Laboratories & Facilities

• Materials Engineering Department (SMM), São Carlos School of Engineering (EESC), University of São Paulo (USP)

(Location: https://goo.gl/maps/adXGX5RWpNv8MJHY6 ) 

• Laboratory of Ceramic Materials

  • Benches and whiteboards for educational activities (up to 30 students)

  • High-purity water generator

  • Ovens with forced convection (up to 300°C)

  • Uniaxial manual and hydraulic presses (up to 15 tons)

  • Mechanical paddle mixers for ceramic suspensions (up to 2000 rpm)

  • Precision digital scales for applying Archimedes' principle

• Laboratory of Ceramic Particles Characterization (Responsible: Prof. Dr. Rafael Salomão)

  • Nitrogen adsorption (specific surface area, adsorption isotherms, pores' total volume and diameter distribution)

  • Helium pycnometer (non-destructive measurement of particles' solid density)

  • Particles' diameter distribution (electro-acoustic method)

  • Zeta potential, ionic conductivity, and pH measurements (with accurate temperature control)

  • Rotational viscosimeter (co-axial cylinders, accurate temperature control)

  • Mechanical paddle mixer with torque, rotation, and temperature control

• Laboratory of Physical Characterization of Ceramic Structures  (Responsible: Prof. Dr. Rafael Salomão)

  • Contact dilatometer (up to 1700°C, with atmosphere control)

  • Non-destructive measurement of flexural and longitudinal Young's modulus (excitation by impulse technique)

  • Microdurometer

  • Optical microscope with image analyzer

• Laboratory of Glasses and Vitroceramics (Responsible: Prof. Dr. Eduardo B. Ferreira)

  • Tape-Casting equipament

  • Flash-sintering equipment coupled with an optical dilatometer

  • Tubular ovens for thermal treatments, crystallization, and recrystallization of glasses (up to 1000ºC)

  • Laser granulometry for particles' diameter distribution

• Support Laboratory

  • Electrical furnaces (up to 1700ºC)

  • Glass furnaces (up to 1700ºC and batches of up to 10 kg)

  • Thermogravimetric furnace (up to 800ºC)

  • Ball-mill (up to 20 kg alumina jars)

  • Disc-mill

  • Spray-dried for small samples (up to 100 g of material)