Anton Paar™ Quantachrome autosorbIQ automated gas sorption analyzer for measurement of chemisorption (hydrogen, methane, other reactive gases) and physisorption (nitrogen) processes.  The physisorption mode allows acquisition of data to determine surface area (via BET analysis of the isotherm), average pore size (via BJH or DFT isotherm models), and pore volume (via BJH or DFT isotherm models) on non-porous, mesoporous, and microporous materials. Featuring an extended range physisorption and chemisorption pressure transducer, system is capable of determining specific surface areas below 0.01 m²/g, active areas, pore volumes, and pore size distributions down to 0.35 nm in solid porous samples. Unit has 4 degas and 3 analysis ports for physisorption measurements on multiple samples simultaneously. Note sample degas and isotherm acquisition can require several hours of instrument time per run.  Mesopore samples usually require ~4hrs total; micropore samples generally require longer degas times and so can require up to 18h of analysis time. The mass of sample needed for analysis depends on its surface area; recommended total surface area for a surface area measurement is 2 m² and for a pore size measurement it is 10 m².  So for example if your sample has a specific surface area of 200 m²/g, it will require ~50 mg of material for a good analysis. The facility also maintains the older and slower Micromeritics™ ASAP 2020 gas adsorption/surface area measurement apparatus.

Goniometer (ramé-hart™ Model 200) for measuring contact angle, surface tension, and surface energy on flat surfaces. Includes a manual Tilting Base for measuring advancing and receding contact angles. Also includes an environmental fixture for measuring liquid/liquid interactions; the fixture is primarily used for captive bubble analysis of hydrogels in solution with air drops released from an inverted needle.

Goniometer rame-hart Model 200 for measuring contact angle, surface tension, and surface energy on flat surfaces. Includes a manual Tilting Base for measuring contact angles. Also includes environmental fixture, for measuring liquid/liquid interactions; the fixture is primarily used for captive bubble analysis of hydrogels in solution with air drops released from an inverted needle.

Wyatt Instruments DynaPro^® Plate Reader III measures DLS and SLS in a plate reader format, allowing rapid measurement of nanoparticle size of up to 386 samples in a single run. Measures average nanoparticle size and number density, aggregate size distributions, changes in solution molecular weight, thermal stability, colloidal stability, and viscosity. Variable temperature-capable.

Wyatt Instruments DynaPro® Plate Reader III measures DLS and SLS in a plate reader format, allowing rapid measurement of nanoparticle size of up to 1536 samples in a single run. Measures average nanoparticle size and number density, aggregate size distributions, changes in solution molecular weight, thermal stability, colloidal stability, and viscosity. Variable temperature-capable. Particle concentration and static light scattering available as well.

Malvern Instruments™ Zetasizer Nano™ for determination of nanoparticle size and charge. Features Multi Purpose Titrator for zeta potential measurements.

Malvern Instruments™ Zetasizer Nano™ for determination of nanoparticle size and charge. Features Multi Purpose Titrator for zeta potential measurements.

Keithley™ 2460 Sourcemeter, with computer interface. For voltage or current-controlled electrochemical processing of materials. Can be used to fabricate photonic crystals, Bragg stacks, microcavities, Fabry-Perot layers, microparticles, nanoparticles, and quantum dots from single-crystal silicon wafers.

For voltage or current-controlled electrochemical processing of materials. Can be used to fabricate photonic crystals, Bragg stacks, microcavities, Fabry-Perot layers, microparticles, nanoparticles, and quantum dots from single-crystal silicon wafers.

Nikon Eclipse LV-150?dark-field microscope coupled with a photometrics CCD camera for steady-state fluorescence imaging.

Nikon Eclipse LV-150 dark-field microscope coupled with a photometrics CCD camera for steady-state fluorescence imaging.

Keithley DMM 7510 multimeter, pneumatically actuated probe station, and micrometer thickness gauge for wafer resistivity measurements.

Keithley DMM 7510 multimeter, pneumatically actuated probe station, and micrometer thickness gauge for wafer resistivity measurements.

Nicolet™ iS50 and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, fitted with Smart-iTR™ diamond Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) attachment for ATR measurements; instrument can also be configured for transmission mode measurements, with a variety of gas, liquid, and solid sample cells available.

Nicolet iS50 FTIR spectrometer, fitted with Smart-iTR diamond Attenuated Total Reflectance for ATR measurements; instrument can also be configured for transmission mode measurements.

Shimadsu™ LC-2050 GPC with Wyatt Instruments™ MALS light scattering, OptiLab differential refractive index detectors. Columns for aqueous media (for protein separations), or organic media (for polymer characterization) available.

GPC comprised of Shimadsu LC-2050 HPLC, Wyatt miniDawn MALS and Wyatt OptiLab Differential Refractometer. Used to determine molecular weight of polymers, to determine protein size or to identify fragmentation of proteins. Columns for aqueous media (for protein separations), or organic media (for polymer characterization) available.

Thermo Scientific Dionex UltiMate 3000 UHPLC. Pressures up to 620 bar (9,000 psi) at flow rates of up to 10 mL/min, detector data collection rates up to 100 Hz, and injection cycle times as low as 15 s, supports conventional LC and UHPLC applications.

Thermo Scientific Dionex UltiMate 3000 UHPLC. Pressures up to 620 bar (9,000 psi) at flow rates of up to 10 mL/min, detector data collection rates up to 100 Hz, and injection cycle times as low as 15 s, supports conventional LC and UHPLC applications.

Molecular Devices SpectraMax? iD5 Multi-Mode Microplate Reader measures absorbance, fluorescence, and luminescence. The iD5 also measures TRF and FP.

