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Metallic alloys
• Bulk processing techniques: casting by induction and arc melting, as well as a Gleeble physical simulator, furnished with fixtures suitable for rolling, extrusion, torsion, sintering, welding, and rapid solidification.
• Powders manufactured by gas atomisation and mechanical milling. Selective laser melting technology for additive manufacturing of metals.
Polymer based composites and nanocomposites
• Liquid moulding processing: RTM resin transfer moulding, VI vacuum infusion, RFI resin film infusion and pultrusion.
• Prepreg lamination using vacuum bagging of autoclave and out-of-autoclave prepregs (OoA) or laminate hot-press moulding (<400°C).
• Semi-industrial equipment for compounding and injection moulding of thermosplastics.
• Integration of advanced nano-fillers.
• 3D printing of polymers and composite materials.
Nanomaterials
• Synthesis and chemical modification of nanocarbons, inorganic materials, nanoporous semiconductors, thin films, zeolites and other nanomaterials.
• Evaporation equipment in controlled atmospheres, high-pressure reactors and in-house chemical vapour deposition systems.
Energy storage and conversion devices
• Synthesis and characterisation of nanostructured electrode materials for energy storage applications. Fabrication of
composite electrodes and integrated in various types of rechargeable batteries (Li-ion, Li-S, Li-O2, Na-ion, and hybrid
batteries etc.).
• Fabrication and testing of nanocarbon-based electrodes and their integration with liquid and solid electrolytes to form large-area (> 100 cm2) flexible supercapacitors.
• Integration of energy-storage functions in structural composites.
• Fabrication (solvent-based deposition, physical vapour deposition, high temperature sintering ovens and hot plates)
and characterization (solar simulators, incident photon-tocurrent conversion, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
and intensity‑modulated photovoltage spectroscopy) of hybrid solar cells and thin-film organic solar cells.
Lighting devices
• Fabrication and characterisation of hybrid light-emitting diodes and thin-film lighting devices.
• Rack system consisting of 7 positions that are independently driven, while the luminance and chromaticity features are
monitored over time via UV-VIS spectrophotometers coupled to integrated spheres.
• Station to measure spatial light distribution and temperature generation in a micrometre resolution over time.
• Rack system for measuring thin film lighting devices using different poling modes, while controlling luminance and
chromaticity features over time using eye-corrected detectors.
• Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).
• 3D microscopy at different length-scales, including X-ray tomography, 3D-SEM, 3D-EDS and 3D-EBSD in the FIB and 3D-TEM and 3D-EDS in the TEM.
• In-situ mechanical testing of mininaturised samples in the X-ray tomography system as well as in the SEM and TEM.
• In-situ processing studies in the X-ray tomography system, such as casting, infiltration and curing of polymer based materials.
• Raman spectrophotometer.
• Mechanical testing of a wide range of materials, using electromechanical and hydraulic machines (quasi-static, dynamic, fracture and fatigue testing in a wide range of temperatures).
• Characterisation of mechanical properties at multiple length scales, including nanoindentation, micropillar compression,
microtensile testing and fracture micromechanics.
• Tests can be carried out both ex-situ and in-situ in SEM, TEM and X-ray tomography including measurements at elevated temperature.
• Simulation techniques at different scales (electronic, atomistic, mesoscopic and continuum) to design or improve materials
and components by means of virtual testing and virtual processing.
• High-performance computer cluster (600+ Intel Xeon CPU cores and NVIDIA GPU acceleration leading to a computational
power of 90 Tflops).
• In-house developed simulation tools.
• Commercial and open source software tools for modelling and simulation in Materials Science and Enginnering (CALPHAD, DICTRA, Micress, Abaqus, LSDyna, PamCrash, LAMMPS, etc.).
Fire resistance
• Rapid laboratory scale tests for screening (micro-scale combustion calorimetry and oxygen index).
• Dual cone calorimetry and UL94 Horizonal/Vertical Flame Chamber.
Thermal
• DSC, TGA and Hot Disk Thermal Conductivity analyse. Thermal behaviour of mechanical properties, DMA and rheology. Horizontal.
• Pushrod Dilatomer for the measurement of dimensional changes.
Electrochemical
• Electrochemical characterisation of energy storage devices (Liion, Li-S, Li-O2, Na-ion, and hybrid batteries). Simultaneous
testing of 100 batteries can be performed using multichannel battery tester.
IMDEA Materials provides experimental support for academic and industrial collaborators for the characterization of samples of different nature through the following techniques:
