The Soft Materials Service provides equipment and technical assistance for the preparation and characterization of micro-and nanostructured soft molecular materials (molecular surfaces, micro- and nanoparticulate molecular materials, plastic films, dispersed systems, SAMs, etc..) with interest in different areas of application (biomedicine, electronics, energy storage and other chemical and material application areas).
These equipment and services constitute unit 6 of NANBIOSIS, the integrated infrastructure for the production and characterization of nanomaterials, biomaterials and systems in biomedicine, of CIBER-BBN and the Minimal Invasion Surgery Center Jesús Usón, which has been recognized by Spanish Government as Unique Scientific-Technological Infrastructure (ICTS).
Technicians
Scientists in charge
Equipment
Lab-scale high pressure equipment for materials processing with compressed fluids (i.e. CO2, ferons)
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Lab-scale high pressure systems, based on a 50mL and a 300mL stirred high pressure autoclaves equipped with pumps for the supply of compressed fluids and liquid solutions, respectively. Both plants could also optionally be equipped with several filters, manometers, thermocouples and back pressure regulators. The maximum operative pressure is 23MPa and the maximum operative temperature is 200ºC.
The 300mL system is also equipped with a mass flow meter, and a data acquisition system.
Both plants have been designed for micro- and nanostructuring molecular and soft materials.
Services:
Preparation of soft molecular materials with controlled structure at supramolecular, micro- and nanoscopic level, using one-step methodologies based on green compressed fluids (i.e. supercritical CO2)
- Micro- and nanoparticulate single compounds with high supramolecular homogeneity (i.e. pure polymorphic phases, materials with single polymer folding, etc..)
- Particulate polymeric matrix uniformly loaded with active compounds (therapeutics, cosmetic ingredients, catalyst, pigments and dyes, etc..)
- Dispersed systems (suspensions, liposomes, emulsions, vesicles,) with narrow particle size distribution and high morphological homogeneity.
- Porous materials, either crystalline or amorphous, with defined porosity and porous size.
Location: Laboratory 3.32. ICMAB
Ultrasonics for the preparation of disperse systems (i.e. micelles, vesicles, emulsions, suspensions) (Equipment: VCZX 750; Sonics & Materials)
Stability studies (Turbiscan Lab; Formulaction)
Automated analysis of the size distribution and concentration (Equipment: Nanosight NS300; Malvern Instruments)
Particle size distribution (from 0.1 to 3500 microns) – (Equipment: Mastersizer 2000; Malvern Instruments)
Particle size distribution (from 0.6 to 6000nm); Z potential and molecular weight measurements by DLS-NIBS (Equipment: Zetasizer Nano ZS; Malvern Instruments)
Particle size distribution (from 10 to 1000nm) and particle concentration by real-time visualization of nanoparticles in a liquid (Equipment: LM20; Nanosight )
Volume and density measurement of porous solids and powders (Equipment: Ultrapyc 1200e Helium Pycnometer; Quantachrome Instruments)
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Fully automated gas pycnometer, for the measurement of volume and density of powders, granular materials, and solid objects. Typical applications include: porous materials such as catalysts and activated carbons, pharmaceuticals and excipients , foods (raw, refined and end products), ceramics and refractory materials, geological samples (soils, rocks, sediments), building materials (concrete, cement), polymers and composites.
More info: LINK
Bulk density and powder packing tests (Equipment: Autotap; Quantachrome Instruments)
Measurement of biomolecular interactions in solution by Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) (Equipment: VP-ITC; GE HealthCare-Microcal)
Milli-Q Water
High-speed Refrigerated Benchtop Centrifuge (Equipment: Allegra® 64R; Beckman Coulter)
