Research facilities and resources
Analytical equipment
Our College Analytical Suite is a virtual grouping of analytical equipment to support and enable research across the College of Science and Engineering. The initial investment was through core equipment funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Costs apply to access equipment that is part of the suite. To arrange to use the equipment, or discuss including equipment access in your funding application, email scieng-analytical-suite@glasgow.ac.uk You can also discuss this with your Project Coordinator.
The initial EPSRC investment has been used to purchase the equipment listed below:
Circular Dichroism spectrometer
Applied Photophysics Chirascan VX
Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy is a technique used to characterise chiral materials by measuring the differential absorption of left-handed and right-handed circularly polarised light. A monochromator produces horizontal linearly polarised light and a photoelastic modulator converts it to circularly polarised light, alternating between left- and right-handed. Notably it can provide structural information on biomolecules, such as secondary and tertiary structure of proteins, as well as conformational analysis of peptides and peptidomimetics.
Chirascan VX features:
- Wavelength range from 160 nm up to 950 nm. Typically, owing to variation of CD amplitude with wavelength, narrower ranges are used such as far-UV (ca. 160-250nm) for protein secondary structure and near-UV (250-350nm) for tertiary structure.
- Peltier temperature controller to maintain sample/sample chamber at constant temperature.
- Can also perform continuous or stepped temperature ramps with single wavelength or multiple wavelength scans to determine thermodynamic properties.
- Range of measurement cells – 10 mm stoppered cuvette and 0.5 mm stoppered cuvette with 10 mm adaptor are currently available. Cuvettes down to 0.01 mm path length can be fitted – an adaptor for thinner cuvettes is already available but the cuvettes themselves must be ordered.
ICP-OES (Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy)
Agilent 5900 ICP-OES
Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) allows the user to experimentally determine the concentration of known elements within a solution, by comparison to standard solutions of known concentration for each desired element.
Samples must be prepared as a liquid so that they can be aerosolised into the plasma torch chamber. Digestion in nitric acid is recommended for samples containing solids. Ideally samples should have concentrations in the range 1-100 ppm.
The following elements can be detected using the ICP-OES:
Al, As, Ag, Au, Ba, Be, Bi, B, Cd, Ca, Ce, Cs, Cr, Co, Cu, Dy, Eu, Fe, Gd, Ga, Ge, Hf, Hg, Ho, In, Ir, K, La, Li, Lu, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Nd, Ni, Nb, Os, Pd, P, Pt, Pr Pb, Re, Rh, Rb, Ru, Sb, Sm, Sn, Sc, Se, Si, Sr, S, Ta, Te, Tb, Tl, Th, Tm, Ti, W, U , V, Yb, Y, Zn, Zr
Agilent 5900 features:
- Single element standards are available for Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ca, K, Mg, Na, and V. All are at a concentration of 1000 mg/L in 5% HNO3.
- There is a mixed wavelength calibration standard containing 5 mg/L Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, Sr, Zn and 50 mg/L K in 5% HNO3. However, it is recommended to purchase a single element standard for an element not currently available that will be used frequently.
- Sampling procedure being used can be saved as a template, if needing to collect similar data at a later date.
- Simultaneous measurement of both trace elements in an axial view and more abundant elements in a radial view.
- Autosampler, can hold up to 272 tubes for blanks, standards and samples.
Nepholometer
BMG Labtech NEPHELOstar Plus
Analytical instrument to determine compound solubility in liquid samples by measuring forward scattered light.
Applications include:
- drug solubility determination
- flocculation assays
- bacterial and fungal growth kinetics.
Email analytical-suite@glasgow.ac.uk for online training.
Raman spectrometer
This is a non-destructive chemical analysis technique which provides detailed information about chemical structure, phase and polymorphy, crystallinity and molecular interactions. It is based upon the interaction of light with the chemical bonds within a material.
LabRAM HR system, manufactured by Horiba Jobin Yvon, equipped with the following lasers:
- Ventus 532 laser system, 250mW, 532nm
- Helium Cadmium IK3201R-F, 20mW, 325nm
It uses a Synapse CCD detection system, and has the following objectives:
- 40x for UV; 10x, 50x and 100x for visible
A Linkam TS 1000 High Temperature Stage is also available.
Thermal analysis
A series of techniques that measure material properties as a function of temperature, time and atmosphere.
DSC (Differential scanning calorimetry) measures transition temperatures and heat flow.
TGA (Thermogravimetric analysis) measures weight change.
