Core Facility for Multidisciplinary Structural Analysis - Environmental Electron Microscopy for Materials Characterization of Complex Samples

• Subject Area: Biomaterials ; Construction Material Sciences, Chemistry, Building Physics ; Mechanical Properties of Metallic Materials and their Microstructural Origins ; Polymeric and Biogenic Materials and Derived Composites ; Systematics and Morphology (Zoology) ; Cell Biology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 514140860

Electron microscopy is one of the most versatile imaging techniques for fundamental research in the natural and engineering sciences. The aim of this project is the strategic establishment of a Core Facility for Multidisciplinary Structural Analysis at the Hochschule Bremen (HSB) with a state-of-the-art Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM), a tensile testing stage and the possibility for energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The establishment of this core facility will give the HSB a unique methodological and scientific position that will significantly advance the knowledge-driven research of the participating scientists in their respective disciplines. These projects will sustainably expand fundamental research and strengthen the research profile of HSB throughout Germany and internationally. This core facility will be used by a cross-faculty group of scientists to analyze a wide variety of biological and synthetic materials. These materials range from protein nanofibers, cancer cells, and fibroblasts to plant fibers, insect cuticle, and gill tissue to photonic crystals and porous concrete. These complex samples differ fundamentally in many aspects with respect to their suitability for conventional electron microscopic analysis because, for example, they have high water content and thus undergo changes in morphology upon drying. Therefore, in contrast to conventional electron microscopy, only an ESEM allows the examination of such moist (biological) samples in low vacuum or in water vapor, as well as the repeated analysis of one and the same sample. To obtain information on the chemical composition and mechanical properties of the investigated materials in addition to their morphological characteristics, the ESEM will also be equipped with a tensile testing unit for mechanical testing and a tool for energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. This unique combination of methods will enable the project team to answer comprehensive research questions on structure-function relationships of complex biological and synthetic materials (e.g. material fatigue, fracture and swelling behavior and fiber-matrix interactions) with only one single device in the medium and long term.

• DFG Programme: Major Instrumentation Initiatives
• Major Instrumentation: Environmental Elektronenmikroskop ; Prüfbühne ; Sputtercoater
• Instrumentation Group: 2910 Dynamische Prüfmaschinen und -anlagen, Pulser ; 5100 Elektronenmikroskope (Transmission) ; 8330 Vakuumbedampfungsanlagen und -präparieranlagen für Elektronenmikroskopie
• Applicant Institution: Hochschule Bremen
• Leader: Professor Dr. Jan-Henning Dirks
• Co-Investigators: Professorin Dr. Dorothea Brüggemann; Professor Dr. Thomas Klefoth; Professor Dr. Carsten Reinhardt; Dr. Stefan Veltel