CERCL’s consultants are generally able to use the extensive facilities in the University of Toronto on a fee-for-service basis. The University, with 50,000 students and thousands of laboratories, has a wide variety of both common and highly specialized facilities, many of which are not available elsewhere.
Listed below are some examples of the equipment available for consulting. More detailed information on equipment used in a particular area is available on the corresponding Expertise page.
Fees for Service
In addition to the consultants fees, the use of the facilities is subject to charges that are typically comparable to those that industrial labs would charge. This money is generally used to maintain and upgrade the equipment. Our consultants will provide an estimate of the cost of testing and analysis facilities for approval prior to performing any tests.
Microscopy
We have ready access to four scanning electron microscopes. We also have access to transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, laser confocal microscopy, optical microscopy, optical interferometers, profilometers and a variety of image analysis tools. We will shortly have access to a sophisticated x-ray micro-tomograph capable of imaging sub millimeter flaws inside solids.
Mechanical Testing
We have access to a wide range of static and dynamic mechanical testers, viscoelastic characterization equipment, impact and fracture mechanics testing, polymer rheology equipment, etc. Please contact the consultant whose expertise most closely matches your requirements for more information.
Thermal Analysis
We have access to Differential Scanning calorimetry and a variety of other thermal analysis facilities.
Chemical Analysis
We have a wide range of analysis facilities for bulk and surface characterization of materials. Facilities include FTIR, EDX, TOFSims, size exclusion chromatography (SEC) (also know as Gel Permeation Chromatography) etc.
Polymer Production Facilities
Many of our consultants have expertise in polymer synthesis and processing. We do bench scale polymer synthesis, mainly for the biomaterials area, but we have larger and commercial scale plastics processing equipment available, including kinetic mixers, labaratory compounders, injection molding machines, and extruders, and a variety of presses.