Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

University of Barcelona

Singular Equipment

NanoMet

Modeling, Simulation and Nanoscopic Methods

Materials: Phase transitions

Equipment
DSC calorimeter with applied magnetic field and stress
Acoustic emission detection systems in the frequency range of MHz
High resolution infra-red camera

Laboratory of Electron Nanoscopies, LENS-MIND

Equipment
LENS group extensively works with the TEM instrumentation of the CCiTUB. In the next period a new probe aberration corrected (S)TEM instrument will be installed.
Besides, LENS hosts specific software for ab-initio simulations. Density functional theory (DFT) based codes are used to calculate electronic configurations. The electron density and the band structure are computed by solving in an approximate way the many-body Schrodinger equation for any compound; from that the energy loss function (ELF) and energy-loss near-edge structure (ELNES) can be computed and compared with experimental electron energy loss spectra (EELS). The group own the license of two commercial software which differentiate of for the possibility of computing specific properties. VASP: especially interesting for structure relaxation WIEN2k: allows to compute the ELNES spectra from the electron density Apart from that both can compute the density of states and the band structure, the complex dielectric function to analyse the optical properties, NMR and XANES spectra, magnetic properties… The computing requirements of this type of simulations increase exponentially with the size of the modelled structure. This software is installed in our ad hoc workstation powered by Ryzen threadripper 3970x and 256 Gb of RAM.
Workstation: 64-bit CPU machine with 32 cores provide 64 threads of simultaneous multi-processing power and 256 Gb of RAM; 1 Tb SSD; 10 Tb HHD

Equipment

LENS group extensively works with the TEM instrumentation of the CCiTUB. In the next period a new probe aberration corrected (S)TEM instrument will be installed.

Besides, LENS hosts specific software for ab-initio simulations.

Density functional theory (DFT) based codes are used to calculate electronic configurations. The electron density and the band structure are computed by solving in an approximate way the many-body Schrodinger equation for any compound; from that the energy loss function (ELF) and energy-loss near-edge structure (ELNES) can be computed and compared with experimental electron energy loss spectra (EELS).

The group own the license of two commercial software which differentiate of for the possibility of computing specific properties.

VASP: especially interesting for structure relaxation
WIEN2k: allows to compute the ELNES spectra from the electron density

Apart from that both can compute the density of states and the band structure, the complex dielectric function to analyse the optical properties, NMR and XANES spectra, magnetic properties…

The computing requirements of this type of simulations increase exponentially with the size of the modelled structure. This software is installed in our ad hoc workstation powered by Ryzen threadripper 3970x and 256 Gb of RAM.

Workstation: 64-bit CPU machine with 32 cores provide 64 threads of simultaneous multi-processing power and 256 Gb of RAM; 1 Tb SSD; 10 Tb HHD

Statistical Physics of Bio-Nano Systems and Complex Matter (BioNanoComplex) Group

Equipment
The group is co-responsible of a remarkable infrastructure dedicated to scientific computing, shared with three other PIs of the UB: the “Laboratorio de Supercomputación en Física Estadística”, which is used to run the simulations and numerical calculations necessary for the development of scientific projects. Currently, this laboratory comprises two dedicated computing clusters: one cluster with 64-bit CPU machines, consisting of 39 nodes, for a total of 772 virtual cores working with Hyper- Threading Technology and 1404 Gb of RAM; and a second cluster of 9 GPU platforms, with INVIDIA GTX 460 (x6), 760, 780, 980, 1060 (x2) and RTX 2081Ti (x11) cards, for a total value of more than 200.000€.

Equipment

The group is co-responsible of a remarkable infrastructure dedicated to scientific computing, shared with three other PIs of the UB: the “Laboratorio de Supercomputación en Física Estadística”, which is used to run the simulations and numerical calculations necessary for the development of scientific projects. Currently, this laboratory comprises two dedicated computing clusters: one cluster with 64-bit CPU machines, consisting of 39 nodes, for a total of 772 virtual cores working with Hyper- Threading Technology and 1404 Gb of RAM; and a second cluster of 9 GPU platforms, with INVIDIA GTX 460 (x6), 760, 780, 980, 1060 (x2) and RTX 2081Ti (x11) cards, for a total value of more than 200.000€.

