Materials Chemistry

The Materials Characterisation Laboratory is equipped with specialised instrumentation for the characterisation of materials for mechanical, aeronautical, aerospace, food packaging and medical applications. In conjunction with the Materials Chemistry Laboratory degradation tests and other environmental testing can be undertaken.

Later this year CDRSP will house a Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with x-ray analysis for elemental analysis of materials. This will be housed in the adjacent Multi-Scale Reverse Engineering Laboratory.

 

Equipment:

   
 
  • Calorimeter/Thermogravimetric analysis, DSC/TGA which provides quantitative information on phase transitions and thermal stability
  • Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) system which provides quantitative information on chemical composition and information related to cross-linking and hydrogen bonding
  • Micro-CT, 1174, Skyscan which provides 3d images of the internal morphology of closed or solid objects and a quantitative evaluation of their porosity
  • MICROS Optical Microscope
  • Precision Tensiometer for evaluating the surface tension of material surfaces, critical in the design of scaffolds for tissue engineering  and other applications where wetting of the surface is important
  • Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer (STA) 6000
  • Universal Mechanical Testing machine which provide quantitative information on the mechanical properties of materials in tension and in compression
  • UV/VIS spectroscopy which provides quantitative absorption spectra in the Ultra violet and visible region enabling materials to be identified, the extent of degradation quantified  and for the study of photoactivated reactions or molecular transformations