CURIE Undergrad Lab

CURIE Undergrad Lab

The Core Undergraduate Research Instrument (CURIE) Laboratory provides state of the art research instrumentation for undergraduate education. The instruments listed below are used in upper level analytical, physical, and inorganic chemistry labs. This instrumentation also supports the department's research mission, as it is generally available to the entire department when not being used for instruction.

Agilent 1200 Series HPLC-MS

This HPLC instrument is paired with a 6120 series quadrupole ESI MS. The system is equipped with a high-capacity sample changer and a multiple wavelength detector, and several columns are available for use. The MS is suitable for both small molecule analysis as well as protein/DNA spectra and can run in both positive and negative ion mode.

Horiba Fluoromax 4 Spectrofluorometer

The Fluoromax 4 is equipped to record fluorescence measurements on nanoparticle, proteins, and other fluorophores. It can measure standard fluorescence spectra as well as steady state fluorescence anisotropy. It is equipped with motorized polarizers as well as a two-cell carousel, aiding in automated fluorescence measurements.

Micromeritic TriStar II Plus Automatic Physisorption Analyzer

The newest addition to the CURIE lab, this system is designed for high-performance, high-throughput analysis of physical adsorption. It has three stations and is capable of determining specific surface area and pore size distributions from 17 to 5000 Å.

RRA Autopol IV Automatic Polarimeter

The Rudolph Research Analytical can measure the optical rotation of a substance at ambient temperature. Multiple path lengths are available, although this instrument is only equipped for measuring one wavelength (589 nm).

Shimadzu AA-7000 Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer

Atomic Absorption is used to measure concentrations of elements in aqueous solutions. This system is capable of measuring a variety of elements, including iron, silver, gold, and zinc.

Shimadzu UV-2550 UV-Vis Spectrophotometer

This UV-Vis instrument is equipped with a six-sample changer with temperature control, allowing measurement of multiple samples at various temperatures.  It can be used for routine concentration measurements as well as kinetics experiments. The monochromater has a wavelength range of 190-900 nm with an accuracy of 0.3 nm.

Shimadzu QP-2010S GC-MS

The GC-MS is used to separate mixtures of compounds based on their polarity and then to analyze the components by mass spectrometry. This instrument is equipped with an electron ionization (EI) source and can detect a mass range of 10-900 m/z. 

TA Instruments Q20 Differential Scanning Calorimeter

The Q2O DSC is able to measure transition temperature and enthalpies for the phase changes of a variety of materials. This instrument is useful for characterizing the properties of novel polymer-based materials, and it can operate from ambient temperature to 600 °C.

TA Instruments Q50 Thermogravimetric Analyzer

The TGA is used to measure the properties of a material or compound based on increasing temperature. The mass of the compound can increase or decrease depending due to oxidation, decomposition, or some other process. This instrument can heat samples under atmospheric or inert conditions at temperatures up to 1,000 °C.

Thermo Scientific Nicolet 6700 FT-IR

The FT-IR is used for measuring the infrared spectroscopy of pure solids or liquids over a range of 400-4,000 wavenumbers (cm-1). This instrument is equiped with the ability to record data in attenuated total reflectance (ATR) and diffuse reflectance (DRIFT) modes.