The TSU collective use center Analytical Center for the Geochemistry of Natural Systems has received a MIRA 3 LMU scanning electron microscope, which makes it possible to conduct research in the nanometer range and obtain an increase in power from 2 to 1 million times. It will be used for basic and applied research in chemistry, geology, and physics, in particular, for research to improve the properties of nano- and biomaterials.
- The equipment was supplied by TESCAN (Czech Republic), a world-famous manufacturer of scanning electron microscopes,- says Dmitry Lychagin, head of the Department of Mineralogy and Geochemistry at the TSU Faculty of Geology and Geography. - A high-speed detector manufactured by the British company Oxford Instruments is installed on the microscope that determines the local chemical composition of a substance. The type and orientation of the crystal lattice is analyzed using an attachment for the diffraction of back-reflected electrons, which can be paired with an analyzer of chemical composition. This makes it possible to simultaneously obtain maps of the chemical composition and crystalline structure of the substance.
Along with this, the laboratory is equipped with an installation for ionic surface treatment of samples, which significantly expands the spectrum of the materials analyzed.
Many research teams are interested in using the MIRA 3 LMU microscope. So, for example, the employees of the TSU Medical Materials Laboratory have already begun researching their materials on the new equipment. This laboratory was the first in Russia to print nanoceramic implants to cover facial defects.
- In our case, the crystallographic identification of nano-objects - ceramics, bone material, and high-temperature ceramic composites - with the new equipment gives the most accurate use of biotechnology to create new materials, - explains Professor Sergey Kulkov, the head of the Laboratory of Medical Materials.- This will also increase our success in various competitions, including international ones, and will make it possible to publish research results in high-ranking international journals.
