Department of Commerce, Mountain Administrative Support Center, Procurement Division, MC3, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303-3328

A -- RESEARCH EFFORT SOL 52RANB50C047 DUE 033095 POC Procurement Technicians (303) 497-3221 NANOMETER STRUCTURE OF SHEARED SUSPENSIONS AND GELS: The proposed contract is for the extension and operation of facilities to probe the structure of nanometer materials. The extension of current facilities includes the adaptation of a commercial rheometer for laser light scattering at both small and large angles and the complete development of an automated data acquisition system for the current light scattering system. The automated facility must be able to acquire data from the existing light scattering machine in under 1 minute per sample over a wave vector range from .001 nm^-1 to .03 nm^-1. It must also be compatible with the system developed for light scattering from the commercial rheometer so that the same data collection rates are available with this system. In the case of the commercial rheometer adaptation, light scattering and rheometry data collection must be automatically synchronized to give one minute temporal resolution on both of these results. Studies to be conducted by the contractor will include sheared and static silica gels as a function of gelation chemistry and time after gelation has been initiated, clay suspended in a variety of solvents including water, water and sodium dodecyl sulfate mixtures, hexane, and benzene, and clay-polymer composite materials as a function of material preparation. In the case of the clay study, at least two different clays, laponite and bentonite, must be studied as a function of the various solvents listed above. In the case of the clay-polymer composite study, the chemistry facilities for this work will be provided but all polymer chemistry expertise must be supplied by the contractor. Reports detailing the extension and development of the facilities must be provided and subsequent reports detailing the specific studies undertaken (silica gelation, clay suspensions and polymer composites) must be provided. To be considered, respondents must submit written qualification statements substantiating that the following qualification requirements can be met: (1) demonstrated expertise in the molecular structure or micro-structure of complex fluid systems; (2) demonstrated expertise in light scattering, x-ray scattering, and neutron scattering techniques; (3) demonstrated expertise in systems in equilibrium, under shear, and near phase transitions; and (4) demonstrated experience in measurements on complex fluid systems including suspensions, gels colloids, polymers, etc. This synopsis is published for informational purposes only; solicitation is not available; no telephone requests accepted. ONLY QUALIFICATION STATEMENTS CONSIDERED AT THIS TIME. In the absence of other qualified sources, it is the intent of the Government to negotiate a sole source contract under the authority of 41 USC 253(c)(1) with the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. See Note 22. (0080)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0013 19950322\A-0013.SOL)