Facilities

 

The following pictures show the key technical capabilities we have in the lab. (we also inherited the rheology capabilities from the former NCSU Food rheology lab: https://fbns.ncsu.edu/rheology/ Please contact the current PI, Dr. Haotian Zheng, if you are interested in rheology studies for food and bioprocessed materials)

 

A quiet night at our department

 

Anton Paar MCR302 Rheometer (cone-plate, tribology cell, interfacial shear rheology)

 

Anton Paar MCR302 Rheometer (bob-cup)

 

Instron 5565 Tension tester/pull tester is used to determine the tensile strength of various materials from metals to plastics

 

The 5540 Single Column System is for tests requiring less than 2 kN force (tension, compression, bending and component testing)

 

laser diffraction particle size analyzer (MasterSizer 300, the instrument is capable for measuring both liquid and powdered samples)

 

light scattering instrument for electrophoretic mobility, zeta-potential, & size measurements of proteins, polymers, and all types of nanoparticles

 

Turbiscan, Transmission and Backscattering intensities based technique for testing stability of dispersion systems

 

Hach Turbidimeter

 

Waters HPLC system (RID, PAD)

 

Spectrophotometer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SDS-PAGE: gel cell, powder supply, PROTEAN i12 IEF system (is designed for isoelectric focusing (IEF) proteins in immobilized pH gradient (IPG) strips for the first dimension of two-dimensional (2-D) electrophoresis), gel scanner

 

 

 

 

Vapor Pressure Osmometer

 

DSC

 

Density meter

 

Metrohm 877 Titrino plus: potentiometric endpoint titrations (SET), monotonic titrations with automatic equivalence point finding (MET)

 

Goniometer: interfacial tension and interfacial dilatational rheology

Branson Ultrasonicator

 

GEA Panda high pressure homogenizer (1500 bar)

 

IKA continuous Stator-Rotor homogenizer

 

IKA T25 stator-rotor homogenizer

 

Thermo Scientific Micro-centrifuge

 

Masticator

 

Oil bath & water bath

 

Student and researcher work space in the lab (we have 6 desks like this in the lab)

 

We also have accesses to other advanced instruments at NC State University and surrounding area 

• Analytical Instrumentation Facility (AIF): https://www.aif.ncsu.edu/mct/
  • Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
  • X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS)
  • Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS)
  • Focused Ion Beam (FIB)
  • X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)
  • Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)
  • Nanoindentation
  • Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)
• Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy: https://research.ncsu.edu/cmif/equipment/
• Chemical Analysis and Spectroscopy Laboratory: https://cnr.ncsu.edu/fb/facilities-and-services/chemical-analysis-and-spectroscopy-laboratory-casl/ (FT-IR, DSC, TGA)
• Pilot plant:
  • Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center (NDC (National Dairy Council) Pilot Lab): https://sensory.ncsu.edu/ndc-pilot-lab/
  • NC Food Innovation lab: https://www.ncfoodinnovationlab.org/ (click the link to see manufacturing capabilities)
• NC State University is also part of the Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network: https://www.rtnn.ncsu.edu/facilities/