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Workshop #2 at the NSLS Users' Meeting

Imaging Nanoscale Structure in Biominerals: New Results and Challenges

Location: Bldg. 510, Physics, Large Seminar Room

Date: Monday, May 23, 2005

Organizers:
Elaine DiMasi (BNL, NSLS), (dimasi@bnl.gov)  

Description: Mineralized tissues, or biominerals, were the first materials to be imaged by x-rays. And they remain at the cutting edge of synchrotron science today, gaining the advantage of modern techniques to image their submicron architectures. Although conventional diffraction can identify mineral phases, new capabilities in microbeam diffraction and tomography make it possible to map the heterogeneous crystallites. Proteins direct the formation of biominerals, making microspectroscopy techniques important to understanding the mineralization process. Organization on larger length scales, such as the formation of amorphous silica structures from nanosphere components, mandates the use of bright beams, SAXS, EXAFS, and pair distribution function techniques. This workshop will bring together exciting new results and challenges across the entire synchrotron spectrum. Speakers will focus equally on the motivating science and the exposition of specialized techniques and analysis. Poster participants are encouraged to bring 2-3 transparencies for "poster promotion" talks scheduled in the oral session.

Schedule:

9:00 a.m. Welcome - Elaine Dimasi
9:10 a.m.

Matthias Epple, Inorganic Chemistry, University Duisburg-Essen, Universitaetsstr. 5-7, D-45117 Essen, Germany
"The Use of Synchrotron Radiation for the Structural Characterisation of Snail Houses, Love Darts, Deep-Sea Medusae, and Woodlice"
10:00 a.m. Break
10:20 a.m. Emil Zolotoyabko, Department of Materials Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000
"Viewing Microstructures with High Depth Resolution through Energy-Variable X-ray Diffraction"
11:10 a.m. Stuart R. Stock, Northwestern University
"X-ray Phase Radiography and Absorption Micro-computed Tomography: Internal Structures of Biominerals"
12:00 noon Lunch
1:30 p.m. Gelsomina "pupa" De Stasio, University of Wisconsin - Madison, and Synchrotron Radiation Center
"The Organic-Inorganic Interface in Biominerals"
2:20 p.m. Helga Lichtenegger, Vienna University of Technology
"Microbeam Fluorescence, Diffraction, and SAXS Imaging of Worm Jaws"
3:15 p.m. Break
3:30 p.m. Teresa Nicolson, Oregon Hearing Research Center and Vollum Institute
"Polymorph Selection: The Acidic Protein Starmaker Controls Lattice Formation in Fish Otoliths"
4:20 p.m. Poster Promotion
5:00 p.m. Adjourn

Acknowledgements: Additional funding for this workshop was provided by the BNL Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN). The CFN supports a charter program in nanoscaled bio/inorganic composite materials, and provides resources to the NSLS to support important nanostructure characterization beamlines