Labs & Facilities

New and Current Lab Users

For the safety of yourself and others and for research productivity, there are many lab policies and procedures in place. It is important to follow all rules and obey any posted sign instructions. See below for links to specific topics for lab users performing research in the School of Materials Engineering lab facilities. If you have any questions, consult the faculty or staff point of contact for the equipment or lab in question.

DIAL 911 if there is ever an emergency

General Information

Facility Overview

Student Office Directory

Laboratory Safety (Information and Safety Training)

Laboratory Policies

Chemical Waste Pickup Form

Report Lab and Equipment Issues (QR code link)

Equipment Mailing List / Listserv Database (required for iLab equipment training)

Training and Lab Access

Request Lab Access

Request Equipment Training (iLab Project Requests)

Account Information

iLab

Schedule and Use Equipment through iLab

iLab Account Request

iLab User Guide

Engineering Computer Network (ECN)

ECN Account Information

Industrial Partners

Industry collaboration is welcome and encouraged. Trained research staff are available to assist in a variety of characterization needs for clients in industry. Please fill out the Collaboration Request Form to submit a General Inquiry into working with The School of Materials and you will be contacted shortly regarding your inquiry.

To register as a user, please fill out the Purdue iLab Registration form.

For information on campus parking, please review the Purdue Visitor Information, or directly apply for a Parking Permit.

For more on the Center for Surface Engineering and Enhancement (CSEE), please click here.

Characterization Facilities

A variety of powerful characterization tools are available for researchers in the School of Materials Engineering lab facilities. See below for a list of equipment by type, or click here for additional information and an overview of the Characterization Facilities. All shared equipment runs through iLab, a scheduling and billing software run from an internet browser. While we endeavor to keep the webpage up to date, iLab has the most up to date information on the available shared equipment and their status. The School of Materials equipment in iLab is broken down into two major facilities: Characterization and Preparation Facilities  and the Soft Materials Laboratory (iLab login required).

Microstructure and Composition

Electron Microscopy (SEM and TEM)

Optical Microscopy

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)

X-ray Diffraction (XRD)

Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS)

Glow Discharge Spectroscopy (GDS)

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)

Raman Spectroscopy

Mechanical and Thermal Properties

Soft Materials Center

Mechanical Testing

Impact Testing

Indentation

Thermodynamic Databases

Physical Properties

Surface Area and Porosity (BET)

Particle Sizing (Coulter Counter)

Density (Gas Pycnometry)

Specimen Preparation Facilities

Prior to characterization, it is necessary to properly prepare specimens to allow for proper analysis of features of interest. A variety of tools and techniques for specimen preparation are available in the School of Materials Engineering lab facilities. See below for a list of equipment by type, or click here for additional information and an overview of the Specimen Preparation Facilities.

Sectioning

Mounting

Grinding and Polishing

Etching

Conductive Coating (SEM)

Ion Polishing (SEM)

Processing Facilities

A variety of tools for heat treatment and to simulate industrial processing are available in the School of Materials Engineering lab facilities. See below for a list of equipment by type, or click here for additional information and an overview of the Processing Facilities.

Casting Center

Heat Treatment

Cold Rolling

Polymer Processing

Computational Facilities

Purdue Computational Facilities

Additional Facilities on Campus

Birck Nanotechnology Center