Search

A complete facility for analysis and characterization of soft materials and polymers

Open to faculty, students and industrial customers

The Soft Materials Characterization Laboratory (SMCL) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison provides a research facility for analysis and characterization of synthetic polymers, soft materials and polymer devices.

To maintain leading-edge research programs, to give students a state-of-the-art education facility and to provide services to industrial clients, we continue to improve this advanced laboratory with new equipment purchased by grants or through gifts from industrial partners.

For use, questions or more information, please contact the Director of the MRSEC facilities:

Dr. Jerry Hunter ([email protected])

(608) 263-1073

Molecular Biology & Biomimetics Laboratories are those in which biological research is carried out for materials science applications. These laboratories include Wilcox 131 &133 (combinatorial-phage and cell surface display; molecular biology, Tamerler & Sarikaya), Wilcox 233 & 235 (protein synthesis, purification and characterization, Tamerler & Sarikaya). Associated laboratories are located in Microbiology (HSB-I 310, 312 and 314; genetics, protein expression and purification, Traxler), Chemical Engineering (Benson 121, 327 & 329; protein engineering, expression, purification and characterization, Baneyx) at the UW.Contact Dr. Hanson Fong for details.

Facility Director

mchabinyc [at] engineering [dot] ucsb [dot] edu (Professor Michael Chabinyc)

The MRL Materials Analysis for Conversion of Energy and Storage Laboratory provides instrumentation for measurement of properties of materials that are useful for energy storage and conversion. The multiuser facility includes all equipment necessary to fabricate solar cells and batteries from solution processable organic and inorganic materials.

Equipment for fabrication and testing of electrochemical cells are located in the MRL. All users must finish MRL standard safety training prior to accessing the facility. The equipment for solar cell testing is located in Elings Hall in the CSNI Nanostructures Clean Room.

Training

Battery Testing and Fabrication

Contact: To be Determined

Solar Cell Fabrication and Testing

Users must receive basic clean room training in addition to standard chemical safety training and an
understanding of lab specific chemical hygiene plan to use the equipment (contact bhanson [at] cnsi [dot] ucsb [dot] edu (Bob Hanson) CNSI ). Access to the facilities requires a UCSB building access card.

http://www.cnsi.ucsb.edu/facilities/building_services/access/

Facility Policies

Any materials entering glove boxes must be logged by the user. Due to the sensitive nature of electronically active materials to impurities and for personal safety of users related to the chemical compatibility of reactive materials, all new materials and processes must be approved prior to usage by the facilities managers. Common materials currently used in the facility include semiconducting polymers and small molecules, ionically conducting polymers, solution processed oxides and metallic forms of main group elements. All reasonable efforts will be made to allow the safe use of the widest range of materials possible. Users violating these rules will have their access privileges revoked.

Shared facilities operated by the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience (NCMN). The Surface and Materials Characterization Facility (SMCF) provides state-of-the-art instruments for nanometer-scale surface measurement, thermal analysis, and mechanical characterization of a vari­ety of materials.

Welcome to CDCM shared experimental facilities! Our facilities, which are located in the Engineering Education and Research Center (EER), play an essential role in cutting-edge science and engineering research. The facilities provide faculty, students, and researchers access to state-of-art tools and advanced capabilities for material characterization.

CDCM shared experimental facilities have approximately 2,200 ft2 of lab space on the sixth floor of EER (6.630/6/632), and over 1,000 ft2 on the ground floor (0.824/0.825). The facility on the sixth floor is equipped with a rheometer, light scattering system, fume hood, glove box for synthesis, glove boxes for 2D material transfer with UHV chamber as well as many laboratory instruments for chemical synthesis, non-sterile biological work, and measurement of physical properties. The facility on the ground floor equips with a variety of light sources including continuous-wave laser, femtosecond laser, optical parametric amplifier, white light generator, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors, as well as closed-cycle cryostat and near-field optical microscope for optical characterization of materials. The facilities offer advanced capabilities such as low-temperature Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, low-temperature magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) measurements, state-of-art time-resolved PL (Tr-PL), photon correlation measurement, two-color pump-probe experiments, photoluminescence excitation (PLE) measurements, light-assisted microwave impedance microscopy (L-MiM), and wavelength-dependent photocurrent measurement or transmission and reflection measurement that can be accomplished by utilizing the broad tunability of the laser systems.

Please click Instruments for more detailed information. Reservation can be made through our online reservation system. If you are interested in using our facilities and want to learn more about our facilities or want a lab tour, don't hesitate to contact us.

The OSU Campus Electron Optics Facility was established to provide state-of-the-art electron microscope services to OSU and the local community. It is a part of the Center for the Advanced Maturation of Materials (CAMM) in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

The Bruker Dimension Icon AFM measures nanometer-scale microscopy by rastering (over a surface of interest) a sharp probe, the z-position of which is controlled in a closed-loop feedback on a measure of the atomic forces on the probe by the surface. These forces are strongly dependent on the probe-surface distance, and so the z-adjustments required to maintain constant force during rastering are directly related to the topographical and morphological features. The Icon AFM incorporates the latest evolution of Bruker’s nanoscale imaging and characterization technologies on a large sample tip-scanning AFM platform. The Icon’s temperature-compensating position sensors render noise levels in the sub-angstroms range for the Z-axis, and angstroms in X-Y.

Analytical Instrumentation Facility (AIF) operates and maintains and develops state-of-the-art materials analysis instruments.

The Imaging and Analysis Center at Princeton University, directed by Dr. Nan Yao, implements high-end, state-of-the-art instrumentation for imaging and analysis to stimulate materials research and education at Princeton and in the surrounding region. The Center contains a suite of advanced electron microscopes; a dual-beam focused ion beam system; scanning probe microscopes; x-ray diffractmeters, image analysis and simulation facilities; and specimen preparation devices. For more information, including how to access the IAC and its instruments, please visit: http://www.princeton.edu/~iac/