Our lab maintains an extensive collection of advanced equipment for materials synthesis, characterization, and analysis. All equipment includes comprehensive documentation and scheduling systems.
Materials Synthesis and Processing
High-Vacuum Schlenk Apparatus for Precision Synthesis
Precision synthesis and anionic polymerization capabilities.
Resources:
Series 4530 Floor Stand Reactors (Parr Instrument)
High-pressure and temperature-controlled reactions.
Resources:
Solvent Purification System (Mbraun SPS-800)
Ultra-pure solvent preparation for moisture- and oxygen-sensitive synthesis.
Resources:
Glovebox Workstations & Acryl-Glovebox (Mbraun)
Inert atmosphere workstations for air-sensitive materials handling.
Resources:
Spin Coater (Laurell)
Thin-film coating for uniform sample preparation.
Resources:
Motorized Automatic Film Applicator (Elcometer 4340)
Automated coating for reproducible film thickness.
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Xtreme Blender (Waring MX1100XTS)
High-power blending for composite preparation.
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5qt Benchtop Heavy-Duty Laboratory Mixer (Gilson)
Large-scale mixing for composite materials.
Resources:
Sorvall ST8R Microcentrifuge (Thermo Scientific)
High-speed microcentrifugation for sample separation.
Resources:
Frontier 5000 Multi-Pro FC5816 Centrifuge (OHAUS)
Benchtop centrifugation for bulk samples.
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Vacuum Ovens (VWR)
Drying and thermal treatment under vacuum.
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Model 4386 Bench Top Heated Press (Carver)
Hot-pressing for film and composite fabrication.
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Plasma Cleaner (Harrick Plasma)
Surface cleaning and activation.
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Benchtop Freeze Dry System (Labconco)
Lyophilization for water-sensitive materials.
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Slot Die Coater (Ossila)
Continuous film coating for large-area samples.
Resources:
HAAKE MiniCTW Micro-Conical Twin Screw Compounder
High-shear mixing and compounding for nanocomposites.
Resources:
KSV NIMA LB Trough (Biolin Scientific)
Langmuir-Blodgett film deposition for monolayer assembly.
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Benchtop Arc Lamp (Thorlabs)
UV/Vis photopolymerization and photochemistry.
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DREMEL DigiLab 3D45 3D Printer
Additive manufacturing for device prototyping.
Resources:
Rotary Evaporator (Buchi R-215 w/ V-850)
Solvent removal and concentration.
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Characterization Technologies
Differential Scanning Calorimeter (TA Q2000)
Thermal transitions, crystallization, and glass transition measurements.
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Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (TA Q800)
Viscoelastic properties and dynamic mechanical testing.
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Rheometer (TA DHR-2)
Rheological characterization of soft materials.
Resources:
eXpert 2600 Series Universal Testing Systems (ADMET)
Tensile, compression, and flexural testing.
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DSA25E Drop Shape Analyzer (KRÜSS scientific)
Contact angle and surface energy measurements.
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SurPASS 3 Electrokinetic Analyzer (Anton Paar)
Zeta potential and streaming potential analysis.
Resources:
iCAP PRO X Duo ICP-OES (Thermo Scientific)
Elemental composition analysis.
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Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (Shimadzu TOC-LCPH)
Total organic carbon quantification.
Resources:
MicroCal PEAQ-ITC Isothermal Titration Calorimeter (Malvern Panalytical)
Binding thermodynamics and interaction studies.
Resources:
QSense Analyzer QCM-D (Biolin Scientific)
Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring.
Resources:
QSense Explorer High-Pressure Temperature QCM-D (Biolin Scientific)
QCM-D with environmental control.
Resources:
Cypher ES Environmental AFM (Oxford Instruments)
Atomic force microscopy with environmental control.
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Dead End Filtration System (Millipore)
Membrane filtration testing.
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Benchtop Cross/Tangential Flow Filtration System (Sterlitech)
Cross-flow membrane filtration.
Resources:
Potentiostat / Galvanostat (Gamry/BioLogic)
Electrochemical measurements and characterization.
TCi Thermal Conductivity Analyzer (C-Therm)
Thermal transport properties.
Resources:
Surface Forces Apparatus (SurForceLLC SFA 2000)
Direct surface force measurements.
Resources:
Ocean-HDX Visible to UV-VIS Spectrometer (Ocean Optics)
Compact UV-Vis spectroscopy.
Ellipsometer (J.A. Woollam ALPHA-SE)
Thin film thickness and optical properties.
SEC-MALS (Waters-Wyatt)
Size exclusion chromatography with multi-angle light scattering.
Resources:
Portable Density Meter (Anton Paar DMA 35)
Rapid density measurements.
Resources:
Particle Charge Analyzer with Auto-Endpoint Titrator (Micrometrix)
Surface charge characterization.
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Gas Permeability Tester (Qualitest QT-GPT-500)
Gas barrier property measurements.
Resources:
Process Gas Analyzer (Siemens Ultramat 23)
Real-time gas composition monitoring.
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External User Facilities
Our team has access to world-class user facilities at Argonne National Laboratory:
Advanced Photon Source (APS)
- Beamline 8-ID-I: X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy
- Beamline 9-ID-C: Coherent Surface Scattering & Imaging
- Beamline 6-ID-D: Coherent High-Energy X-ray
Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM)
Advanced nanofabrication, characterization, and computation capabilities
Materials Engineering Research Facility
Specialized materials processing and testing
- Roll-to-Roll Slot Die Coating
Laboratory Computing Resource Center (LCRC)
High-performance computing resources
For equipment access, training, or additional information: Contact wchen@anl.gov