Materials & Energy Technology Service Center

About Us

The Materials and Energy Technology Service Center provides comprehensive materials characterization using microscopy, spectroscopy, and diffraction tools for inorganic and soft materials, supporting academic and industry research.

Services

• Energy Storage: Lithium ion battery electrode fabrication; coin and pouch cells; battery pack and testing
• Device Fab/Characterization: Atomic layer deposition system; electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; intensity‑modulated photocurrent spectroscopy (IMPS)/ Intensity‑modulated photovoltage spectroscopy (IMVS); optical
• Solar Manufacturing R&D: Roll-to-roll R&D platform, including continuous deposition of thin films from 100 nm to several mm thick; coat substrates such as plastics, metal foils and flexible glass, and speeds ranging from mm/min to 25 m/min.
• Biomass/Biofuels: Biomass hydrolyzate analysis for sugars; biomass carbonization; biocarbon densification – lab press and pilot briquetters with briquette characterization; waste water and biogas analyses and testing; aerobic fermentation and testing; hydrolosis and separations screenings.
• Ultrafast Spectroscopy: Measuring photoinduced charge and energy transfer processes at a time scale as fast as 30 fs.
• Solar Fuels: Electrochemical potentiostat characterization; catalyst characterization; photovoltaic/photoelectrochemical performance characterization; spectral response/quantum efficiency; hydrocarbon gas product analysis, and differential electrochemical mass spectrometry.
• Power Electronics: Measurements and device simulations.

Equipment & Instruments

The MET Service Center offers comprehensive microscopic and spectroscopic analytical services in the following categories.

• Thermal Analysis:
  • Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA) TA 2050
  • Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) TA2910
  • Simultaneous TGA/DSC (SDT Q600)
• Electron Microscopy:
  • 200-dV FEI Tecnai F20 FEG TEM-STEM with: (a) EDAX and (b) Fishione HAADF detectors, (c) specialty holders
  • FEI Nova600 FEG-SEM
  • TESCAN Vega3 tungsten filament-SEM
• Surface Analysis:
  • VG Scientific MultiLab 3000 custom-built UHV system for XPS, Auger, and UPS
• Optical Analysis:
  •Renishaw Raman/PL system with NIR-Vis-UV optics
  •PerkinElmer Spectrum BX FTIR
  •Brookhaven Instrument Corporation 90Plus Particle Size Analyzer
  •PerkinElmer UV/VIS/NIR spectrophotometer u X-Ray
• X-ray Diffraction:
  • Bruker Discovery D8 HR-XRD with scintillation abd LynxEye(TM) detectors and DHS 1100 Dome Heating Stage
  • Bruker EVA software and ICCD PDF-2 database
• BET Analysis:
  • TriStar 3000 gas adsorption analyzer

Serving

• UofL Researchers
• External-Academic
• External-Industry

Core Acknowledgement

Researchers are strongly encouraged to acknowledge the use of this core facility in publications and presentations. Doing so documents the role of shared infrastructure in advancing UofL research and supports the core’s continued operation and growth.

Consider using the suggested language below when making acknowledgements in your work:

This [publication, project, or research] was made possible, in part, by the Materials and Energy Technology Service Center at the University of Louisville. 

Core Personnel

Jacek B. Jasinski
Theme Leader, Conn Center Materials Characterization Facility