The MRI Award was the first NSF grant to the Chemistry Department and the most expensive of the total of 4 awards to the University of North Florida. This is the only diffractometer in North East Florida, and will serve several academic and industrial establishments. The MRI award was a big negotiating tool for the Chemistry and the Physics departments, to request more space. The direct outcome: chemistry and physics will each get an additional fully renovated floor in the current science building; this will allow expansion and more research and teaching space. The diffractometer has already established a network of new collaborators in the region, i.e. from 1 scientist from Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, 3 faculty from Jacksonville University, 2 faculty from the Florida Institute of Technology, 2 faculty from Stetson University, and 1 faculty from McNeese State University. The instrument has also raised significant interest from industrial partners for new projects in collaboration with the PI; such partners include Vistakon (a Johnson & Johnson company), and smaller startups, i.e. Lamp Light Tech, and others. Given the interest from regional collaborators, this instrument has the potential to evolve in a service facility with dedicated personnel and long term plans for maintenance retention of service contracts. The instrument is already part of the chemistry curriculum, as a series of experiments for the Inorganic Lab, and as part of the different research projects of the PI and co-PIs. Students have been taught how to grow single crystals, pick crystals suitable for x-ray analysis, mount crystals, and with the help of the PI collect and analyze the crystal structure data. Similar training will be provided to relevant physics students. The instrument was used as a recruiting tool in outreach activities, i.e. it was showcased at the spring UNF open house. The high pressure and variable temperature capabilities of this instrument will allow for the complete study of solid state materials, which studies are ongoing by both chemistry and physics collaborators (PI and physics co-PI’s). The microfocus x-ray source and the state of the art detector allow for faster and more efficient data collection, suitable for teaching during the small time window of a lab course. Additionally, it allows for study of heavy elements. The high pressure capabilities of the instrument are unprecedented for the state of Florida, and UNF will be the center of this research effort because of this instrument. The X-ray Diffractometer was only installed on March 4 th, and three complete crystal structures were already collected and refined; these structures will be featured in a future manuscript by the PI’s group. The first Inorganic Chemistry lab, which featured crystallography was performed on March 6 th, and students learned hands-on how to mount crystals, center them on the instrument, and were given a demonstration of the data collection and refinement processes. Students were very excited to see the molecules they just synthesized in the lab, “come to life” into a 3D projection. Some Facts about this NSF-MRI Award and the Single-Crystal Diffractometer Acquired Christos Lampropoulos, University of North Florida, DMR

The end of the installation Some students in Inorganic Lab getting trained collecting data on clusters they synthesized in the lab. Physicists collecting very challenging data on non-merohedral twinned crystals of semiconducting InSe New collaborator discussing her new structure March 4th March 6th March 11th March 10th Christos Lampropoulos, University of North Florida, DMR

March 12 Training and demo of the instrument to faculty and staff. New collaborations were cultivated during this event, since the Bruker engineer had the chance to explain all the capabilities of the instrument, and answer questions. March 13 Three of the crystal structures already measured on the instrument – all 3 are new clusters, and the data is of publishable quality. Four more data sets have been collected. Christos Lampropoulos, University of North Florida, DMR