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Department Facilities
NMR Facilities:
- Bruker Avance 600 (arriving November 2007)
- JEOL Eclipse 500 with VT, PFG, and multinuclear capability
- Varian Inova 400 with robot, VT, PFG, and quad-tuning
- Varian Unity 400 with robot, VT, and multinuclear capability
- Bruker Avance 300 dedidated to solid-state NMR
Mass Spectrometry:
- Open-access ESI-TOF-MS with accurate-mass capability (arriving December 2007)
- JEOL HX-110 Double-focusing high-resolution sector (FAB only)
- Thermo TSQ triple-quad LCMS/MS
- HP single-quad GC-MS (two instruments)
X-Ray Facilities:
The crystallography lab is one of Virginia Tech's most advanced
facilities. The Chemistry department maintains an Oxford
Diffraction Xcalibur2 single-crystal X-ray diffractometer
equipped with a CCD detector, a switchable copper/molybdenum
X-ray source, low temperature capabilities (to 10 K) for
small molecule crystallography, and a full-time faculty
member (Dr. Carla Slebodnick) with responsibilities for
crystallographic service to the Department. The Chemistry,
GeoSciences, and Biological Sciences Departments recently
combined their X-ray equipment and personnel into a single
laboratory under the College of Sciences umbrella. Be sure
to check out their website at
http://www.crystal.vt.edu/.
Click on "instruments" to see pictures of all FIVE diffractometers
and the numerous faculty and staff members associated with
the facility.
Infrared Spectoscopy:
MIDAC M-series instruments are
available in the Analytical Services Laboratory. Solution,
solid state, and gas-phase analyses are fully supported.
Surface Analytical Laboratory:
The surface-analysis laboratory
contains a Perkin Elmer 5400 X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS)
with ion-scattering spectrometry (ISS) capabilities, a Perkin Elmer
PHI610 Auger electron spectrometer (AES) with secondary ion mass
spectrometry (SIMS) capabilities, and an ISI SX-40 scanning electron
microscope (SEM) with a Noran energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyzer.
The laboratory also contains an Edwards S-150B coater for sputtering
noble metals onto nonconductive surfaces.
Polymer Research Laboratory:
Research equipment devoted principally
to polymer research includes two Perkin Elmer DSC-7, TMS, DSC, and TGA;
Rheovibron DDB-111 mechanical tester; Waters GPC 150 size-exclusion
chromatograph with absolute detection; two polarizing optical microscopes;
small angle X-ray scattering equipment; solid-state, two-dimensional,
small-angle light-scattering device; Nicolet 800 FTIR with remote sensors;
digital-optical imaging system; VPI&SU Automated Impact Tester 1; Dake 20,000
psi compression molder; Torsion Pendulum; Bendix Inverse GC chromatographs;
CSI mini Molder and Extruder apparatus; DMTA and DETA; DuPont thermal analysis
complete system; photo DSC; and a microwave cavity and waveguide equipment.
Dielectric Research Laboratory:
This laboratory is equipped with a Hewlett-Packard
Network Analyzer System, a high powered microwave source and associated hardware
for both microwave irradiation and the measurement of complex permitivity of materials.
Computer Facilities:
- Supercomputing: Virginia Tech maintains an extremely poweful high-speed supercomputer
known as "System
X," which is housed in the university's Advanced
Research Computing center. System X is used
by many departments throughout science and engineering.
- Clusters: The Crawford, Valeev, and Troya research groups in the Chemistry Department maintain high-speed computing clusters for their specialized research needs.
- Networking: The department has a broadband local area network installed throughout all laboratories and offices. In addition, all areas of the department are now accessible by secure wireless broadband.
- Everyday Computers: Computer labs in the Chemistry Physics building have numerous PCs with complete sets of software including CaChe molecular modeling. Graduate students are encouraged to purchase laptops with wireless capability.
- Journals: Most chemistry journals are available online from any networked computer on campus. Students who wish to access Virginia Tech online journals from home may use the VT library's proxy server or a virtual private network (VPN). Older paper journals are housed in a storage facility and may be obtained by placing a request to the library using a web form.
- Databases: Virginia Tech maintains subscriptions to CAS Online (Sci Finder), the Beilstein and Gmelin structure and reaction databases (through MDL Crossfire), and ISI Knowledge (formerly Science Citation Index). In addition, the Cambridge crystallographic database is available through a departmental license arrangement to researchers for a modest fee.
- Support Staff: The Chemistry Department has two full-time staff engineers who maintain the computers and networking hardware within the department.
Support Services::
- Chemistry
Department Stockroom
- Analytical Services
Laboratory: This facility spans three large laboratories
in Davidson and Hahn Halls. It is staffed by an NMR
spectroscopist, two mass spectrometrists, a surface
spectroscopist, a crystallographer, and a general manager
(total of six professionals).
- Glass
Shop: The glass shop serves the entire university
community. The shop is staffed by a full-time master
glassblower, skilled and experienced in all aspects
of glassworking, including fabrication in quartz. The
shop is a 1700-square foot facility, fully equipped
with four work benches (with exhaust hoods), three lathes,
an annealing oven, and additional equipment for grinding,
sawing, drilling, sand-blasting, evacuation, silvering,
and ultrasonic machining. A separate office for the
glassblower is adjacent to the shop.
- Machining: Small machining tasks may be handled by the shop in the adjacent Physics Department. Larger projects are handled by the machine shop in the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department.
- Electronics:
The Chemistry Department maintains an electronic shop
(staffed by one specialist) for the repair of electronic
and electrical research equipment, as well as the design
and fabrication of simpler custom items such as temperature
controllers.
Research Group and Undergraduate Teaching Lab Facilities:
Besides the departmental facilities listed above, individual research groups have extensive equipment for research. Teaching labs, when not being used by students, also offer an broad array of instrumentation. These avenues provide equipment for:
- organic, bio-organic, inorganic, organometallic, and solid-state synthesis
- electrochemistry
- FTIR, Raman, plasma, and laser fluorescence spectroscopy
- photochemistry
- laser-ionization and MALDI time-of-flight mass spectrometry
- supercritical-fluid technology
- GC, HPLC, and electrophoretic separations
- atomic Absorption spectrometry (AAS, AFS, ICP, and MIP)
- chromatography, including liquid and gas chromatographs
Campus Facilities:
Chemistry department personnel use a variety of shared facilities in Materials Science and Engineering, Geological Sciences, and other departments, including:
- Powder X-ray diffractometers
- MALDI mass spectrometers (Q-TOF and Q-Trap)
- Environmental scanning electron microscope
- Scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM)
- Electron and ion microprobes
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