Advanced Materials Research Facility

National Research Council Canada, Mississauga, Ontario
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:

  1. Accelerated materials discovery and process development, including computational materials discovery, design and process simulation, high-throughput materials characterization and shared materials databases
  2. Production scale-up, demonstration and standardization, including materials and process standards development, materials synthesis, and design and demonstration of multifunctional materials and devices
  3. 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 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

  • Xerox Research Centre Canada
  • Natural Resources Canada
  • University of Toronto
  • University of Waterloo