Laboratory of electrochemistry

The e-chem lab is equipped for performing a wide spectrum of accurate and reliable photo-electrochemical characterizations of nanomaterials. Thanks to this lab, CIMaINa scientists are able to get detailed information about the surface chemistry, the electronic structure, and the morphological properties of these materials. Among the applications that could benefit from the results of the studies that are being carried out in the e-chem lab one can mention supercapacitors, solar cells, field-effect transistors.

The e-chem laboratory also hosts a BET facility, which exploits nitrogen adsorption to get quantitative information on the total surface area and porosity characteristics of powders, polymers, and nanostructured thin films (in particular it is possible to calculate the total surface area, the area and volume of micropores by means of the t-plot method, the pore size distribution by means of BJH analysis and total pore volume).

Scientific Equipment

  •     Sealed Glove Box equipped with oxygen and water sensors to work in a controlled atmosphere;
  •     Chemical ventilated hood;
  •     Safety ventilated cabinets for acids, bases and solvents, and gases;
  •     High-temperature oven;
  •     Ultrasonic bath;
  •     Hydrogen and Nitrogen generators (Claind HG2200, NG2301);
  •     Gemini surface area analyzer (Micromeritics 2365).

Photo-electrochemical characterization of nanostructured electrodes in inert nitrogen atmosphere

  •     DC short-arc 150W ozone-free Xenon lamp: (Lot-oriel LSN150);
  •     Monocromator: Lot-oriel Omni300 with grating 1200 l/mm (blaze 300nm) and grating 600 l/mm (blaze 750 nm);
  •     IR filter, optics and optical fibers;
  •     UV-VIS Si photodiodes (Hamamatsu S1227-1010BQ).
  •     Potentiostat/Galvanostat (Gamry Reference 600)
  •     SCE (Saturated Calomel Reference Electrode);
  •     Dr. Bob’s Cell;
  •     Home-buildt electrochemical cell.
  •     Optical setup for the light source intensity modulation
  •     Broadband electro-optic amplitude modulator (Thorlabs EO-AM-NR-C4);
  •     High voltage amplifier (Thorlabs HVA200);
  •     Glan Thompson Calcite Polarizer (Thorlabs GTH5M) with mounting and adapters;
  •     Optical breadboard 900x600x55 mm with a lightweight workstation (Thorlabs PBG52506).
  •     PXI data acquisition workstation (National Instruments);
  •     Oscilloscope, multimeters, function generators.

Referent: Paolo Piseri