Instrumentation

Materials Research is an interdisciplinary subject bringing many traditional sciences together with engineering, in the investigation of the relationships between and among the structure and properties of materials, and how these related to materials processing and performance. MMC is a multi-user, shared instrumentation facilities for materials research and characterization. It regroups various laboratories:

MMC-Analytical Laboratories

Agilent MP-AES Microwave Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy

• Simultaneous multi-analyte determination of major and minor elements. (ppm/ppb level)
• Samples must be in solution and free from particulates.

Micromeritics TriStar 3000 Surface area and porosity analyzer

• BET analysis of up to 3 samples at the time
• Porosity

Bio Tek Synergy H1 Hybrid Multi-Mode Microplate Reader

• Hybrid multi-mode microplate reader with the following detection modes:
• Fluorescence (250-700 nm),
• Luminescence (300-700 nm)
• UV-visible absorbance (230-999 nm)

Microtrac Flow Sync wet laser diffraction

• size distribution of particles and particle’s shape data in a liquid medium
• Size range from 0.020 to 2000 microns

Malvern Zetasizer Nano ZS

• Ability to measure three fundamental characteristics of particles or molecules in a liquid medium
• Particle size (0.3nm-10 microns)
• Zeta potential
• Molecular weight

Easypure RF Compact ultrapure and MicroPure water system

• Produces ultrapure water (deionized water)

Perkin Elmer Lamda 20 UV/Vis Spectrometer

Dionex DX-00 Ion Chromatography

MMC-Materials Laboratories

Cutting tools (Horizontal and vertical band saws, abrasive cutter, slow cutter) Metallographic preparation equipment (mounting, grinding and polishing, automatic polishing) Heat treatment, furnaces (1100°C, 1200°C, 1700°C) Hardness testing (Vickers, Knoop, Rockwell, Brinell, Microhardness) Mechanical testing (Charpy, tensile, three points, four points bending, etc.) Rolling mill

MMC-Characterization Laboratory

Stereo zoom microscope-Olympus SZ40

• 067x-4x
• Sony color video camera
• Clemex Vision image acquisition and analysis software

Inverted metallurgical optical microscope-Nikon Epiphot 200

• 25x-1000x
• Automatic stage
• Clemex Vision image acquisition and analysis software

Digital microscope Keyence VHX500

• Characterization tool exceeding the limits of optical observation (high camera frame rate, fully focused image)
• 20x-2000x, 3D observation, 2D and 3D measurement tools and stitching capabilities (Mosaic), large depth of field and 360° free-angle observation
• Various lighting
• Quantitative metallography and Image analysis

Bruker D8 Discovery X-Ray Diffractometer (Cobalt source

High-tech, non-destructive technique for analyzing a wide range of materials, including fluids, metals, minerals, polymers, catalysts, plastics, pharmaceuticals, thin-film coatings, ceramics, bio-materials, and semiconductors Use of radiation from a Co-tube for texture and residual stress investigations Typical XRD diffraction analyses

MMC-Electron Microscopy Laboratories

Hitachi Tabletop microscope TM4000

• Backscattered electron
• Magnifications : x10-x100,000(Photographic magnification) x25-x250,000(Monitor display magnification)
• Vacuum mode: BSE standard and charge-up reduction
• Accelerating voltage: 5kV,10kV and 15kV

Hitachi SU-3500 Variable Pressure -SEM

Resolution SE: 3nm at 30kV (high vacuum mode), 7nm at 3kV (high vacuum mode) Ultra variable pressure, BSE, SDD EDS and EBSD detectors The BSE detector allows to obtain a quantitative tree dimensional maps of the surface of a specimen, allowing to quantify complicated and/or rough surfaces Stereoscopic image function

Hitachi Cold FE SU-8000 SEM

0.5 nm resolution at 30 kV and 2 nm resolution at 0.2 kV 7 Detectors including a secondary electron (SE) lower detector, a SE/BSE upper detector and SE/BSE top detector with energy filtration, a five quadrant BSE detector, a STEM detector for bright/dark field, imaging a SDD EDS Detector and an EBSD camera The maximum probe current is 30nA and this allows to perform quantitative x-ray microanalysis at low voltage and in the STEM mode

Other equipment

The Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, McGill University has experts in a variety of materials fields ranging from aerospace, automotive, biomaterials and tissue engineering, characterization, electron microscopy, computer-aided modelling, electronic materials, energy, hydrothermal processing, metal processing, mineral processing, nano materials, pyrometallurgy, and surface science and engineering. We characterize materials, we study with state-of-the-art technology, and we model their properties with the help of computers.

The list of equipment includes some instruments that are not operated by MMC but by individual researchers or other shared research facilities. You can contact us if you are looking for a specific instrument. MMC will direct you to the appropriate person for your characterization work.

McGill Electron Microscopy Research Group (MEMRG)

Professor Gauvin. Mining and Materials Engineering Department
https://www.memrg.com/our-equipment

Facility for Electron Microscopy Research (FEMR)

https://www.mcgill.ca/femr/instrumentation

McGill Institute for Advanced Materials (MIAM)

https://www.mcgill.ca/miam/services-infrastructure