Facilities

Please select from the list of laboratories to view more information.

Bioprocess Engineering Laboratories

The Bioprocess Engineering Laboratories are equipped with fully instrumented bioreactors (a 2-liter New Brunswick Bioflo II continuous bioreactor, several 2-liter New Brunswick Multigen bioreactors, and two 1-liter New Brunswick Multigen bioreactors), an automated ion exchange purification system, gel electrophoresis and electroblotting apparatus, laminar flow hood, sugar analyzer, automated particle counters, centrifuges, temperature-controlled incubators and shakers, and personal computers for data acquisition and data analysis.

Other ancillary equipment available in the department includes a Hewlett-Packard 1050 High Performance Liquid Chromatography System, gas chromatographs, UV-visible spectrophotomoters, autoclaves, and freeze driers.

In addition, arrangements have been made for access to specialized research equipment on the UC Davis campus, including capillary electrophoresis systems, GC-mass spectrometers, PCR systems, DNA synthesizers and DBA sequence analyzer, ELISA plate readers, and an AMX-400 NMR spectrometer.

Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Laboratories

The Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Laboratories are equipped with spectroscopic instruments and catalytic reactors. The labora-tories meet safety standards, being fitted with gas detectors and alarms and large walk-in fume hoods for research with toxic and flammable chemicals. The instruments include the follow-ing: infrared spectrometer, with FT Raman capability; W-visible reflectance spectrometers; ultrahigh vacuum/normal pressure apparatus for chemisorption, surface area/pore volume, temperature-programmed reduction/oxida-tion/ decomposition, and catalytic reaction mea-surements; and a continuous-flow supercritical extraction and desorption reactor with high-pressure flame-ionization detector for carbon dioxide solvent (the principal instrument for the carbon dioxide extractions). The laboratories also have a continuous-flow supercritical extraction reactor system with electrical furnace, pressure and tempera-ture controllers, and high-pressure nitrogen drive for liquid solvents (such as toluene and butanol) that are monitored by a Perkin-Elmer Lambda 4B UV-vis spectrophotometer with flow-through absorption cuvette; a Beckman Model 930 Helium or Air Comparison Pycnometer for measuring porosity of granular porous materials; an American Instrument Company 60,000 psi mercury porosimeter for measuring pore-volume distribution as a function of pore diameter in solids and powders; and a Perkin-Elmer 8500 Gas Chromatograph with numerous packed and capillary columns for catalyst and reactor characterization.

Colloid and Interfacial Science Laboratories

The Colloid and Interfacial Science Laboratories are equipped with a Shimadzu UV 160U spectrophotometer and Spex Fluorolog fluorescence spectrophotometers for investigating the structural and solubilizing properties of micelles, a differential refractometer for measuring refractive index of solutions and a Kruss tensiometer for measuring the surface tensions of fluids. Emulsion droplet sizes and concentrations can be monitored using a Malvem static light-scattering device.

The laboratories contain a computer-controlled Langmuir-Blodgett film trough, a diffusion apparatus, laser interferometer, microscopes, wo surface plasmon spectrometers (SPR), a FTIR spectrometer, an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), a near field optical microscope, and a UV-visible spectrometer are available for thin film characterization. A polarized-light microscope with a computer-based image analysis system is also available for the study of liquid crystals at surfaces. Properties routinely measured include solubility, critical micellar concentrations, surface tensions, adsorption iso therms, surface elec trical potential, conductivity, viscosity and macro-scopic equilibrium phase behaviors. Quasi-elastic and classical light scattering are used to investigate the equilibrium structures and dynamic properties of molecular assemblies in solution. Electrochemical methods (e.g., linear sweep cyclic voltammetry) are used to investigate dynamic processes in solution.

Combustion Synthesis Laboratory

A wide range of experimental and computer facilities is available in the Combustion Synthesis Laboratory. Combustion chambers-two systems that can be operated under vacuum or high pressure (up to 14 atm) and are equipped with video cameras, time-code generators, and two-color pyrometers-are available. One contains a radiative energy ignition source and the other is operated in conjunction with a cw-CO2 laser. DTA, TGA and BET analysis can be done in high temperature (up to 1600í C) DTA facilities with heating rates ranging up to 200 *C per minute.

