WKU South Campus.

Recently the XRD has become an indispensable analytical technique for use in polymer/clay nanocomposite studies, according to Dr. Wei-Ping Pan, professor in Western's Department of Chemistry. X-ray diffraction can precisely measure atomic distances, d-spacings between clay layers, large-scale structure and long range order, and particle size and shape.

The XRD system will enhance the Materials Characterization Center's capabilities in undergraduate and graduate education and fundamental research in nano-science, Dr. Pan said. Nanocomposites are very small materials.

The nanotechnology equipment competition drew 89 proposals. The other universities receiving grants were Harvard, Kansas State, Lehigh, Penn State, Illinois, Rice, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Michigan, Texas, Virginia, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey and University of California at Santa Barbara.

For more information, contact Dr. Wei-Ping Pan at (270) 780-2532. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.