- Electrospinning Equipment (E-Fiber EF100. SKE Research Equipment):
EF100 is a fully customizable, powerful, and highly versatile electrospinning platform for the preparation of various fibrous architectures with controlled fiber diameter and orientation. Its technology minimizes the influence on the electrospinning process. Electrospinning has been widely used in tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, wound dressings, and artificial organs. Poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) are the most commonly used polymers due to their slow degradation, high permeability to many drugs, non-toxicity, and high biocompatibility. The IMEM-BRT Group has extensive experience with these types of polymers. - Spin Coater Equipment: Material coating by centrifugation (WS-400BZ-6NPP/A1/AR1 Laurell Technologies Corporation). A polymer solution is distributed at the center of a substrate placed on a high-speed rotating support, and continuous rotation allows the solution to be deposited and the solvent to evaporate by centrifugal force. This equipment can coat other samples, prepare nanometric layers of polymer films, and be used to obtain polymeric nanomembranes.
- Low-Pressure Plasma Equipment: Radiofrequency (RF) low-pressure plasma equipment (80 MHz), using a 1000 W LFG generator (Diener Electronic GmbH Co., Germany) in a 2.5 dm³ chamber. The low-pressure plasma equipment allows the functionalization of polymer, metal, and ceramic surfaces to create new functional groups for subsequent chemical reactions and/or deposition of other material layers (multilayer systems). It can operate with various gases (O2, N2, CO2, air).
- UV-Visible Equipment for Photopolymerization: UV-visible lamps (365 nm and 405 nm, 230 V, 0.8 A) for photoreaction crosslinking.
- High-Pressure and High-Temperature Reactors: Custom stainless steel reactor with an interior chamber lined with perfluorinated polymer (120 mL). It has gas inlet and outlet ports to adapt to different gases. It can operate up to 200 °C and 20 bar pressure. This reactor is frequently used for the design of new catalysts.
- Jacketed Glass Reactor: Jacketed glass reactor with lid, equipped with mechanical agitation and speed controller, for polymerization reactions. It has a 500 mL capacity and product discharge at the bottom of the flask, which facilitates product isolation.
- Cryostat / Thermostat for Temperature Control of Polymerization Reactions by Circulation: Model F25-MC (Julabo) for controlling temperature variations from -28 °C to +200 °C, according to the needs of the polymerization system.
- Ultrasonic Homogenizer for Reducing Particles and Agglomerated Substances: Bandelin Sonopuls equipment with a steel tip and pulse or ultrasonic cycle controller. Model HD 2200/-U for volumes ranging from 200 μL to 1000 mL.
- Electrochemical Cells for Conductive Polymer Synthesis (Electrochemistry Laboratory Infrastructure).
The Innovation in Materials and Molecular Engineering Group for Biomaterials in Regenerative Therapies (IMEM-BRT) focuses on the development of innovative materials with technological applications. A highly qualified team with extensive experience in materials and advanced synthesis and characterization techniques is responsible for the latest advancements, especially in synthetic polymers, biopolymers, sustainable polymers (from renewable sources), compostable polymers, hybrid materials (modified with metals and ceramics), and conductive polymers. To achieve this, it is essential to carry out prior design of synthesis and optimization of polymerization processes and final product purification.
The goal of the Polymer Preparation and Surface Treatment Laboratory is to innovate and improve the efficiency of polymer materials and catalysts according to their applications. Another key objective is to transfer knowledge to the productive sector, which is why we hold licensed application patents with companies.
The laboratory has access to the infrastructures of the Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering (BRCMSE) at UPC, which is a María de Maeztu Excellence Center, to which it is affiliated.