Group of Magnetic Nanomaterials

Equipment
Fully equipped lab specialized in the preparation of particles and thin films by chemical and physical routes.
Glovebox and a Schenk line to work under controlled inert atmosphere. In addition, the group use suitable set-ups and temperature controllers to have a full control of the particle reaction profile.
Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) equipped with a variety of operating modes: Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM), torsion MFM, Piezo Force Microscopy, Electric Field Microscopy, conductive-AFM.
Regular access time to synchrotron radiation facilities: BESSY (Germany), ALS-LBNL (USA), SLS-PSI (Switzerland) and ALBA (Spain).
Physical properties lab: resistance, magnetoresistance and conductance, as functions of temperature and magnetic field (4.2 K, 5 T).
Others: rf magnetron sputtering equipped with 3 guns for thin film deposition and arc furnace for bulk alloy synthesis; differential scanning calorimeter to study magneto-structural phase transition, for bulk materials as a function of temperature and magnetic field (4.2 K, 5 T).

NanoBio

Nanobioscience, Nanobiomechanics and BioNanotechnology

Nanostructured systems for controlled drug delivery

Equipment
Particle size analyzers (Nanozeta sizer y difracción lasser)
Homogenizers (ultrasound and high pression piston-gap)
Thermal Analysis Systems (DSC, TG, thermomicroscopy)
Otpical Analyzer (Turbiscan Lab)
Liofilizers (Lyo Quest y Lyo Beta), SPRAY DRIED, ROTAVAPORES
Corneal camera, Franz cells
HPLC

Biomolecule and small-system physics: Small Biosystems Lab

Equipment
Optical tweezers instruments (3 at room temperature, 1 with temperature controller)
Magnetic tweezers
Instrumental setup for single molecule translocation also combined with optical tweezers.

BiOPT: Optical Trapping Lab – Grup de Biofotònica

Equipment
Optical tweezers setups mounted on vibration-isolated optical tables, and equipped with high power lasers (@1064 nm) and research microscopes (Nikon TE-2000E) for brightfield, phase-contrast, DIC and epifluoresence imaging. For the dynamic manipulation of samples the group has liquid crystal spatial light modulators (Hamamatsu X10468-03) for the creation of holographic trap patterns or, alternatively, acousto-optic deflectors (AA Optoelectronic DTSXY-400-1064) for time-sharing traps. It can be directly measure the forces exerted by the traps from changes in the light momentum (Impetux Optics LUNAM T40-i).
Conventional CCD and fast and sensitive EMCCD cameras (Qimaging QICAM, Andor Ixon-860 EMCCD)
Precision optomechanical components, positionsensitive detectors (PSDs) and a piezo-electric positioning platform (Piezosystem Jena TRITOR 102 SG).
Fully-equipped cell culture laboratory.

Cancer therapy group

Equipment
Gene silencing and gene editing by Polypurine reverse Hoogsteen hairpins (PPRHs) technology

Nanobioengineering and Biomaterials Unit

Equipment
Nanofabrication and nanomanipulation 3D Printing system for microfluidic devices Soft lithography en microfabrication techniques Graphtech Electrospinning device Spin-coater Combustion furnace High temperature furnace Ball mill Inert atmosphere facilities Sol-gel facilities
Characterization Potentiostates Optical Waveguide Lightmode Spectroscope (OWLS) Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) Optical Microscopes (white light/epifluorescence) Electrical Impedance spectroscopy (EIS) Multi-frequency Lock-in Amplifier Sub-femtoamp Remote SourceMeter Instrument Surface characterization equipment (contact angle, Z potential) Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) Soft tissue mechanical testing machine Peptide synthesizer Vibrational viscosimeter
Molecular/cell biology Cell culture facilities Molecular Biology equipment: protein and DNA electrophoresis Thermocycler (PCR) Biological safety cabinet (class II) Microwell plate readers Protein and DNA electrophoresis systems Microincubator Okolab Nanodrop spectrophotometer
Microfluidics High precision syringe pumps Peristaltic pumps

Equipment

Nanofabrication and nanomanipulation

3D Printing system for microfluidic devices
Soft lithography en microfabrication techniques
Graphtech
Electrospinning device
Spin-coater
Combustion furnace
High temperature furnace
Ball mill
Inert atmosphere facilities
Sol-gel facilities

Characterization

Potentiostates
Optical Waveguide Lightmode Spectroscope (OWLS)
Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)
Optical Microscopes (white light/epifluorescence)
Electrical Impedance spectroscopy (EIS)
Multi-frequency Lock-in Amplifier
Sub-femtoamp Remote SourceMeter Instrument
Surface characterization equipment (contact angle, Z potential)
Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)
Soft tissue mechanical testing machine
Peptide synthesizer
Vibrational viscosimeter