The combustion chambers are used for characterizing the sequence of combustion reactions; two Cahn continuous recording microbalances with a resolution of 1.8 ug can be used for thermogravimetric analysis under reactive or inert atmosphere; a BET apparatus with nitrogen and krypton absorption for surface area analysis of powders and porous materials is also available.

Vacuum furnaces and systems can be used; one ultra-high vacuum system is equipped with a quadruple mass spectrometer and a vibrating crystal thickness monitor and another is capable of maintaining a base pressure of – lo-11 torr and is equipped with an electron beam gun for vapor deposition of multi-layer systems. Furnaces include W-mesh heating elements, capable of producing temperatures in excess of 2500 *C for a variety of activities related to the synthesis and processing of high temperature ceramics and composites.

Computer Laboratories

The Undergraduate Computer Laboratory is a general use Windows NT laboratory with computers loaded with various Chemical Engineering and Materials Science related software packages including, but not limited to: Hyprotech ’s HYSYS, Wolfram ’s Mathematica, “Control Station Tech”http://www.engr.uconn.edu/ ’s Control Station, and Intelligen ’s SuperPro Designer. The lab is consistently updated with the latest versions of all software (not MS Office though…bloatware) and the computers are updated such that they range from a maximum of three years old to brand new. Students use the lab for homework and research. It is restricted to those students registered for classes in the department. Two printers are available to the students, one allowing for double-sided printing to conserve paper.

The Graduate Computing Laboratory has much of the same software the Undergraduate version has, though the number of computers is considerably less and contains UNIX, Macintosh, and Windows workstations. Additional peripherals include a digital camera, two scanners, a slide scanner, and a color printer, all used for research reports, theses, and dissertations. Many graduate students have the use of their own laboratories’ computers but even so, the Graduate Computing Laboratory offers a centralized environment for preparing presentations and publishing reports.

Electronic and Optical Materials Processing Laboratory

The Electronic and Optical Materials Processing Laboratory provides novel amorphous, crystalline and thin film materials synthesis and processing facilities, including several high temperature furnaces (operating at temperatures up to 165O C), a ten-ton hot press for pressing powders up to temperatures of 2200X, sol-gel processing and spin coating equipment, routine laboratory equipment for powder mixing and size classification sieves, and casting equipment for shaping samples. Characterization equip-ment includes thermal analysis, cryostat for superconductivity evaluation, a Brookfield viscometer for viscosity measurements, and appa-ratus for measuring density and microstructure on an optical resolution scale. Sintering equipment for densifying electronic ceramics and optical materials is also available.

High-Temperature Mechanical Deformation Laboratories

The High-Temperature Mechanical Deformation Laboratories are equipped with a broad range of instruments for mechanical testing of materials. The primary systems include three, computer-controlled, servo-hydraulic testing machines equipped for the study of fatigue crack propagation and cyclic and monotonic deformation at ambient temperatures. In addition, one system is equipped with a very high temperature (l5OO C) vacuum furnace. These three instruments provide a very flexible testing capability, enhanced by advanced data acquisition and control techniques.

Superplastic deformation testing is done with three automated servo-hydraulic systems. All are modern MTS systems programmed for constant temperature and one or more constant true stain rates in a single test. One system is used for tensile testing at temperatures up to 1050C in air or inert atmospheres and the second is used for tensile testing under high vacuum at temperatures up to 1600 C. The third system is used to perform compression tests at temperatures up to 1200 C. Creep testing is done with a constant stress creep machine, a high-vacuum chamber and temperatures as high as 1250 C.

