Chemical Instrumentation
The Department has a wide range of modern chemical instrumentation available for use by both undergraduate and graduate students in laboratory courses and in research projects, including:
- Calorimeters, including differential and isothermal microcalorimeters, as well as thermal gravimetric analyzers (TGA), are used to determine the heat generated or absorbed during chemical processes.
- Chromatographs, including high performance liquid chromatographs (HPLC) and gas chromatographs (GC), are used to separate, purify and help to identify molecules.
- Computers, such as PC's, Mac's, SGI's and Beowulf Supercomputers, are used for a variety of purposes, including data analysis, preparation of journal articles, reports and oral seminars, as well as for sophisticated molecular modeling.
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometers (NMR) and Mass Spectrometers (MS) may be used separately, or in combination to identify molecules, and to determine their structure.
- Spectrophotometers are often used to determine the amount of a substance present in solution, or in a solid sample, by measurement of the absorption and fluorescence spectra of molecules in the ultraviolet, visible and/or infrared regions of the spectrum.
Instruments are located in individual research laboratories, as well as in several instrument rooms located both in Griffith Hall and the McNeil Research Center.