Molecular/cell biology

Cell culture facilities
Molecular Biology equipment: protein and DNA electrophoresis
Thermocycler (PCR)
Biological safety cabinet (class II)
Microwell plate readers
Protein and DNA electrophoresis systems
Microincubator Okolab
Nanodrop spectrophotometer

Microfluidics

High precision syringe pumps
Peristaltic pumps

Nanostructure of Biomembranes Group

Equipment
Multimode IV Atomic Force Microscope from Bruker controlled by Nanoscope V electronics equipped with a 125 μm scanner. Responsible: Dr. Oscar Domenech (odomenech(at)ub.edu)
Two KSV Nima Langmuir troughs equipped with surface pressure balance, surface potential and Brewster Angle Microscope (BAM).
SLM Aminco 8100 Spectrofluorometer equipped with Xenon Lamp and thermostatted cuvette holder.

Peptides and Proteins: Physicochemical Studies Group

Equipment
Langmuir Balance KSV 5000 with Dipper and surface potential
KSV – Nima Micro BAM

Nano BioInorganic Chemistry Research Team

Equipment
Horizontal and vertical gel electrophoresis (analysis of oligo- and polynucleotides)
Microplate reader (aggregation studies of amyloids)
Compact xenon light source (photochemistry/photoactivation of drugs)

Self-organized complexity and self-assembling materials (SOC&SAM)

Equipment
Optical microscopes with temperature control. Polarizing, fluorescent, upright/inverted. Electric and magnetic control (1T permanent magnet).
High sensitivity and high speed cameras.
Langmuir-Blodgett setup with Brewster angle microscopes.
Microfluidics equipment: plasma cleaner, FemtoJet, syringe pumps, Micro-forge.
Optical microscopes with temperature control. Polarizing, fluorescent, upright/inverted. Electric and magnetic control (1T permanent magnet).
Spin-coater, micro-centrifuge (15k-g) and mini-centrifuge (10k-g).

NanoPharmaMed

Nanopharmaceutics and Nanomedicine (NanoPharmaMed)

Nano BioInorganic Chemistry Research Team

Equipment
Horizontal and vertical gel electrophoresis (analysis of oligo- and polynucleotides)
Microplate reader (aggregation studies of amyloids)
Compact xenon light source (photochemistry/photoactivation of drugs)

Nanostructured systems for controlled drug delivery

Equipment
Particle size analyzers (Nanozeta sizer y difracción lasser)
Homogenizers (ultrasound and high pression piston-gap)
Thermal Analysis Systems (DSC, TG, thermomicroscopy)
Otical Analyzer (Turbiscan Lab)
Liofilizers (Lyo Quest y Lyo Beta), SPRAY DRIED, ROTAVAPORES
Corneal camera, Franz cells
HPLC

Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology Group

Equipment
Vision® G2 Elite 8™ (Hanson Research): Dissolution tester with automated sampling
MICROETTE™ AUTOMATED TEST SYSTEM (Hanson Research), with 6 Franz diffusion cells.
VASCO nanoparticle size analyzer (Cordouan): DLS
Zetasizer Nano ZS (Malvern Instruments): DLS, zeta potential.
Heracell CO2 incubator (Thermo Scientific)
Biosafety cabinet
Plasma reactor

Group of Magnetic Nanomaterials

Equipment
Fully equipped lab specialized in the preparation of particles and thin films by chemical and physical routes.
Glovebox and a Schenk line to work under controlled inert atmosphere. In addition, the group use suitable set-ups and temperature controllers to have a full control of the particle reaction profile.
Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) equipped with a variety of operating modes: Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM), torsion MFM, Piezo Force Microscopy, Electric Field Microscopy, conductive-AFM.
Regular access time to synchrotron radiation facilities: BESSY (Germany), ALS-LBNL (USA), SLS-PSI (Switzerland) and ALBA (Spain).
Physical properties lab: resistance, magnetoresistance and conductance, as functions of temperature and magnetic field (4.2 K, 5 T).
Others: rf magnetron sputtering equipped with 3 guns for thin film deposition and arc furnace for bulk alloy synthesis; differential scanning calorimeter to study magneto-structural phase transition, for bulk materials as a function of temperature and magnetic field (4.2 K, 5 T).

