Facilities

Queen Mary has been heavily investing in equipment and this is still continuing. The main facilities I have are the SPM laboratory which is part of the new imaging centre. Specific details are as follows:

Processing

There are two electrospinning setups of mine in the polymer processing lab at QMUL. The lab also contains some of the best polymer processing equipment in the UK, including extrusion, compounding, pressing injection moulding

Scanning Probe Microscopy

The SPM lab was recently setup and includes two new NTegra closed loop SPMs. All options are available but we mostly use the thermal head and liquid options especially for biological work. This lab will be moved to the imaging centre shortly.

Full list of modes are: Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM)/STS Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy/contact AFM/ LFM/ ResonantMode (semicontact + noncontact AFM)/ Phase Imaging/ Force Modulation (viscoelastisity)/ MFM/ EFM/ Adhesion Force Imaging/AFM Lithography-Force/Spreading Resistance Imaging (SRI)/AFM Lithography-Voltage/Scanning Capacitance Imaging (SCI)/Scanning Kelvin probe microscopy(SKM)/contact SCM in liquid: contact AFM/LFM/Adhesion Force Imaging/Force Modulation (viscoelastisity)/ResonantMode(semicontact AFM)/Phase Imaging/AFM Lithography-Force/STM

Electron Microscopy and Ion Beams

Materials at Queen Mary is setting up an imaging centre, with a lot of credit going to Dr Andy Bushby for leading this multi-million pound initiative. The centre is on course to be running by September, 2007. Timeline as follows:

Work starts and everything looks a mess! The refurbishment is thorough and everything is ripped out. New doorways and windows are made.

Before and after. Windows are fitted and the place cleaned up a bit.

Current status (July ’07): rooms are finished and awaiting equipment. Picture above (left) shows part of the new SPM lab and (right) doorways to the new office, high resolution environmental SEM/STEM rooms and the focussed ion beam/ESEM lab