Research Facilities
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry research facilities are concentrated in the Boggs Building, the Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (opened in 1999), and the Ford Environmental Science and Technology Building (opened in 2002). In the near future, additional facilities will be housed in the Molecular and Materials Science and Engineering Building (currently under construction). Research laboratories contain a vast array of state–of–the–art instrumentation, including scanning probe microscopes, high–field NMR spectrometers (solution, solid state, and imaging), X–ray diffractometers (large molecule, small molecule, and powder), an ultra–fast laser spectroscopy facility, and mass spectrometers (electrospray, quadrupole, sector MS interfaced to gas and liquid chromatography, MS/MS and ICP/MS, TOF, and MALDI).
Facilities for biochemistry include equipment for prokaryotic and eukaryotic protein overproduction, protein and DNA sequencing, peptide and DNA synthesis, scintillation counting, ultracentrifugation, and gel and capillary electrophoresis.
For analysis of materials, thermal analysis equipment (TGA, DSC) is located within Boggs, while electron microscopes (SEM, TEM), surface analysis equipment (ESCA), and equipment for mechanical analysis (instron, DMA) are readily accessed in adjacent buildings. In addition, several groups make use of synchrotron X–ray and nuclear scattering facilities located at Brookhaven, Argonne, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories. Three–dimensional, micro– and nanofabrication equipment includes two dual–beam FIB/SEM instruments comprising the Focused Ion Beam Service Center.
For analysis of macromolecular and nanoparticulate materials, a wide range of light scattering tools are available, including multiangle static light scattering and dynamic light scattering. For separation of components prior to analysis, these instruments can be interfaced with gel permeation chromatography and/or asymmetric field flow fractionation.
Other instrumentation within the Boggs Building includes a complete range of electrochemical equipment and spectrometers (FT–IR, NIR, UV/vis, CD/ORD, MCD, AA, ESR, and fluorimeters). Essentially any chromatographic purification or characterization can be accomplished by techniques such as HPLC, FPLC, GPC, GC, ion chromatography, and centrifugal partition chromatography.
Computational facilities include a seventy–two–processor IBM SP2 supercomputer, a fifty–eight–processor IBM Linux cluster, and many single–user workstations. Offices, laboratories, and classrooms have fast Internet access to a variety of other facilities.