CNR-ISOF is equipped with state-of-the-art laboratories dedicated to organic synthesis, materials chemistry, and the study of photochemical and photophysical processes. Our research infrastructures support the entire development cycle — from molecular design to characterization, and from materials synthesis to the analysis of complex nanosystems.
These facilities enable highly interdisciplinary research and foster collaborations with research institutes, universities, and industrial partners at national and international levels.
The laboratories focus on the design, modelling and synthesis of small molecules, nanoparticles, supramolecular complexes and photoactive systems for applications in materials science, catalysis and biology, integrating traditional synthetic methodologies and cutting-edge technologies and advanced purification techniques. The facilities include 35 fully equipped fume hoods dedicated to organic synthesis.
Bench-scale Laboratory Equipment
- ThalesNano H-Cube Pro hydrogenator – Flow reactor for advanced hydrogenation for a wide range of substrates.
- CEM Discover SP microwave reactor – 300 W power in both pressurized and open vessel modes.
- Vapourtech easy-Photochem E-series photochemical flow reactor (365-625 nm), variable temperature.
- Beckman Coulter Allegra 64R Benchtop refrigerated centrifuge, 30000 rpm; DLAB D3024 high-speed centrifuge, 15000 rpm.
- 5Pascal LIO-5PDGT freeze-dryers.
- BioChromato Smart C1 Universal turbo evaporator – rapid evaporation of small-volume, even for high-boiling solvents.
- Sartorius Cubis MSA125P-100-DA analytical balance – max. capacity: 120 g, readability: 0.01|0.1 mg.
- Teledyne Isco Combiflash RF200 purification systems.
- Vcell 55 forced-air laboratory oven with programmable time and temperature ramps, range 25-250 °C.
Structural and functional investigation of organic and bio‑organic molecules and materials with advanced spectroscopic and physico‑chemical techniques for molecular‑level characterization. These activities support both fundamental and applied research in fields such as photonics, electronics, water quality, and life sciences.
Molecular Characterization
- Agilent NMR 500 MHz DD2 System PremiumCompact Plus – single ADC console and OneNMR probe, nanoProbe and CP-MAS probe; NMR autosampler.
- Mercury Varian NMR 400 MHz – Varian autoswitchable probe.
- Agilent Cary 630 FTIR spectrometer with ATR sampling module – spectral range 7000-350 cm-1 (KBr).
- Thermo Scientific Trace 1300 GC-MS with direct probe system – mass range 70-1100 Da.
- Agilent 490 MicroGC with CP-Molsieve 5Å column (10 m).
- Elementar UNICUBE elemental analyzer for C, H, N, S and O.
- Merck-Hitachi LaChrom HPLC-GPC with UV and RI detectors.
Analytical Instrumentation
- Waters ACQUITY H-Class PLUS UPLC system – XEVO TQS Micro MS coupled system.
- Thermo Fisher Dionex Ultimate 3000 HPLC coupled with diode array and triple quadrupole MS Thermo Quantum Access Max; mass range 60-3000 Da.
- Perkin Elmer NexION 1000 ICP-MS, detection limit 5 ppm.
- Shimadzu Nexera XR HPLC system with photodiode array and spectrofluorimetric detectors.
The laboratories combine clean-room fabrication capabilities with a broad range of surface-sensitive and thermal analytical techniques.
Manufacturing & Processing
- Linari Engineering Nanotech electrospinning 40 kV.
- Class 10000 clean room with high-vacuum (10-6 mbar) deposition chambers, Spin casting from 0 to 4000 rpm and 1 to 20 cm2 sample dimension; UV-cleaning apparatus.
- MBraun glovebox MB-20-G-W.
- Deposition systems: Spin-coating, Doctor Blade, Dip Coating.
- 3D bioprinting REG-4-LIFE REGEMAT.
Materials Characterization
- X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy (XPS): Omicron ultra high vacuum system; Phoibos 100 Specs hemispherical analyser; XR50 SPECS X-ray source.
- Anton Paar MCR 102 rheometer.
- NanoBrook Omni DLS and zeta potential system.
- PerkinElmer Inc. DSC 8000.
- PerkinElmer Inc. TGA 4000.
Microscopy
- Bruker MultiMode 8 – NTMDT NTegra Scanning Probe Microscopy AFM, Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM), conductive AFM.
- Leica DMi8 inverted fluorescence microscope with a CCD Andor IXON Ultra 897 camera and an irradiation system with multiple wavelengths.
- Leica DMLS microscope with heating stage 350.
- Nikon ECLIPSE 80i fluorescence microscope with DS-2Mv digital camera system.
- NANOS scanning electron microscope (SEM) with secondary electron detector and backscattered electron detector.
Electrical Characterization
- Agilent 4294A precision impedance analyzer.
- System for time-of-flight (ToF) measurement with N2 laser at 337 nm.
- Keithley 236 source measure unit for photocurrent measurements.
- Keithley 2400 source meter for IV and SCLC measurements.
Design, synthesis, and optical characterization of molecules and materials across the UV-VIS-NIR spectral range. The laboratory covers both steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy, enabling the study of photophysical processes from femtoseconds to microseconds.
Steady-State
- UV-VIS spectrophotometers: Perkin Elmer Lambda 650 and Lambda 950 with integrating sphere accessory, Cary 3500 with temperature control.
- Edinburgh Instruments UV-VIS and UV-VIS-NIR FLS 920 spectrofluorimeters with thermo-cryostat and integrating sphere accessories.
- Jasco J-715 spectropolarimeter for circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy.
Time-Resolved
- Spectra Physics SOLSTICE-F-1K-230V femtosecond laser system with TOPAS prime optical parametric amplifier –Newport Spectra Physics – combined with a transient absorption spectrometer (HELIOS HE-VIS-NIR) – Ultrafast Systems – and a streak camera synchroscan – Hamamatsu.
- Newport Spectra Physics nanosecond laser INDI-40-10-HG.
- Single photon counting PicoQuant Fluotime 250 and HORIBA FluoroHub.
- Nikon A1 confocal fluorescence microscope with Picoquant modules for lifetime imaging (FLIM).
Light Sources and Measurement Systems
- Tunable light source.
- Solar simulators.
- Optical power and energy meters.
Spectroelectrochemistry
- Metrohm Autolab electrochemical workstations PGSTAT204 and 302N.
- Avantes AvaLight and AvaSpec fiber coupled light sources and CCD spectrometers.
- Redox.me spectroelectrochemical cells.
Biological characterization of molecular systems aimed at defining the structural, functional, and dynamic properties of biomolecules and their interactions in physiological and pathological contexts
Cell Biology
- STEMCELL Technologies hypoxia chamber.
- Thermo Scientific Varioskan microplate reader for high-throughput cell viability and cytotoxicity assays.
- Thermo Fisher Scientific Attune NxT flow cytometer for cell analysis.
- Quantitative Phase Imaging QPI-TOMOCUBE HT-2H.
Molecular Biology
- Bio-Rad ChemiDoc and GelDoc imaging systems for the detection of proteins and nucleic acids in gels and Western blots.
- Real-time PCR for gene expression analysis.
- Crisel – Laser scanning confocal microscopy spinning disk FLUO SPIN5 with OKOLAB system for live imaging.
- Patch clamp.