Material Characterization and Analytical Testing

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Capabilities

Material Characterization and Analytical Testing

IRC-AM has an excellent collection of sophisticated instruments for characterization and analytical testing. Below is a list of some of these facilities:

Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR, Thermo Scientific Nicolet Is5)

Determination of qualitative and quantitative features of IR-active molecules, solid/liquid sample.
Configured to run in single-beam, ratio, or interferogram modes.
Spectral range: 400–4000 cm-1 optimized, mid-infrared KBr beamsplitter.
Spectral resolution: better than 0.8 cm-1, Wavelength precision: 0.01 cm-1 at 2000 cm-1.\

Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA, TA instruments, Discovery 972000.901)

Weight loss measurement during the user-defined heating process
Material's thermal stability.
Solid sample, Temperature range: 30 – 580 °C, Nitrogen atmosphere.
Mass range 1 – 300 amu, Mass Resolution > 0.5 amu, Sensitivity < 100 ppb.

Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC, TA instruments, Discovery 972000.901)

Measures temperatures and heat flows associated with thermal transitions in a material.
Determination of melting temperature, glass transition temperature, crystallinity.
Solid sample, Temperature range: -40 – 380 °C, Nitrogen atmosphere

Raman Microscope (DXR™3, Thermo Scientific)

Easy-to-use point-and-shoot Raman microscope with advanced imaging capabilities.
Particle analysis for quickly identifying and analyzing microparticles.
Supports multiple excitation lasers. 455 nm, 532 nm high brightness, 532 nm high power, 633 nm high brightness, 633 nm high power, 785 nm high brightness, and 785 nm high power.
Resolution Spatial: 1 µm; Confocal Depth: 2 µm.
Spectral range of 50 – 3500 cm-1. Extended spectral range to 6,000 cm-1 available for 532 nm laser.

Atomic Force Microscope (AFM, MFP-3D Infinity, Asylum Research, Oxford Instruments)

Advanced surface analysis technique ideally suited for characterizing surfaces.
Qualitative and quantitative assessment of materials’ physical properties including size, morphology, surface texture, and roughness.
Accurate and non-destructive measurements of the topographical, electrical, magnetic, optical, and mechanical properties with a very high resolution under different environments.
Widest range of imaging modes and accessories, including Contact Mode Topography, AC Air Topography (Noncontact mode), AC Water Topography, Contact Mode Force, AC Air Force, AC Water Force, Electrical Modes (EFM, SKPM, MFM), NanoMechPro Modes (AMFM, Contact Mode Force, ZTherm PFM for nanoscale thermal analysis).
Optimized Templates For Imaging Biological Cells (AC Cell, Contact Cell, AC Molecule)
In-situ Electrochemistry coupled with AFM - suited to measure nanomechanical, thermal, nano electrical, electrochemical properties, and image biological cells in air and liquid environments.

Preparative Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (Prep. HPLC-MS, Agilent-LCMS-6120B)

Purification and separation of organic compounds
Reliable and easy-to-use instrumentation for compound identification as well as purity checking
Peak width: 0.02 minutes, Threshold: 150, Step size: 0.2, Fragmentor: 70 V
Ionization mode: Multimode, Nebulizer pressure: 35 psi
Drying gas temperature: 250 °C, Vaporizer temperature: 200 °C

Gel-permeation chromatography (GPC, Malven Viscotek)

Analysis of molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, molecular size, and structure of synthetic and natural polymers.
Equipped with Viscotek T6000, T4000, and T2500 columns.
The TDA module is configured to have the refractive index and photodiode array UV detectors.
Polystyrenes standards of varying molecular weights (1,200 – 4,600,000 g/mol).
Mobile phase: THF, Flow rate: 1.0 mL/min, Temperature: 35 °C, Injection volume: 150 μl.
OmniSEC program.

UV-Vis spectrophotometer (UV-Vis, JASCO V-770 EX UV-Vis/NIR)

Single monochromator design for maximum light throughput with excellent absorbance linearity.
PMT detector for UV to the visible region and a Peltier-cooled PbS detector for NIR region.
Light Source: Halogen lamp, Deuterium lamp.
Wavelength range: 190 – 2700 nm (3200 nm, option).
Photometric range: UV-Visible: -4~4 Abs, NIR: -3~3 Abs, Scanning speed: 10~4000 nm/min.
Spectra Manager™ Suite.

Water contact angle measurement system (Biolin Scientific)

Static contact angle, Dynamic contact angle, Advancing and receding contact angles, Contact angle hysteresis, Roll-off angle, Surface free energy.
Measuring range (°, mN/m): 0…180, 0.01…2000.
Maximum measuring speed (fps): 2068.
Maximum resolution (px) : 1280 × 1024 (1.3 MP).
Image focusing: Manual fine focus by optical rail.
OneAttension software includes all measurement modes.

Universal Testing Machine (UTM, Instron 8801)

Suited for high- and low-cycle fatigue testing, thermo-mechanical fatigue testing, and fracture mechanics.
Fatigue, tensile and compression tests, Load range: 100 – 100 KN.