NanoMagnetics

Nanomagnetism and Spintronics

Group of Magnetic Nanomaterials

Equipment
Fully equipped lab specialized in the preparation of particles and thin films by chemical and physical routes.
Glovebox and a Schenk line to work under controlled inert atmosphere. In addition, the group use suitable set-ups and temperature controllers to have a full control of the particle reaction profile.
Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) equipped with a variety of operating modes: Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM), torsion MFM, Piezo Force Microscopy, Electric Field Microscopy, conductive-AFM.
Regular access time to synchrotron radiation facilities: BESSY (Germany), ALS-LBNL (USA), SLS-PSI (Switzerland) and ALBA (Spain).
Physical properties lab: resistance, magnetoresistance and conductance, as functions of temperature and magnetic field (4.2 K, 5 T).
Others: rf magnetron sputtering equipped with 3 guns for thin film deposition and arc furnace for bulk alloy synthesis; differential scanning calorimeter to study magneto-structural phase transition, for bulk materials as a function of temperature and magnetic field (4.2 K, 5 T).

Magnetism Group

Equipment
RF SQUID Magnetometer. Temperature: from 1.8 K to 300 K. Magnetic field: from -5 T to 5 T
DC SQUID Magnetometer. Temperature: from 50 mK to 4.2 K. Magnetic field: from -5 T to 5 T
E4448A PSA Series Spectrum Analyzer, 3 Hz – 50 GHz
8565E Portable Spectrum Analyzer, 9 kHz to 50 GHz
8510C Vector Network Analyzer
E8361A PNA Network Analyzer, 10 MHz to 67 GHz
PNA Millimeter-Wave Network Analyzer, 10 MHz to 110 GHz

Laboratory of Molecular Design (LabMolDesign)

Equipment
Bruker apexii qazar single crystal x-ray diffractometer
Fully equipped laboratories, with hoods and all the necessary material for the synthesis, in an inert atmosphere or in the air, of organic and inorganic compounds.
Four gloves box of inert atmosphere from Innovative Technology equipped with freezer, O2 detector, water detector, two vacuum chambers and a cooling blanket with liquid N2.
Xenon light source: 300W Max303 (Asahi Spectra)
Microwave oven for organic and inorganic chemistry synthesis
Oven for heat treatments in chemical synthesis.

NanoPhotoElectro

Nanoelectronics, Nano-optics and Nanophotonics

Instrumentation Systems and Communications (SIC) Group

Equipment
Materials inkjet printer DIMATIX 2831 to print biological or chemical low destiny solutions.

NanosMat

Nanostructured materials

Group of Magnetic Nanomaterials

Equipment
Fully equipped lab specialized in the preparation of particles and thin films by chemical and physical routes.
Glovebox and a Schenk line to work under controlled inert atmosphere. In addition, the group use suitable set-ups and temperature controllers to have a full control of the particle reaction profile.
Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) equipped with a variety of operating modes: Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM), torsion MFM, Piezo Force Microscopy, Electric Field Microscopy, conductive-AFM.
Regular access time to synchrotron radiation facilities: BESSY (Germany), ALS-LBNL (USA), SLS-PSI (Switzerland) and ALBA (Spain).
Physical properties lab: resistance, magnetoresistance and conductance, as functions of temperature and magnetic field (4.2 K, 5 T).
Others: rf magnetron sputtering equipped with 3 guns for thin film deposition and arc furnace for bulk alloy synthesis; differential scanning calorimeter to study magneto-structural phase transition, for bulk materials as a function of temperature and magnetic field (4.2 K, 5 T).

Materials for Energy, Photonics and Catalysis, ENPHOCAMAT

Equipment
Catalysis laboratory
Spectral and Generalized Ellipsometer (UV-VIS)
Mueller Matrix Polarimeter
PECVD-PVD CNTs reactor
ICP-CVD Graphene reactor
Thermal evaporator
Sputtering Magnetron (3”)
Langmuir-Blodgett
Ion beam gun (etching and surface treatment)
Nanotribometer
Goniometer (contact angle)
Electrical Transport measurements
Electrochemical characterization (voltammetry & amperometry)
Impedance Spectroscopy

Mecanismes de Reacció en Química Inorgànica (MEC)

Equipment
Singular specifically dedicated group instrumentation
Diode array and conventional UV-vis spectrophotometers.
Fiber-optics, anaerobic, low temperature, electrochemistry and titration probes for UV-vis spectrophotometers.
Diode array stopped-flow instrumentation.
High-pressure hydraulic set up for conventional UV-vis spectroscopy.
High-pressure hydraulic stopped-flow instrumentation.

