ESP LABORATORIES. Fully equipped fume hoods and wet chemistry benches. A scanning electron microscope with sub-micron elemental mapping capabilities

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Ella Leonard
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ESP LABORATORIES ESP Multidisciplinary Laboratory The ESP Multidisciplinary Laboratory is home to the Nano-Energy Lab, which is led by A/Prof Ho Ghim Wei.

Essential characterization equipment such as optical and electron microscopes, UV-Vis, FTIR, fluorescence spectroscopes and gas chromatographs are also located within the facility.

1 ESP LABORATORIES ESP Multidisciplinary Laboratory The ESP Multidisciplinary Laboratory is home to the Nano-Energy Lab, which is led by A/Prof Ho Ghim Wei. The lab houses a comprehensive array of equipment dedicated to the chemical synthesis of nanomaterials for clean energy conversion and environmental sustainability. Essential characterization equipment such as optical and electron microscopes, UV-Vis, FTIR, fluorescence spectroscopes and gas chromatographs are also located within the facility. Fully equipped fume hoods and wet chemistry benches To date, the lab has developed core competencies that include hierarchical metal oxide and sulfide nanostructure synthesis, chemical synthesis of plasmonic nanoparticles, and core-shell configurations of nanoparticles, nanowires and nanosheets. ESP students who chose to work in the area of nanomaterial synthesis can look forward to exploring a diverse range of energy/environment related R&D that strives to tackle real world issues, which are not limited to 3rd generation photovoltaics Photocatalytic hydrogen generation from waste water Membrane air/water purification technology Piezoelectric nano-generators Nanowire transparent conducting materials Hydro and aerogel catalysts Wet-synthesis of Graphene A scanning electron microscope with sub-micron elemental mapping capabilities The lab also houses graduate students and post-doctoral fellows from diverse backgrounds such as Chemistry, Physics, Electrical and Chemical Engineering, and Materials Science. Numerous ESP students who took up final year projects with the lab have benefited from the interdisciplinary culture of the researchers who worked alongside them.

ESP/CIBA Nanofabrication Laboratory ESP students electing to focus in the Nanoscience & Nanotechnology (NANO) or Photonics and Optics (PO) specialisations have the exciting and rewarding opportunity

Jeroen van Kan, and The ESP Imaging Lab/CIBA Photonics Lab also located at the Faculty of Science in the Physics Department under the supervision A/Prof.

2 ESP/CIBA Nanofabrication Laboratory ESP students electing to focus in the Nanoscience & Nanotechnology (NANO) or Photonics and Optics (PO) specialisations have the exciting and rewarding opportunity to be based at: The ESP/CIBA Nanofabrication Lab located at the Faculty of Science in the Physics Department, under the supervision of A/Prof. Jeroen van Kan, and The ESP Imaging Lab/CIBA Photonics Lab also located at the Faculty of Science in the Physics Department under the supervision A/Prof. Andrew Bettiol to work on research projects offered in the ESP 3902 Major Design Project I and Final Year Project modules. ESP/CIBA Nanofabrication Laboratory The laboratories are also part of the Centre for Ion Beam Applications (CIBA). CIBA is currently the world leader in the following areas of proton technology: proton microscopy, proton beam writing (3D nano-fabrication), proton spectroscopy (high resolution Rutherford backscattering for materials studies), and proton beam modification of materials at the nanoscale. In CIBA, A/Prof. Jeroen van Kan and A/Prof. Andrew Bettiol are two of CIBA s five Project Investigators, in the areas of Proton Beam Writing and Optical Materials and Devices respectively. For the ESP 3902 Major Design Project I module, Engineering Science students specializing in NANO and PO worked on various projects, such as: From left to right, PDMS preparation station, Photoresist spin coating and development station (in glove box), oven (below the workbench), RF-plasma cleaner, UV lithography station (in black housing), ultrasonicator, chemical workbench and sink 1. Top-down microfabrication of templating structures for selective growth of nanostructures by bottom-up synthesis methods for field emission studies (a collaborative project between students in the ESP/CIBA Nanofabrication Lab and ESP Multidisciplinary Lab). 2. Design, fabrication and characterisation of microfluidic lab-on-chip devices demonstrating fluid mixing and particle sorting capabilities in low Reynolds number regimes (a collaborative project between students in the ESP/CIBA Nanofabrication Lab and ESP Imaging Lab/CIBA Photonics Lab). 3. Preparation of nanometer thick resist layers for Scanning Probe Lithography applications and integration of a nanopositioning stage in a Scanning Tunnelling Microscope prototype. The Nanofab Lab is furnished with both cutting edge and conventional photolithographic, soft lithography and optical imaging equipment. A key equipment is a laser based table top micro pattern generator (the sole unit in the ASEAN region), also known as a laser writer.

