The Facilities for Materials Characterization (FMC) are a diverse set of materials characterization equipment operated by the Clean Technologies Research Institute at Dalhousie University. The FMC equipment can be used on a fee-for-service basis by researchers from academic, industry and government laboratories.

Keywords:

IRM, SEM, PPMS, FIB, FT Raman, XPS, DSC, Hot Press, Grindosonic, mictoscope, materials, institute

• Astronomy and Physics
• Biomedical
• Chemistry and Biochemistry
• Engineering - Agricultural, Forest, Environmental, Mining, Mineral
• Engineering - Civil, Structural
• Engineering - Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical

• Biomedical
• Clean Technology
• Energy (Renewable and Fossil)
• Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Equipment
• Manufacturing and Processing
• Mining, Minerals and Metals

The GrindoSonic is a system for measuring the elastic properties of a wide range of materials. Additional information.

Camera displays live image while recording. Additional information.

• Frame rate: 10,000 fps 
• Resolution: – 512 x 480 at 250 fps – 256 x 120 at 2,000 fps – 128 x 34 at 10,000 fps 
• PCI board with full 512 MB memory of 512MB to store up to 2176 full frames at full resolution. This is equal to 8.7 seconds of record time at 250 fps. 
  

High temperature press for materials synthesis. Additional information.

The Differential Scanning Calorimeter measures temperatures and heat flows associated with thermal transitions in a material. It can be used for investigation, comparison, selection and end-use performance evaluation of materials. Additional information.

XPS is used in the surface analysis of materials. It measures the electronic states in a solid by irradiating a specimen with monochromatic x-ray radiation and analyzing the emitted photoelectrons. The information XPS provides about surface layers or thin film structures is of value in many industrial applications. Additional Information

Raman spectroscopy has applications in: 

• Materials science 
• Composition analysis
• Vibrational spectroscopy
• Phase transitions 
• Pharmaceuticals 
• Polymorphs
• Crystallinity
• Phase transitions 
• Geology/mineralogy 
• Gemstone ID
• Phase transitions 
• Petrochemistry 
• Polymer characterization 
• Semiconductors 
• Purity
• Doping effects 

And many more including arts, archeology, nuclear science, biological science Additional Information.

Used for materials preparation and microsampling, the FIB uses gallium ions to mill away material from a sample in a highly controlled fashion. Additional Information.

Fully-automated variable temperature and magnetic field system with multiple measurement applications: 

• Thermal transport and heat capacity 
• DC magnetometry and AC susceptibility 
• Electro-transport  

Additional Information

The Scanning Electron Microscope can yield detailed surface information, from 30x to 500,000x magnification. Analytical software for Energy Dispersive X-Rays analyses the energy released from the material due to the impact of the electron beam. Elements as light as Boron can be detected. Electron Backscatter Diffraction can provide information on crystal orientation, texture, phase, grain statistics and strain conditions. Additional Information.

Simultaneous thermal imaging and Atomic force microscopy Additional Information.