What the facility does
Accelerated development of advanced engineered materials and processing technologies and their commercialization into disruptive new products
Areas of expertise
The focus of the Advanced Materials Research Facility is accelerated discovery, maturation, and transition to industry of disruptive new engineered materials for a range of industry sectors. Our team of research professionals in chemistry, materials science, engineering, AI (artificial intelligence), robotics and technology transfer addresses common challenges in materials development and commercialization through research and technology development (R&TD), spanning 3 core platform technologies:
- Accelerated materials discovery and process development, including computational materials discovery, design and process simulation, high-throughput materials characterization and shared materials databases
- Production scale-up, demonstration and standardization, including materials and process standards development, materials synthesis, and design and demonstration of multifunctional materials and devices
- Materials and process sustainability and safety, including materials and product life cycle assessment, health and environmental impacts and mitigation and accelerated aging of materials and devices
We currently apply these platforms to clean energy materials, novel materials for additive manufacturing, and smart and multi-functional materials and structures.
Research services
- Materials characterization, including advanced spectroscopy (XANES, EXAFS, diffraction) nanoindentation, static and fatigue performance
- Development of automated synthesis and characterization tools
- Development of artificial-intelligence-based materials discovery tools and platforms
- Development, synthesis, and characterization of metallic, ceramic and composite powders
- Development and optimization of electrochemical processes, including cell and catalyst design and engineering
- Architected lattice material design, topology optimization, and production of multifunctional metamaterials
Sectors of application
- Aerospace and satellites
- Automotive
- Chemical industries
- Clean technology
- Defence and security industries
- Energy
- Information and communication technologies and media
- Manufacturing and processing
- Mining, minerals and metals
- Transportation
- Utilities
Specialized labs and equipment
| Specialized Lab | Equipment | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Characterization Laboratory | Anton Paar ChemStar TPx Chemisorption Analyzer | Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) Chromatography; gas adsorption isotherm/surface area measurement |
| Characterization Laboratory | Agilent Cary 630 FTIR-ATR Spectrometer | Fourier Transform Infrared/Attenuated Total Reflectance (FTIR-ATR) Spectroscopy; infrared adsorption/emission for chemical/functional group identification |
| Characterization Laboratory | Sigray QuantumLeap XAS X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy System | Fluorescence/transmission mode XANES/EXAFS lab-scale instrumentation |
| Characterization Laboratory | Surface Measurement Systems iGC-SEA | Inverse Gas Chromatograph (iGC)-Surface Energy Analyzer (SEA); surface analysis |
| Characterization Laboratory | Anton Paar UNHT3 Nanoindenter | High resolution nano-mechanical testing platform/mapping of mechanical properties at sub-micron scale |
| Characterization Laboratory | Malvern Panalytical Mastersizer 3000 laser diffraction particle size distribution analyzer | Laser diffraction particle size analysis |
| Characterization Laboratory | NETZSCH STA 449 F5 Jupiter TGA-DSC-MS Simultaneous Thermal Analysis System | Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)/Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)/Mass Spectrometry (MS); thermochemical and spectroscopic analysis |
| Characterization Laboratory | Rigaku MiniFlex 6G X-ray diffractometer | X-ray diffraction spectroscopy; benchtop X-ray diffraction analyser for powders and films |
| Characterization Laboratory | cyberTECHNOLOGIES CT 300 Optical Profilometer | Nanoscale resolution characterization of surface features and roughness |
| High Bay | Tekna Tek-15 Lab scale induction plasma system, 15kW | Micro- and nano-metre scale powder synthesis |
| High Bay | ELBOW JET EJ-L3 Lab scale gas classifier powder classifier | Fine powder classification |
| High Bay | Elcan Hi-Sifter 15-inch/400mm diameter powder screening system | Powder classification |
| High Bay | Granutools suite (GranuCharge, GranuDrum and GranuPack) | Characterization of powder electrostatic, density and rheology |
| High Bay | MaxSphere 20 Litre Max Mixer | Powder mixer |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | BioLogic 20A model MG#5 Potentiostat/Galvanostat | High Current Electrochemical testing |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | BioLogic Multichannel 20A VMP3 Potentiostat/Galvanostat | Research-grade multi-channel potentiostat |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | BioLogic 6-Channel Standard VSP-300 Potentiostat/Galvanostat | Research-grade multi-channel potentiostat |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | BioLogic 2x 1-Channel Standard SP-150 Potentiostat/Galvanostat | Research grade single-channel potentiostate |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | Espec BTL-433 Benchtop Temperature and Humidity Chamber | Benchtop environmental test chamber with temperature (-20C to 180C) and humidity (10 to 95% RH) cycling |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | SRI 8610C-0571 MultiGas Analyzer | Gas chromatography; gas analysis, including CO2, H2, CO and hydrocarbons up to C6. |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | Intamsys Funmat HT Enhanced High temperature FFF 3D printer | Fused filament fabrication (FFF); extrusion 3D printer for manufacturing with high performance engineering thermoplastics (PEEK, PPSU, PEI, etc.) |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | Hyrel 3D System 30M Multimaterial Extrusion 3D printer | Direct-ink-writing (DIW), filament extrusion and tool-changing 3D printer for manufacturing with pastes, emulsions, polymers, and laser processing |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | Metrohm 874 Oven Sample Processor | Quantitative moisture analysis |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | Instron 5969 Load Frame, 50kN | Universal mechanical testing system for tension, compression, flexure, shear, fracture toughness tests |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | North Robotics Materials Acceleration Platform Solution Chemistry / Electrochemistry System (Custom built) | Modular automated liquid handling, electrochemical analysis, and elemental identification platform |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | Formlabs Form 3L SLA 3D Printer | Stereolithography (SLA) Resin 3D printer; Vat polymerization 3D printers for manufacturing parts with high resolution features, and experimental thermosetting resin chemistries |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | Asiga PRO 4K80 DLP Resin 3D Printer | Digital Light Processing (DLP) Resin 3D printer (open materials system) |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | Original Prusa SL1 DLP 3D Printer | Masked Stereolithography (MSLA) Resin 3D printer (open materials system) |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | Peopoly Moai SLA Resin 3D Printer | Stereolithography (SLA) Resin 3D printer (open materials system) |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | Syft technologies Voice200 ultra SIFT-MS Mass Spectrometer | Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS); Chemical ionization mass spectrometer with automated gas/liquid multi-sampling capabilities |
| Wet / Dry Chemistry Laboratory | TA instruments DHR-2 Liquid Rheometer | Viscosity of liquid, including accessories such as Peltier element and UV curing |
Private and public sector research partners
- Xerox Research Centre Canada
- Natural Resources Canada
- University of Toronto
- University of Waterloo