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Materials Characterisation
The Department of Materials Engineering has a powerful complement of expertise and equipment for the characterisation of materials down to the atomic level. The advanced techniques available for materials characterization include scanning probe microscopy (STM, AFM and MFM), electron microscopy and atom probe field ion microscopy, x-ray diffraction, nuclear magnetic resonance, positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, thermal analysis, rheological characterization and electrical property measurements. The Department’s strength in Materials Characterisation derives not only from the expertise in each of these individual characterisation techniques but also from the range and complementarity of these techniques, which in combination provide an extraordinary capability for the comprehensive characterisation of materials.
Solid state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) characterisation of materials has been a strength in the department for more than 5 years with projects using this technique as a primary tool for structure and dynamics characterisation in polymers, ceramics, metal alloys and solid electrolyte materials. Recent ARC funding has led to the establishment of a Victorian NMR Network, for which Monash is the lead institution. The NMR diffusion capability is the only one of its kind in Australia.
Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS) is an important method for looking at defects in condensed matter on the Angstrom scale. The Department has international expertise in the application of PALS to polymers and was the first group to study the effect of polymer-polymer miscibility by PALS. This has been the subject of a number of invited talks at international conferences.
Active researchers in this area:
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