Laboratory:

The Department of Biomaterials Science occupies approximately 6000 sq. ft. of laboratory space in the Sciences Building at Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry.  The space allocated for the department includes areas for casting and mechanical testing, scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffractometry, computing, porcelain processing, inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy, corrosion evaluation, thermal analysis (dilatometer), argon-arc melting furnace, grindability test apparatus, facilities for specimen preparation, and chemical storage.

Equipment Available:

Selec Ticast Super R titanium casting unit

Selec Selecast Super R titanium casting unit

GC Autocast HC-III titanium casting unit

JEOL JSM-6300 scanning electron microscope (SEM) with Pioneer Si/Li energy dispersive x-ray compositional analysis (EDS)

Denton Vacuum plasma coater for gold-palladium and carbon coatings (2 units)

Nikon Epiphot 200 inverted optical microscope (40-1000x)

Zeiss Videoplan 2 optical microscope (40-800x) bright/dark field, differential interference, and polar mode

Zeiss Photomicroscope (0.8-5X, large depth-of-field stereoscopic)

MTS Minibionix II servohydraulic test machine (1kN and 5kN load cells)

Instron 5567 universal test machine (1000 lb, 20,000 lb and 5kN load cells) with Instron temperature controller

Struers FM-7 digital microhardness tester (50-1000 g, Vickers and Knoop diamonds)

Tukon MO hardness tester (200-5000 g, Vickers and Knoop diamonds)

Rigaku Miniflex CN2005 x-ray diffractometer (XRD) with computerized peak matching

Shimadzu TGA-50 thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) (1500^oC maximum, +/- 0.2 mg)

PerkinELmer Scieux Elan DRC II inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS)

IVI argon arc melting furnace

Shimadzu DSC-50 differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) (725^oC maximum, +/- 0.01 mW)

Custom acid-reflux chemical solubility apparatus (50 mL reflux volume)

Custom peristaltic-flow ionic leaching apparatus (0.15-700 mL/hr, 4 simultaneous specimens)

Custom thermal cycling apparatus (0^oC and 37^oC fluidized baths)

Neslab Exacal EX_200B recirculating heated water bath (100^oC maximum, +/- 0.1^oC, 800 W, 15 L/min)

Varian Spectra AA-20 atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AA) cold vapor, flame, & graphite tube modes

Lindberg tube furnace (1200^oC maximum)

Ney Centurion Q200 vacuum furnace (1204^oC maximum, 25 torr minimum)

Jelenko Accu-Therm II burnout furnace (1093^oC maximum)

Buehler Isomet low-speed diamond saws (oil- and water-lubricated) (2 units)

Allied High Tech TECHCUT 5 Precision Sectioning Machine

Demco Fast Cutting Machine

Buehler Ecomet 3 variable-speed grinder/polisher stations (3 units)

Mitutoyo Surftest 402 surface roughness tester

Mitutoyo 543-452B thickness guage +/- um precision)

Buehler Phoenix Beta grinder/polisher with Vector power head (20-330 N, 6 specimens, central and single force modes)

Buehler Simplimet 3 mounting press

Norton jar roller mill

South Bay Technology lapping fixtures (38.1 mm maximum diameter) (2 units)

Sartorius Basic digital balance

Ohaus Analytical Plus (+/- 0.00001 g)

Ohaus Density Determining Kit (P/N 77402-00)

Princeton Applied Research Potentiostat/Galvanostat Model 273

Princeton Applied Research Potentiostat/Galvanostat Model 273A

Millipore Milli-@PLUS

Dayton 8" Bench Grinder

NDI Blastmate II, sandblasting unit

The 350+ computer systems at Baylor are linked through a Windows XP intranet. This LAN has a T-1 high-speed connection to the Internet.  Faculty and office staff each has a Windows-based system, and the technical staff shares a pool of four Windows systems in addition to the systems that control the laboratory equipment.

Office:

Office space is available for the investigator.  Two office assistants provide grant support including manuscript preparation, correspondence and budgetary assistance.

Other:

The Baylor Medical Center library has over 37,000 volumes and offers full text electronic access to journals through Science Direct.  In addition, the Dept. of Biomaterials Science has its own library of approximately 200 books on materials science and numerous periodicals on dental materials, metallurgy, and casting.