Materials Science Central Facilities

This Materials Science Central Facilities is a group of laboratories that supports a range of materials science teaching and research activities. The teaching laboratories serve many of our students throughout the year and they also host several outreach and summer programs. The research laboratories provide researchers with access to and support in using a number of advanced materials characterization instruments, including a high-resolution scanning electron microscope with EDS and EBSD analytical capabilities, a standard LaB6-based SEM which also has digital image acquisition and EDS capabilities, two transmission electron microscopes for materials and non-materials analyses and a computer-controlled x-ray powder diffractometer. These instruments and their users have the support of a well equipped laboratory for preparing metallographic, SEM and TEM specimens. In addition, the facility has an x-ray radiography system, an acoustic microscope, optical microscopes equipped with digital cameras, a thermal analysis laboratory which includes Perkin-Elmer’s DCS 7, TGA 7, DMA 7 and DTA 7 plus a computer laboratory which includes excellent document and image printing capabilities. The facility also offers access to the ICDD-PDF database and the ICSD inorganic crystal structure database. A more complete description of the instrumentation and the services this facility offers is described in the facility’s web site at www.matscicf.ucdavis.edu.

Macromolecular Chemical Reaction Engineering Laboratory

The Macromolecular Chemical Reaction Engineering Laboratory is equipped for studying the kinetics of polymer reactions. A variety of batch and flow reactors are available for use under a wide range of controlled temperatures and pressures, including high vacuum and supercritical fluid conditions. Reactions nvolving hazardous and/or volatile materials can be done inside an ample fume hood. Two HPLC/GPC systems (HP-1050 with UV and RI detectors, Waters-150C with RI) are used for molecular weight distribution measurements in organic or aqueous solution. A thermogravimetric apparatus (Perkin-Elmer TGA-7) for pyrolysis studies is available in the Department’s Thermal Analysis Lab. Also available in neighboring labs are apparatus for BET measurements, GC/MS and FTIR, and many other measurements.

Non-Destructive Testing and Failure Analysis Laboratory

Equipment in the Non-Destructive Testing and Failure Analysis Laboratory includes diagnostic devices for evaluating the fracture and failure of materials both from a structural and chemical perspective. Both crystalline and non-crystalline materials are studied. Structure sensitive measurements of the properties of materials are made in this laboratory using radiographic, gas transport, and other methods as probes of structure and analysis tools to investi-gate failure of materials. These measurements are non-destructive and are based on ultrasonic and diffraction methods as well as proton induced x-ray emission (PIXE) methods for chemical analysis.

Powder Processing and Mechanical Alloying Laboratory

The Powder Processing and Mechanical Alloying Laboratory contains state-of-the-art powder blending, mixing and size reduction equipment for processing ceramic, metallic, and composite powders, including a particle impact size reduction mill, a sonic sifter, a powder compaction press, and diamond saws. A mod-ern mechanical alloying laboratory is equipped with two Spex Mills for small samples and one Szegvari attritor mill for larger mechanically alloyed batches. Equipment for powder processing in vacuum, controlled and purified atmospheres is also available. A sophisticated metallographic microscope equipped with a microhardness indentor can be used to assist initial microstructural studies.

Process Monitoring and Control Laboratory

The Process Control and Monitoring Laboratory includes a pH control experiment with the Humusoft MATLAB Toolbox interface. The experiment is used extensively in nonlinear control design as well as trend analysis and process monitoring research. The Lab uses MATLAB software for program development and has several Pentium-based workstations for computations. Steady-state and dynamic process simulations are also carried out using the flowsheeting program HYSYS.

Rheology Testing Laboratory

The Rheology Testing Laboratory contains state-of-the-art facilities available for the measurement of the viscoelastic properties of liquids, gels and solids. Routine measurements of shear viscosity, normal force, and dynamic viscoelastic properties can be made using a Weissenberg rheogoniometer model R20 operating under computer control. A Haake RS-100 torque rheometer for creep and yield stress determination has recently been acquired. A modified model R17 rheogoniometer for following rapid transients during stress growth and relaxation experiments is available.

Instrumentation for measurements of linear and nonlinear acoustics phenomena and a falling sphere rheometer for precision measurements in opaque and transparent materials are used to study liquids and suspensions. A magnetic microsphere rheometer is used to characterize biological samples with small sample volume limitations. Particle characterization and fabrication equipment is available. The manufacturing of advanced composites, with particular emphasis on fiber resin compatibility, is studied using a Cahn electrobalance.