iNANO has invested and continues to invest large resources in the establishment of a platform for nanoscale synthesis with relevance for materials science, medicine, and food-related interdisciplinary projects.

This involves areas of e.g. organic chemistry, protein chemistry, and nucleic acid chemistry, self-assembly of nanostructures and nanoparticle formulations – in addition to cultivation and analysis of cells and bacteria.

Synthesis in organic chemistry

At iNANO we have a large focus on organic synthesis, which is conducted in state of the art laboratories with all the necessary equipment for obtaining cutting edge research. We have access to two NMR machines (400 and 950 MHz), GC, LCMS, MS (MALDI-TOF) and several HPLC equipment for precise and qualitative characterization of the molecules we create.

Furthermore, we are employing air-sensitive metal catalysts for developing new and efficient reactions. Towards this end, we have two argon-filled gloveboxes at our disposal, which we use for handling these catalysts. With all this equipment at hand, we are able to develop new methodologies for more efficient access to pharmaceuticals and other valuable molecules.

Synthesis of nanoparticles

We routinely synthesize a broad variety of lipid, polymer or inorganic nanoparticles at iNANO using traditional methods (emulsification, extrusion, precipitation etc.) as well as more sophisticated approaches such as microfluidics. Diverse equipment for their characterization is available including optical and electronic microscopy, dynamic light scattering, atomic force microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, Raman, ultraviolet-visible and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer, or thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry.

Inorganic synthesis

We spearhead synthesis of advanced ”hard” materials – e.g. thermoelectric materials, ion-batteries, magnetic materials, nanoparticles and catalysts. In addition to this, we develop new types of equipment, software and methods to support our work. And we dispose of some of Northern Europe’s most cutting-edge laboratories for material chemistry.

Here, you’ll find anything from facilities for thermochemistry to supercritical flow synthesis, and mechano-chemical manufacturing. We have the advanced instruments for crystallography studies, which allows us to develop new materials through an in depth understanding of how atomic structures lends properties to materials in our everyday life.

Clean room synthesis

Our 120 m2 class-100 cleanroom research facility enables the fabrication of nanostructured materials and devices with state-of-the-art lithography resolution. It houses all the necessary equipment for silicon processing, including wet benches, mask aligner, furnace, sputter deposition, scanning electron microscopy, and plasma-enhanced physical vapor deposition. Read more about the cleanroom here.