By AZoM Materials
Friday, September 11, 2009
The Nanotom has been supplied by GE Sensing and Inspection
Technologies as part of a new project in the School of Biosciences
to scan soil samples for research into soil- plant interactions.
But it’s also an interdisciplinary piece of kit which will be
used by other Schools for a wide variety of projects.
At least eight University departments will use the Nanotom. From
scanning lichens in Biology, to sustainable building materials in
the Built Environment, windblown sediments in Geography, and even
animal muscle tissues in Veterinary Science, the machine will be a
popular resource and at the moment, the only one of its kind at a
British university. The Nanotom will also be hired out to private
companies outside the University as a source of revenue that will
help fund it.
CT is a very powerful tool that allows us to see the internal
structure of an object that might be otherwise hidden from view. As
well as its widespread use in healthcare, CT also has many
applications in research and industry in the fields of
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) and Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE)
of solids. It’s used to carry out dimensional measurements,
assembly checks, testing for the location and analysis of
compositional defects. The University’s new machine will
produce high-resolution 3D and slice images of solids with a pixel
resolution of up to ½ micron or 500 nanometres.
The Nanotom will be based at the School of Biosciences as the
centrepiece of research into efforts to understand the microscopic
interactions between plant root growth and soil structure. The
first project to use it will examine the sensing ability of roots
to grow in the best direction for the health of the plant through
the soil. It aims to provide evidence of how the root reacts and
adapts to soil stresses like drought and compaction by adjusting
the genetic information in the tips of the root as it grows. The
Nanotom will allow researchers to follow the progress of the root
growth and soil structural development for the first time without
disturbing the sample of the plant growing in the soil.
The eventual aim of research like this is to contribute to
worldwide efforts for food security and sustainable food production
by preserving and improving the vital but finite soil resources of
the planet. It will enable scientists to come up with a recipe for
the best soil composition and level of compaction as well as
informing plant breeding programmes. Accurate soil structure
measurement will be also be essential in changing farming practices
to cut CO2 which is released into the atmosphere during traditional
ploughing of agricultural soil.
Dr Sacha Mooney from the University’s Division of
Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, said:
'This new kit will completely revolutionise our work in trying to
understand the key factors that control some of the many functions
that soils perform. The days of considering the soil, or any porous
media, simply as a ‘black box’ are behind us. Now we
can see into the fragile structures as they exist in the field and
hopefully use the microscopic measurement of the complex 3-D
structure to enhance and develop models concerning how soils
behave. Of course it’s not just soils we’ll be
scanning, I think I am just as excited about the opportunity to
look inside newly created environmental building materials,
eco-friendly crops developed to improve yield and even chocolate
bars for the food industry!"
Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, Professor Bob Webb, said: 'As
a leading research university internationally, we are proud to be
investing in this cutting-edge technology. The new scanner will be
a vital resource across many departments and commercial research
partners outside the University. It will enable faster, more
accurate research into many scientific areas and we have no doubt
it will bring real results in crucial projects like global food
production."
SOURCE