Supra and Nanostructured Systems Group

Equipment
Optical and Fluorecence microscope
Time- correlated single photon counting for luminescence lifetime measurements
Quantum yield sphere for luminescence characterization

Organic Materials Unit

Equipment
Polarised Optical Microscopy
Photoisomerization set-up
Heating centrifuge

Self-organized complexity and self-assembling materials (SOC&SAM)

Equipment
Optical microscopes with temperature control. Polarizing, fluorescent, upright/inverted. Electric and magnetic control (1T permanent magnet).
High sensitivity and high speed cameras.
Langmuir-Blodgett setup with Brewster angle microscopes.
Microfluidics equipment: plasma cleaner, FemtoJet, syringe pumps, Micro-forge.
Optical microscopes with temperature control. Polarizing, fluorescent, upright/inverted. Electric and magnetic control (1T permanent magnet).
Spin-coater, micro-centrifuge (15k-g) and mini-centrifuge (10k-g).

Thin-film and Nanostructure electrodeposition group

Equipment
Equipment for basic electrochemical study, electrochemical materials preparation and electrochemical in-situ characterization.
X-ray Fluorescence Equipment

Catàlisi Homogènia (CatHom)

Equipment
Nitrogen-filled Glovebox
Nitrogen- and argon-filled Schlenk lines
Glassware to work under anareobic conditions
Gas chromatography (GC) with FID and MS detectors
High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with UV-Vis detectors
Pressure facilities and autoclaves to work under pressure (up to 150 bar) with hydrogen, carbon monoxide, ethylene and other gases
Solvent Purification System (SPS) with THF, Et2O, CH2Cl2, hexane and toluene

NanoEnergy

Nanoenergy: Production and Storage

Catalysis and Advanced Inorganic Materials (MATCAT)

Equipment
Microwave and ultrasonic facilities for synthesis and reaction
TG-DSC-microcalorimetry coupled to MS
TPR/TPO/TPD analysis coupled to MS
In-situ DRIFTS coupled to MS facility
Thermal and photocatalytic reactors with on-line GC-MS analysis

Design and improvement of Processes and Materials (DIOPMA)

Equipment
Nanoindentaitor Nano Indenter XP (MTS) with CSM (Continuous Stiffness Measurement)

Nanoenergy and Electronic Materials (M2E) Group

Equipment
Functional nano materials laboratory
Electrochemical batteries laboratory
Photoelectroconversion and CO2 laboratory
Thermoconversion and catalysis laboratory
Environmental energy collectors and 2D storage laboratory

Solar Energy Materials and Systems (SEMS) Group

Equipment
Thin Film Photovoltaics Laboratory of the SEMS group: The Laboratory constitutes a platform for the modelling, development and evaluation of new processes and materials in advanced PV thin film technologies before their industrial implementation. The Laboratory has developed its own PV baseline technologies including electrodeposition based CIGS processes and two-step PVD based CZTS processes scalable up to 10×10 cm2 substrates with efficiency values that are among the highest ones achieved at world level in these technologies (> 11.8% efficiency for new Indium- and Gallium-free CZTS based devices with processes avoiding the use of hazardous compounds). The infrastructure available at the Laboratory includes: Three sputtering systems for the deposition of front and back contacts in PV technologies, thermal evaporator, a complete electrochemical and chemical workshop, reactive thermal treatment equipment, rapid thermal processes equipment, spray pyrolysis system under inert atmosphere, X-ray fluorescence, advanced Raman and Photoluminescence spectrometers, AAA solar simulator and spectral response.

Equipment

Thin Film Photovoltaics Laboratory of the SEMS group: The Laboratory constitutes a platform for the modelling, development and evaluation of new processes and materials in advanced PV thin film technologies before their industrial implementation. The Laboratory has developed its own PV baseline technologies including electrodeposition based CIGS processes and two-step PVD based CZTS processes scalable up to 10×10 cm2 substrates with efficiency values that are among the highest ones achieved at world level in these technologies (> 11.8% efficiency for new Indium- and Gallium-free CZTS based devices with processes avoiding the use of hazardous compounds). The infrastructure available at the Laboratory includes: Three sputtering systems for the deposition of front and back contacts in PV technologies, thermal evaporator, a complete electrochemical and chemical workshop, reactive thermal treatment equipment, rapid thermal processes equipment, spray pyrolysis system under inert atmosphere, X-ray fluorescence, advanced Raman and Photoluminescence spectrometers, AAA solar simulator and spectral response.