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Due to the reorganization of the company, the lab operations in the RVA area were halted in August 2019. Now I have a new laboratory at Texas Tech, see my blog. Still, I will keep "The Lab" page here, on my website, as an example of what I consider one of my accomplishments. Not many chemists design and build highly operational labs from scratch.
As I have already mentioned, in August 2017 I accepted Mari Signum Mid-Atlantic, LLC’s CSO position, where I had to start R&D department from scratch. The issue was ... the facility did not have a lab.
BEFORE (2017)
BEFORE (2017)
However, if you enjoy doing chemistry experiments, it might be a good idea to build one. This was an exciting adventure to build it from scratch. There were a lot of factors that went into conceptualization and design: the need for piping (yes, the space did not have water!), installation of new exhaust systems and make-up air unit, humidity, and temperature controls, and much much more. The lab had to be suitable for the use of potentially hazardous materials and appropriate for the use of complex equipment. This was quite a difficult task with the need to balance the efficiency of space, cost, and flexibility, but we had it accomplished! Once the design was completed, and we settled on what exactly we wanted, we invited engineers to help us. Thank you, Chris Poulson! So you know, if you want to build a lab and you are located at RVA - please contact McKinney & Company, Inc. THEY ARE AWESOME! Once lab construction was underway, we acquired the basic lab equipment and state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation.
AFTER (2018)
AFTER (2018)
Analytical Equipment (Moved Out of RVA Area):
Analytical Equipment (Moved Out of RVA Area):
Viscosity Meter: PAC VISCOLab 4000 with Measure & Report firmware in a bench-top enclosure. The system measures viscosity, temperature (°C or °F), and temperature-compensated viscosity. Used to measure the viscosity of a solution.
Autoclave: Autoclave is standard laboratory operating equipment used for sterilization and drying f glass ware and materials. The equipment will be used as a part of developing medical grade chitin to maintain requirement for GMP facilities.
Rheometer (includes DMA): Anton-Paar MCR 302. Rheometer system with an air bearing supported electronically commutated synchron motor drive system for rheological measurements in rotation and oscillation. Characterization of materials with an aim to develop new and improved materials having desired processing and end-use properties. The machine is vital for improvement of the processing behavior of polymers for e.g., extrusion, fiber spinning, etc.
Optical microscope + CCD camera: Zeiss DS-Fi1c Axio Scope microscope with digital color camera (Nikon) for the analysis of many chemical systems: capable of providing information about the chemistry and structure of a material, as well as its morphology.
Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC): Discovery DSC 2500, TA Instruments. Advanced, featuring new Fusion Cell with patented Tzero technology which provides unrivaled performance in baseline flatness, sensitivity, resolution, reproducibility, and reliability. The observed thermal transitions can be utilized to compare materials, composition (for composites), polymer degradation, etc. The percent crystalline content (important for the choosing of appropriate processing method) of a polymer can be estimated.
Thermogravimetric analyser (TGA): Discovery TGA 5500, TA Instruments. Research grade TGA featuring a sensitive vertical thermo-balance with an auto-switching dual range microbalance (0-200 mg, and 0-1000 mg sample weight range). Provides information about material thermal transitions, help evaluating the thermal stability of a material.
Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer: (Bruker Alfa) Used for basic characterization and in quality control for chitin purity, as a qualitative evaluation of material, and samples comparison studies. Allows for determination of a degree of deacetylation (DA) of chitin polymer.
Powder X-Ray Diffractometer (pXRD): Bruker D2Phaser. The most widespread use of powder diffraction is in the identification and characterization of crystalline solids, each of which produces a distinctive picture, ‘diffraction pattern’. Provides information on presence/ absence of calcium carbonate via rapid, non-destructive analysis.
Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS): Malvern S Nano. Determination of polymer molecular weight (MW).
Refractometer: Anton Paar Abbemat 500.
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