Lab presentation

The research group operates several laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation for production, material and surface characterisation.  The instrumentation is used for both research and third mission activities.  In detail, with the instrumentation at its disposal, it has the capacity to characterise the microstructure of materials, reaching atomic resolution. On the other hand, some instruments are useful for determining the mechanical properties of materials, both static and dynamic at high and low temperatures. There is also equipment to determine the durability of materials, i.e. the resistance of materials subjected to mechanical or chemical degradation. Not of secondary importance is the equipment used to determine the corrosion resistance of materials through advanced electrochemical tests. 

In addition to the characterisation equipment, there are also facilities that enable researchers to produce materials. In particular, there are pilot plants for the heat treatment of materials as well as for the production of coatings. The laboratory is also equipped with innovative instrumentation for 3D printing of polymeric materials.

A video presentation of the laboratories can be found at the following link.

Microstructural characterisation

  • SEM Scanning Electron Microscope + EDXS+EBSD microanalysis+ Micromechanical testing instrument (ZEISS Evo 40 + Oxford INCA X-Sight+Nordlys EBSD+DEBEN MT5000);

  • Atomic Force Microscope AFM (Veeco Multimode Scanning Kelvin Probe);

  • Optical Microscope (ZEISS Axiovert A1);

  • Optical Microscope (Olympus GX41);

  • Stereoscope Microscope (Olympus SX27);

  • Optical microscope (Leica);

  • Stereoscopic Microscopes (Olympus, Zeiss);

  • FE-SEM+EDXS Scanning Electron Microscope (JEOL JSM7610F+ + Oxford Aztec).

  • 2X Magnifier (Vizarm);

Mechanical characterisation

  • Vickers automated microhardness tester (Zwick/Roell Durascan 50 G5);

  • Rockwell and Brinell hardness tester (Zwick/Roell Durajet 10);

  • Fatigue and tensile testing machine (MTS 810);

  • Microhardness tester (Struers Duramin);

Surface characterisation

  • GDOES optical spectrometry (Horiba Jobin Yvon HR profiler);

  • Stylus profiler (Veeco dektak 150);

  • Atomic Force Microscope AFM (Veeco Multimode);

Durability testing

  • Wear test instrument (UMT3 CETR);

  • Fatigue and tensile testing machine (MTS 810);

  • Salt spray chamber (CO.FO.ME.GRA.);

  • Climatic chamber (Genviro);

  • Accelerated ageing chamber with UV and rain cycles (Ametek);

Electrochemical characterisation

  • Potentiostat/Galvanostat for electrochemical measurements (Autolab);

  • Multi-channel potentiostat (IPS);

  • Electrochemical microcell with potentiostat/galvanostat (IPS);

Pilot plants

  • Heat treatment pilot plant (Nabertherm Tool Hardening shop MH17).

  • Pilot plant for galvanic coating deposition (Caoduro);

Powder characterisation

  • Laser granulometer (Horiba);

  • Dynamic light scattering granulometer (Horiba);

  • SEM Scanning Electron Microscope + EDXS+EBSD microanalysis+ Micromechanical testing instrument (ZEISS Evo 40 + Oxford INCA X-Sight+Nordlys EBSD+DEBEN MT5000);

  • FE-SEM+EDXS Scanning Electron Microscope (JEOL JSM7610F+ + Oxford Aztec).

Sample preparation

  • Hot mountingmachine (Remet IPA30);

  • Water-cooled cut-off machine (Struers Labtom-3);

  • Chemical hood (Labtom 5003HIC);

  • Automatic polisher (Struers Tegrapol 3);

  • Workstation for metallographic sample preparation (Metkon);

  • Workstation for metallographic sample preparation (Qness Qpol300A1 Ecopiù);

  • Sintering furnace for ceramic materials (Geraetebau);

Characterisation of organic coatings

  • Colorimeter (Datacolor);

  • Pull-off tester (DeFelsko);

  • Portable conductivity tester (Sigmatest);

  • Dry magnetic thickness gauge (Karl Deutsch)

3D printing

  • Liquid resin 3D printer with washing and curing unit (Elegoo);


Personnel with access to the instrumentation listed above:

Lorenzo Fedrizzi, Stefano Maschio, Francesco Andreatta, Alex Lanzutti, Giovanni Capurso, Michele Magnan, Alfredo Rondinella, Matteo Zanocco, Francesco Sordetti, Michele Motta, Erica Tubaro, Franco Furlani, Erika Furlani.