Information provided includes:
- melting point
- glass transition
- oxidizing stability
- thermal stability
- purity
- crystallinity.
Thermal analysis equipment available is listed below:
Joseph Black Building B2-25 (Research Analysis Suite)
- TA Instruments TGA 5500; temperature range ambient to 1200°C
- TA Instruments DSC 25 with RCS90 refrigerated cooling system; temperature range -90-725°C
- Gas atmospheres available: Nitrogen and Air
Joseph Black Building A4-24
- TA Instruments SDT Q600; temperature range ambient to 1200°C
- Gas atmospheres available: Argon, O2 mix, H2 mix
For further details on instrument capabilities, access and training, contact Mr Andrew Monaghan (Room no: B2-25).
Small equipment
As part of an EPSRC grant, the following equipment is available for use by Early Career Researchers. Contact the relevant staff member to request use of an item listed below.
School of Chemistry
Contact | Equipment | Description |
---|---|---|
Dr David France | HPLC Columns | Chiral columns for enantiomer separation (normal phase) |
Dr David France | Analytics HPLC | Analytical scale (<1 mg) high-performance liquid chromatography instrument |
Dr David France | Rotary evaporator | Controlled variable vacuum, temp, speed, rotary evaporator for precise solvent removal |
Dr Haralampos N Moiras | High pressure Autoclave | 25mL stainless steel autoclaves for hydrothermal synthesis |
Dr Haralampos N Moiras | Ball mill apparatus | The Mixer Mill MM 200 is also used for efficient size reduction and homogenization of 2 samples simultaneously. This mill is highly suitable for grinding dry samples in small quantities |
Dr Mark Symes | Sonicator | Medium and high power ultrasonifier for dispersion and synthesis |
Dr Mark Symes | Glove box | Enclosure maintaining inert atmospheres for chemical storage and synthesis |
Dr Ross Forgan | Programmable oven | A synthetic oven which allows fine control and ramping of temperature over 99 programmable steps with a maximum temperature of 250 |
School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
Contact | Equipment | Description |
---|---|---|
Dr Nicholas A Kamenos | Underwater fluorometer | Used to quantify photosynthetic fluorescence underwater |
Dr Nicholas A Kamenos | Benthic chamber | Used to quantify gas and fluid exchange across marine sediments |
Dr Nicholas A Kamenos | Oxygen sensor | Used to quantify oxygen exchange across marine water and sediments remotely |
Dr Nicholas A Kamenos | FLIR T335 30Hx Thermal Camera | Used in work that will extend Geometric feature Characterisation to radiometric and thermal-radiometric data sets. |
Dr Nicholas A Kamenos | Survey-grade GPS receiver /rover system Survey-grade |
Used principally for ground reference control on my high resolution imaging work, feeding in to my extending Geometric feature Characterisation to radiometric characterisation |
James Watt School of Engineering
Contact | Equipment | Description |
---|---|---|
Dr Alasdair Clark | Spatial Light Modulator | Boulder Non-linear XY 512 Ferroelectric SLM |
Dr Alasdair Clark | Electronic control unit | |
Dr Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay | Solid Phase Extraction | |
Dr Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay | Solid Phase MicroExtraction | |
Dr Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay | Centrifuge | |
Dr Christopher Quince | Thermal conductivity detector (TCD) for gas chromatography | |
Dr Christopher Quince | Gas exchange manifold | |
Dr Christopher Quince | Temperature controlled microplate | |
Dr Helen Mulvana | Fibre optic hydrophone (Precision Acoustics Ltd) | Frequency range: 250 kHz – 50 MHz Dynamic range: 10 kPa – 15 MPa |
Dr Helen Mulvana | Hydrophone fibres (Precision Acoustics Ltd) | A variety of replacement fibres for the hydrophone |
Dr Helen Mulvana | DSO-X 3014A Oscilloscope (Agilent) | 100 MHz, 4 GSa/s |
Dr Manlio Tassieri | National Instruments | Part of a new magnetic tweezers tool designed for the handling of biological samples |
Dr Manlio Tassieri | Caltest | Part of a new magnetic tweezers tool designed for the handling of biological samples |
Dr Manlio Tassieri | Photon Lines | Part of a new magnetic tweezers tool designed for the handling of biological samples |
Dr Patrick G Harkness | i-SPEED 2 MONO High-Speed Camera | |
Dr Steven L Neale | Motorised Stage | PRIOR H101BX PROSCAN III motorised stage for an Olympus BX51 microscope. Altough the item cannot be moved from his current installation with the microspope, anyone interested to use this setup can access it in my lab. |
