Chemical laboratory

The chemical laboratory is used to obtain nanomaterials and their functionalisation or biofunctionalisation, and to prepare samples for physicochemical and biological testing. We have a stock of over 1,000 different chemical reagents for the synthesis of materials: metallic, polymeric, carbonaceous, films or hybrids, and their functionalisation.

Obtaining nanomaterials

Equipment

  • Two fully glazed gloveboxes (two- and five-gloveboxes) for working in a controlled atmosphere with manually operated sluice gates
  • Autoclaves with Teflon interiors in different volumes for reactions under elevated pressure
  • Muffle furnaces with heating up to 1100 oC and tube furnaces with heating up to 1600 oC in a controlled atmosphere.
  • Centrifuges with different centrifugation speeds (from 4 000 rpm to 28 000 rpm) and volumes
  • Heidolph rotary evaporators with automatic temperature and speed control and manual vacuum controller
  • Centrifugal evaporator

Characteristics of nanomaterials

Equipment:

  • Sievers 280i nitrogen oxide analyser
  • Transilluminator
  • STUART SMP10 Melting Temperature Apparatus
  • Spectrofluorimeter

Differential Scanning Calorimeter DSC 8000 (Perkin Elmer)

  • wide temperature range tested, from -160°C to +500°C;
  • heating/cooling rate from 0.01ºC to 200ºC/min;
  • remarkable measuring precision, ±0.008°C;
  • direct measurement of heat (energy) flow - no conversion required;
  • two furnaces with significantly less weight than the single furnace used in other DSC units;
  • The design of the oven allows a rapid thermal response and reduced cooling time;
  • high chemical resistance;
  • High-pressure option to measure samples up to 600 psi (41 bar)

Lambda 950 UV/Vis/NIR Spectrophotometer

The LAMBDA 950 spectrophotometer is a UV/Vis/NIR measuring system with the highest performance:
  • double beam;
  • dual monochromator;
  • wide range of measured wavelengths - from 190 nm to 3300 nm;
  • UV/Vis resolution ≤ 0.05 nm;
  • NIR resolution ≤ 0.20 nm;
  • applications: compound characterisation, quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis (purity, homogeneity), UV, VIS and NIR filter characterisation and many more.

Other equipment

  • Analytical balances
  • Retsch mixer mill MM400
  • Ultrasonic homogenisers
  • Lyophiliser
  • Magnetic and mechanical agitators
  • Spincoater
  • Diaphragm pumps

Hydrofluoric acid laboratory

The NanoBioMedical Centre has a laboratory dedicated to safe work in hydrofluoric acid, equipped with a special fume cupboard and personal protective equipment dedicated to working with HF.