The spectroscopy RTP is pleased to take delivery of a fluorescence spectrometer, a Edinburgh instruments FS5. The FS5 is a purpose built fully integrated spectrofluorometer capable excitation from >200 mn to 800 nm and detection of emission from 200 nm to 860 nm. The system can not only measure Steady State Fluorescence but also has an integrating sphere to enable quantum yield measurements and is capable of measuring Phosphorescence life time (>5 us to 10 s ). The system is capable of measuring liquids from -50 to 100 C and solids, powders, and films at room temperature although a -190 C solid samples is planned for the near future. We are hoping to be offering training on the system to new users soon but if you have samples ready the RTP staff are happy to run them for you. If you have any questions or wish to discuss and future experiment, please contact spectroscopy@warwick.ac.uk

The Spectroscopy RTP is pleased to take delivery of a surface profiling microscope, a Filmetrics ProFilm 3D. The ProFilm 3D uses white light interferometry to measure surface profiles and roughness on samples upto 100 mm x 100 mm. Surface roughness of down to 0.01 micron are measurable by use of phase-shifting interferometry. Due to the current restrictions in access, the Spectroscopy RTP will, initially, be running the surface profiler on behalf of researchers via sample submission service. Acquired Data can be viewed and analysed on most desktops via ProfilmOnline a free web based app. If you have any questions or wish to discuss any future experiment, please contact spectroscopy@warwick.ac.uk.

The Polymer RTP has recently had two state of the art thermal analysis instruments installed from TA Instruments, Discovery DSC2500 and Discovery SDT650.

The new DSC will allow us to measure thermal transitions of materials such as glass transitions, enthalpies and crystallinity. This has applications to a large area of science such as polymers, biomaterials and composites.

The new SDT is a TGA instrument with simultaneous DSC capabilities. This allows us to measure the thermal transitions of materials up to high temperatures (1500’C) where we can assess for instance mass losses leading to an understanding of thermal stability and degradation pathways. The simultaneous DSC functionality allows us to investigate thermal transitions at a much higher temperature than stand-alone DSC. The application area is very broad, ranging from polymers to metal-organic-frameworks. If you have any questions or wish to discuss any future experiment, please contact d.lester@warwick.ac.uk.