Facilities & Instrumentation

The facilities and instrumentation in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at DU provide direct hands-on access to state-of-the-art equipment and our size allows for extensive hands-on experience. Much of our instrumentation is shared by all researchers in the department including NMR, absorption and fluorescence spectrophotometers, mass spectrometers, laser scanning confocal microscopes, and more. 

Instrumentation Overview

Research groups also have a wide range of instrumentation in their lab which are specialized to specific research projects (TIRF microscope, Q-Exactive Orbitrap HRMS, FT-IR, Rheometer, ICP-MS), custom built (numerous EPR spectrometers, aerosol characterization instrumentation), or simply heavily used by a single research group (gloveboxes, spectrophotometers, FPLCs, HPLCs).

We are constantly working to acquire new cutting-edge or enabling instrumentation. Exciting highlights of new instrumentation in our department include a new 3-channel Bruker 600 MHz NMR with a Prodigy cryoprobe system thanks to a recent award from the Major Research Instrumentation Program, an Edinburgh Instruments FS5 Fluorometer with an integrating sphere for absolute determination of fluorescence quantum yield, and a new ICP-OES system. 

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is also proud of our responsible stewardship of precious He resources. We capture, compress, purify and reliquefy the evaporated He required for NMR magnets.

  • NMR and Helium Recovery
    Research Facilities (Located in SGM 173)
    • Bruker Avance III 500 - UltraShield Plus 500 Magnet, Broadband BBFO probe, VT capabilities, 24-position Sample Case. This instrument is currently prioritized for research use with some use by undergraduate labs.

     

    • Bruker Avance Neo 600 - Ascend 600 Magnet, Prodigy TCI-H&F/C/N CryoProbe, Prodigy nonstop CryoPlatform, VT capabilities, 24-position SampleCase Cooled. The acquisition of this instrument is supported by an award from the NSF MRI program (DBI-2320158).

     

    • Quantum Design helium recovery system - We are dedicated to responsible stewardship of finite helium resources, investing in an efficient helium recovery system. Evaporated He is captured in bags and compressed into standard gas tanks. The gas is then purified and liquefied in Professor Barry Zink's lab (Physics).

       

    Teaching Instrumentation
    • Benchtop 60 MHz NMReady spectrometer - This room temperature magnet is used for routine analysis in undergraduate labs.

     

  • Mass Spectrometery
    Shared Instrumentation
    • Shimadzu LCMS 9030 QTOF - High-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer designed for accurate mass measurement and advanced structural analysis. Mass resolution of up to 100,000 FWHM and mass accuracy capabilities of <1 ppm. Full-scan MS, targeted MS/MS, data-dependent acquisition, and data-independent acquisition equip with a dual ionization source (ESI/APCI). (SGM 259A, shared research instrument)

     

    • Agilent LCMS 6120 (with 1260 HPLC) - Single quadrupole mass spectrometer coupled with the 1260 Infinity HPLC system. Full scan and selected ion monitoring equip with a dual ESI/APCI ionization source. Mass Range of 10 to 1,500 m/z. (SGM 259A, shared research and teaching instrument)

     

    • Agilent 5977B GC-MSD - coupled with the Agilent 7820A GC – single quadrupole mass analyzer with a mass range of 2 to 1050 m/z. Standard EI source with full scan, selected ion monitoring, and scan/SIM switching. (SGM 109, teaching instrument)

     

    Individual Lab Instrumentation
    • Thermo UPLC-MS Orbitrap HF Mass (Vanquishi UPLC, Q Exactive Orbitrap HF) - Full-scan MS, targeted MS/MS, data-dependent acquisition, and data-independent acquisition. Mass range of 50 to 6000 m/z, equip with ESI source providing mass resolution up to 240,000 FWHM. Ideal for metabolomic profiling and pathway analysis. (SGM 259, Research Instrument in the Allegra Aron Lab)

     

    • ICP-MS - Quadrupole mass analyzer with a mass range of 2 to 260 amu. Detection limits in the parts-per-trillion range with spectrum, time-resolved analysis, and mass-tuned analysis modes for versatile data collection. Ideal for applications in environmental testing. (SGM 143, Research instrument in the Brian Majestic Lab)

     

    • Refeyn TwoMP Mass Photometer - Label-free mass measurement of single biomolecules in solution. Mass range 30 kDa - 5 MDa with a resolution of 25 kDa @ 66 kDa and 60 kDa @ 660 kDa. (ECS 505 - KIHA, Research Instrument in the Scott Horowitz Lab)
  • Electron Paramagnetic Resonance

    The Center for Electron Paramagnetic Research EPR instrumentation at DU houses a number of commercial and custom built EPR spectrometers.

    • Bruker EMXplus  This is in the biochemistry lab and has the best X-band CW signal-to-noise 

    • Bruker EMX routine X-band CW 

    • Bruker EMXnano desktop X-band CW 

    • Bruker E580 pulse and CW X-band and Q-band; variable temperature from 4.2K to room temperature  

    • Bruker/DU E500T locally modified to perform X-band rapid scan and digital saturation recovery 

    • DU X-band saturation recovery spectrometer 

    • Bruker/DU L-band rapid scan spectrometer 

    • DU 250 MHz pulse, CW, and rapid scan spectrometer 

    • DU 700 and 1000 MHz pulse, CW, and rapid scan spectrometer

  • Optical Spectroscopy
    UV/Vis Spectrometers
    • Cary Bio 100 UV/Vis (SGM 259A, shared research and teaching instrument)

     

    • Shimadzu UV/Vis - (SGM 109, Teaching)

       

    Fluorescence Spectrometers
    • Edinburgh FS5 Fluorometer - TE Cooled Sample Holder (SC-25), Integrating Sphere (SC-30), automated polarization/anisotropy capabilities (SGM 259A, shared research and teaching instrument).

     

    • Cary Eclipse Fluorometers - multiple

       

    Circular Dichroism (CD)
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    Plate Readers
  • Microscopy
    Fluorescence Microscopes

    • Olympus Flouoview 3100 Point Scanning Confocal Microscope (SGM 315, Shared NSM Research)

       

    • Nikon TIRF Microscope with single molecule sensitivity (SGM 136, Research Instrument in the Knowles Lab)
  • IR Spectroscopy

    • Thermo Nicolet iS50 FT-IR - (SGM 239, Research Instrument in the Worrell Lab)

       

    • Mettler Toledo ReactIR - (SGM 239, Research Instrument in the Worrell Lab)
  • Materials Characterization

    • TOSOH EcoSEC GPC - (SGM 239, Research Instrument in the Worrell Lab)

       

    • TOSOH EcoSEC GPC with MALS - (SGM 243, Research Instrument in the Worrell Lab)

       

    • TA Instruments Hybrid Rheometer HR-20 - (SGM 259A, Research Instrument in the Worrell Lab)

       

    • PerkinElmer DSC - (SGM 239, Research Instrument in the Worrell Lab)

       

    • Shimadzu EZ-LZ Tensile Tester - (SGM 259A, Research Instrument in the Worrell Lab)
  • Miscellaneous Equipment

    SPS

    Automated Flash systems