Sheffield to open £2m nanomaterials lab
6 Oct 2016
A £2 million laboratory is opening at the University of Sheffield on Friday, which will help scientists analyse the structure of nanomaterials.
The Soft Matter Analytical Laboratory (SMALL) will use rheology and small angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) instrumentation to enable advances in the study of polymers, soft matter and colloids.
This new SMALL facility will ensure that Sheffield scientists remain at the forefront of research in polymer chemistry, soft matter physics and materials science for the next decade
Facility manager and senior scientist Oleksandr Mykhaylyk
According to the university, SAXS is the first of its kind in the UK to use a liquid gallium MetalJet X-ray source – which produces a high-intensity X-ray beam that enables scientists to study changes in larger structures over shorter time scales than previously possible.
Facility manager and senior scientist Oleksandr Mykhaylyk said: “Conventional solid metal anodes cannot be easily cooled and can melt if used at high power. Because gallium is liquid at room temperature, this problem is avoided with the MetalJet, producing an X-ray beam that is up to 100 times brighter than our old instrument.
“This means we can analyse samples within minutes, rather than several hours. The smallest structures that we can study are close to the size of atoms, while the largest structures are up to 700 nm, which is approximately 100 times smaller than the width of a single human hair.”
Research undertaken at the lab will have applications in industries such as energy, chemicals and food, the university added.
“This new SMALL facility will ensure that Sheffield scientists remain at the forefront of research in polymer chemistry, soft matter physics and materials science for the next decade,” Mykhaylyk said.
SMALL will also be open to scientists from the other N8 universities: Leeds, Manchester, Durham, Liverpool, York, Lancaster and Newcastle.
“The opening of this laboratory represents an important step forward in the study of nanomaterials in the UK," said Philip Nelson, chief executive of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, which helped fund the project.
"Despite the minute size of the matter that will be analysed, work at SMALL could have a big impact and wide-ranging implications, with potential applications in fields ranging from medicine to energy," he added.