Dr Steven L Neale | High Speed Imaging | Orca flash 4, high speed USB camera, 100fps at 4M pixels |
Dr Steven L Neale | Florescence Accessories | New body, light source and filters to upgrade an Olympus BX51 microscope for fluorescence imaging. Altough the item cannot be moved from his current installation with the microspope, anyone interested to use this setup can access it in my lab. |
Dr Xue Jin | Solvent-resistant Stirred Cells | Can be used for concentration, separation, recovery of valuable solids from water |
Dr Xue Jin | Dispensing Pressure Vessel | Dispensing pressure vessels hold liquid for filtration through pressure-operated filter holders (e.g., Solvent-resistant Stirred Cells). |
Dr Xue Jin | Variable speed pumps | Peristaltic pump allows variable speed control for up to 36 ml/min volume flow rate |
Professor Zhibin Yu | Customised linear alternator | This product can be used as either a linear alternator to convert pressure wave to electricity, or a linear compressor to produce high amplitude pressure wave by consuming electrical power. It can also be used to create high amplitude oscillatory flow conditions. |
Professor Zhibin Yu | Lock-in amplifier | It can recover signals in the presence of an overwhelming noise background or, alternatively, it can provide high resolution measurements of relatively clean signals over several orders of magnitude and frequency. It can also function as AC Signal Recovery Instrument, Vector Voltmeter, Spectrum Analyzer or Noise Measurement Unit. |
Professor Zhibin Yu | Laser displacement sensor | This is a high-speed, high-accuracy CCD laser displacement sensor. In a non-contact way, it can accurately measure thickness, surface roughness, vibration, or position of object with a resolution of one micro. |
School of Physics and Astronomy
Contact | Equipment | Description |
---|---|---|
Dr Donald MacLaren | Clamshell TEM sample chamber | Use of the clamshell is possible as part of access to transmission electron microscopy facilities. |
Dr Donald MacLaren | Mass flow controller | The MFC is part of a pulsed laser deposition system that is ideal for deposition of complex oxide thin films. |
Dr Daria Sokhan | Pilas Digital Controller | Laser controller for laser pulses of 15 - 50 ps in width, with a repetition rate from single shot to 125 MHz, operating from either an external or an internal trigger. |
Dr Daria Sokhan | Pilas head 405nm | Laser head of 405nm wavelength to be operated with the PiLas digital controller. Peak power up to 1000 mW |
Dr Iain Martin | USB Spectrometer | Visible / near infra-red spectrometer |
Dr Iain Martin | Laser | 1W, 532 nm laser |
Dr Iain Martin | Optical absorption measurement system | Photo-thermal common path interferometer for measuring optical absorption in bulk samples, surfaces and thin films, currently at 1550 nm, but soon at a range of wavelengths between 1064nm and 1900 nm |
Dr Iain Martin | Motorised Stage | For 3D translation of samples (to 50 micron precision) |
Dr Jonathan Taylor | 488nm laser system | 30mW class 3b laser with collimated fibre output |
Dr Jonathan Taylor | 4-axis translation stages | Motorized linear actuators for automated control of translation stages and other optomechanics |
Early Career Researchers - funded equipment
The College of Science and Engineering at the University of Glasgow was awarded a £275k grant to support capital equipment purchases for early career researchers.
Equipment funded included:
- Electron bi-prism for electron holography (Dr Trevor Almeida – School of Physics & Astronomy, £49,915.20)
- Flexible time-resolved photon detection system (Dr Gordon Hedley – School of Chemistry, £45,000)
- Alicona InfiniteFocus G4 3D surface profilometer (Dr Daniel Mulvihill and Dr Angela Busse – James Watt School of Engineering, £49,200)
- Horiba Duetta-Bio combined fluorescence and absorbance spectrometer (Dr Will Peveler and Dr Drew Thomson – School of Chemistry, £39,958.80)
- Temperature-controlled probe station for on-wafer measurements (Dr Chong Li and Dr Matteo Clerici – James Watt School of Engineering, £36,182.40)
- Customised MR coil for high resolution imaging rabbit heart (Dr Hao Gao – School of Mathematics & Statistics, £23,009.70)
- Portable robotic lab (Dr Gerardo Aragon-Camarasa and Dr Laia Vila Nadal – Schools of Computing Science and Chemistry, £30,850.80)