Material Preparation and Characterization
The Materials and Manufacturing Research Center (MMRC) is an interdisciplinary research and education center of excellence with over 1200 square feet of laboratory space. Located within the Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department at Virginia Commonwealth University, the center aims to promote the highest quality research and educational experiences to the MNE’s diverse population of undergraduate and graduate students. Through development, processing, manufacturing, and characterization of advanced materials, the MMRC will be prominently distinct in four research thrust areas:
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Advanced Magnetic Materials for Energy and Power Conversion;
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Tribology of Material Systems;
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Extreme Environment Materials;
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Biomaterials for Theranostic Platforms.
The research activities of the faculty are supported by companies and federal agencies including NSF, DOE, DOD, and NIH.
Processing
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Spin coater
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Autoclave
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Microscope
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Diamond Band Saw
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Ball Mill
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Polisher
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Thermal Evaporator (800 A)
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Thermolyne Furnace, Muffle (1100 °C)
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Vacuum - Tube Furnace (1200 °C)
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High-Vacuum Furnace – CryoTorr Pump (1800 °C)
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High-Frequency Induction Furnace – 7.5 kW -
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Vacuum oven (300 °C)
Characterization
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Sigmatone probe station
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Micro Impact Tester
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Hardness Tester
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Spark Emission Spectrometer (Oxford Instruments)
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Ellipsometer (SE 800)
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Tabletop SEM - Phenom ProX with EDX detector.
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AFM Nanosurf Easyscan 2 STM
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Rigaku XRD Miniflex 6G HyPix-400MF detector (Anton Park Heating Stage- Ambient to 500 °C – Vacuum or Controlled atmosphere)
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Optical microscope (Nikon Optiphot)
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Reactive Ion Etching (OptiGlow)
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Magnetocaloric testing device
Advanced Characterization Support
For high-resolution imaging, surface analysis, and elemental mapping, AM2P researchers utilize the Nanomaterials Core Characterization (NCC) facility at VCU. NCC provides access to advanced microscopy (SEM, TEM), X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and other tools essential for structure–property investigations at the nano- and microscale.
Computational Resources
Data-intensive research, multiscale modeling, and machine learning are supported by VCU’s High Performance Research Computing (HPRC), which offers scalable computing clusters and secure storage solutions for large-scale simulations and analytics.
Industry Collaboration through CCAM
As a member of the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM), the AM2P Research Group has access to cutting-edge industrial equipment, applied research and development opportunities, and a collaborative innovation ecosystem that bridges academia and industry. This partnership enhances translational research efforts and provides a pathway to scale and validate advanced manufacturing technologies in real-world settings.