Molecular Devices SpectraMax iD5 Multi-Mode Microplate Reader measures absorbance, and luminescence. The iD5 also measures TRF and FP.

For heating of larger samples up to 1000?C in air. Typically used for atmospheric oxidation of samples.

For heating of larger samples up to 1000C in air. Typically used for atmospheric oxidation of samples.

Thermo Scientific Nano-Drop 2000 for quantifying protein, DNA, RNA, and small molecule concentrations.

Thermo Scientific Nano-Drop 2000 for quantifying protein, DNA, RNA, and small molecule concentrations with 1-2 uL sample size.

Biolin Scientific QSense Explorer for real-time analysis of surface-molecule interactions, thickness (or mass), viscosity, shear modulus and the frequency dependence of the viscosity and shear modulus. Kinetics, slope, rise time.

Biolin Scientific™ QSense Explorer™ for real-time analysis of surface-molecule interactions, thickness (or mass), viscosity, shear modulus and the frequency dependence of the viscosity and shear modulus. Kinetics, slope, rise time. Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Monitoring (QCM-D) technology

Quantaurus-QY™ C11347 for absolute photoluminescence quantum yields and excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectra from solid or liquid samples

Quantaurus-QY C11347 for absolute photoluminescence quantum yields and excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectra from solid or liquid samples.

Renishaw™ inVia™ upright microscope with x-y mapping stage. 532nm and 785nm laser sources. Due to heavy usage, the Facility has two of these instruments available for use, one in Pacific Hall and the other in the Structural and Materials Engineering (SME) building.

Renishaw™ inVia™ upright microscope with x-y mapping stage. 532nm and 785nm laser sources. Due to heavy usage, the Facility has two of these instruments available for use, one in Pacific Hall and the other in the Structural and Materials Engineering (SME) building.

TA Instruments™ Discovery™ HR-30 Hybrid Rheometer. For characterizing a wide range of rheologic and viscoelastic properties of soft and solid materials: elastic modulus, viscous modulus, shear modulus, storage modulus, loss modulus, dynamic mechanical analysis, etc.

TA Instruments™ Discovery™ HR-30 Hybrid Rheometer. For characterizing a wide range of rheologic and viscoelastic properties of soft and solid materials: elastic modulus, viscous modulus, shear modulus, storage modulus, loss modulus, dynamic mechanical analysis, etc.

TA Instruments™ Discovery SDT 650™ simultaneous DSC/TGA. An MKS Cirrus 3 mass spectral analyzer is attached, allowing measurement of evolved gases up to 300 amu. Equipped with autosampler robot to load up to 30 samples. Can use Nitrogen, Oxygen, or Argon, or a mixture of available purge gases.

TA Instruments™ Discovery SDT 650™ simultaneous DSC/TGA. An MKS Cirrus 3 mass spectral analyzer is attached, allowing measurement of evolved gases up to 300 amu. Equipped with autosampler robot to load up to 30 samples. Can use nitrogen, argon, oxygen ambients. There is an additional charge for sample pans.

Phenom G6 Pro SEM from nanoScience Instruments™ (Thermo Fisher™) with a cesium hexaboride source. This benchtop instrument is for users who do not need the very high resolution of the state-of-the-art SEM and TEM instruments available at the UCSD Nano-3 facility. Situated between confocal optical microscopy and these high-end electron microscopes in terms of resolution, the instrument provides a user-friendly entry point for persons not familiar with electron microscopy.  Back-scattered detection (BSD), secondary electron detection (SED), or mixed detection are available. Magnification range of 160-350,000x. A single-stub stage supports sample sizes up to 25mm x 35 mm. Sample introduction is very rapid: 18 seconds between initial pump-down and image acquisition. A sample charging reduction stage is available (BSD mode) for samples that cannot be sputter coated.  A Luxor Sputter Coater is also available, for inverted coating (argon atmosphere) of up to 7 sample stubs with platinum layers of thickness 1-100nm to reduce charging in the electron beam. Can be used for sample drying as well. 

Laurell Model WS-400B-6NPP/LITE spin-coater for depositing thin films onto flat surfaces up to 6 inches (150mm) diameter.

Laurell Model WS-400B-6NPP/LITE spin-coater for depositing thin films onto flat surfaces up to 6 inches (150mm) diameter.

Lindberg/Blue Mini-Mite model TF55035A. For heating of samples up to 1100?C under a controlled atmosphere (air, nitrogen, argon, forming gas).

Lindberg/Blue Mini-Mite model TF55035A. For heating of samples up to 1100C under a controlled atmosphere (air, nitrogen, argon, forming gas).

Bioforce ProCleaner Plus UV ozone cleaner for surface oxidation and removal of organic contaminants from inert surfaces. Coverage area is 4? x 5? (100mm x 125mm)

Bioforce ProCleaner Plus UV ozone cleaner for surface oxidation and removal of organic contaminants from inert surfaces. Coverage area is 4" x 5" (100mm x 125mm)

Fisher Scientific Isotemp model 280A. For heating of samples up to 300?C under reduced pressure. Vacuum typically 200 mTorr.

Fisher Scientific Isotemp model 280A. For heating of samples up to 300C under reduced pressure. Vacuum typically 200 mTorr.

Epsilon 1 XRF from Malvern Panalytical for elemental composition analysis of trace (ppm to ppb), major, and minor elements from sodium to americium. More quantitative than the energy dispersive x-ray spectrometers.

Epsilon 1™ XRF from Malvern Panalytical™ provides elemental composition analysis of elements from sodium to americium, with sensitivity in the ppm to ppb range. Can analyze both liquid and solid samples, powders, and samples contained in plastic or glass containers.