Instrumentation

Facilities, Equipment, and Other Resources

Department Facilities

The Department of Chemistry occupies over 40,000 square feet of space in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Building, including offices, research and teaching laboratories. Approximately 16,000 sq ft are dedicated to research laboratories on the 4th through 7th floors. All laboratories are equipped with fume hoods, safety equipment, chemical storage cabinets, and glassware and equipment required for research.

Major Equipment (Department):

The Chemistry Department maintains a range of modern analytical instrumentation for research and teaching. A Bruker Miroflex MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer was recently purchased with NSF-CRIF funds, and is available for department use.

The department also maintains a 400 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, a Shimadzu 5050A gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer, and a Thermo-Finnigan LCQ Advantage Liquid Chromatograph/Mass spectrometer.

Several optical spectrometers are available for general department research use including a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, UV-Vis and fluorescence spectrophotometers, an atomic absorption spectrometer (with graphite furnace), and a polarimeter. Also available are gas, liquid, and ion chromatographs with a variety of detectors.

Specialized equipment includes a laser Raman spectrometer, a supercritical fluid extraction system, and a single crystal Enraf-Nonius CADA X-ray diffractometer. Instrumentation designed for the on-line analysis of process streams includes Fourier transform near-infrared and infrared spectrometers, flow injection analyzers, process gas chromatographs, and an electro-analysis system.

Polymer analyses include gel permeation chromatography (with a light scattering detector), thermal analysis, and electron microscopy (with atomic force module).

Dr. Mazzoleni’s Research Laboratory in the Department of Chemistry includes:

  • Ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatograph (Thermo Accela)
  • Electrospray ionization ion trap mass spectrometer (Thermo LCQ Fleet MS)
  • Corona charged aerosol universal LC detector (ESA Biosciences)
  • Dionex Ion Chromatography System for dual analysis of cations (Model 1100 for isocratic elution) and anions (Model 2100 with online reagent generation for gradient elution)
  • A custom 20-L aerosol flow tube with aerosol condensation particle generator, O3 generator, O3 detector, syringe pumps, mass flow controllers, and denuders for vapor capture
  • Particle-into-Liquid Samper with pumps, denuders, and accessories.
  • Semi-continuous OC/EC analyzer (Sunset)
  • Laboratory computers dedicated to MS research
  • Specialized software for advanced data analysis of ultrahigh resolution electrospray ionization FT-ICR MS data
  • 600 sq feet wet laboratory space with chemical hoods for sample preparation
  • Flammable storage for chemicals
  • Dedicated desk space with computers for 3 graduate students and additional desk space for undergraduate students and research interns.