ESP Imaging Laboratory/CIBA Photonics Laboratory The ESP Imaging Lab is setup with imaging stations, equipped with optical microscopes, imaging systems and fluidic pumps to observe and characterise

In early 2016, CIBA will be consolidating the CIBA Chem Room, CIBA ESP Bioimaging inverted Clean Room, ESP/CIBA Nanofabrication Lab and ESP Imaging Lab to fluorescence microscope become the CIBA

3 ESP Imaging Laboratory/CIBA Photonics Laboratory The ESP Imaging Lab is setup with imaging stations, equipped with optical microscopes, imaging systems and fluidic pumps to observe and characterise various phenomena at the micron scale, such as Brownian motion, C.elegans worm behaviour, fluid mixing, optical tweezing, and other particle sorting techniques. In early 2016, CIBA will be consolidating the CIBA Chem Room, CIBA ESP Bioimaging inverted Clean Room, ESP/CIBA Nanofabrication Lab and ESP Imaging Lab to fluorescence microscope become the CIBA Nanofabrication Facility. Thus, beginning in AY2016/17, some fortunate NANO & PO students will be able to work in a new teaching/research environment where nanoscale fabrication and imaging capabilities are housed under one roof. ESP Soft Materials Lab Led by Dr Adrian Koh, the Soft Materials Laboratory at the Advanced Robotics Centre specialises in analysing and synthesizing soft materials for usage in soft robotics, large-strain sensing and energy harvesting. Ongoing research activities include fabrication of soft active rubbers and characterisation of material properties for analysis and design. We use theory to inspire design and development of high performance robotics and energy harvesters. Equipment at ESP Soft Materials Lab To enable the research activities to be performed with precision and accuracy, the lab has two units of high voltage power supply, which supplies maximum voltages of 5kV and 60kV to charge the soft materials. The lab also hosts a low force, large displacement Universal Testing Machine (UTM) from Zwick for characterization of mechanical properties of soft materials, and a Dielectric Spectrometer to test dielectric constants at extremely low frequencies of operation. These devices allow materials to be characterized and appraised before they are adapted as soft actuators or stretchable generators. Our soft sensors may be used in rehabilitation, gaming and structural health monitoring. With soft actuators, sensors and stretchable generators, we wish to create high performance, low-cost and energy efficient robots for the next generation.

ESP Energy Systems Lab and Design Studio The 100 m 2 ESP Energy Systems Lab and Design Studio provide experimental facilities for the teaching and research related to energy systems.

Currently these facilities are used by 3rd year ESP and ME students for their on-going major design projects on Solar Solar simulator Powered Unmanned Vehicle.

4 ESP Energy Systems Lab and Design Studio The 100 m 2 ESP Energy Systems Lab and Design Studio provide experimental facilities for the teaching and research related to energy systems. Located at Engineering E , this Lab has advanced facilities for energy conversion by solar cells and energy storage using lithium batteries and super-capacitors. Currently these facilities are used by 3rd year ESP and ME students for their on-going major design projects on Solar Solar simulator Powered Unmanned Vehicle. In addition, students involved in internship, UROP and FYP also use these facilities. The major experimental facilities available in this lab include: Solar simulator for I-V Characteristics IPCE instrument for solar cells Doctor blade/roller press/glove box for lithium battery assembly Battery tester with 40 channels Tester for commercial type Li-ion batteries Fume chamber/vacuum oven Box-type furnace/tubular furnace for different gas environment Microwave furnace Microwave synthesizer DSC/TGA for thermal characterization Current source/voltmeter/electrometer Impedance analyser under different light irradiation X-ray diffractometer for structural characterization A/Prof Palani Balaya with the dual-side glove box Through teaching modules such as ESP3401 Photovoltaic Devices and Systems and ESP3902 Major Design Project, a great opportunity exists for introducing fundamental concepts related to renewable energy sources such as solar energy to ESP students. Students could implement the knowledge gained for their design and research projects. Thus, this lab has been a source of inspiration to ESP students by providing technological solutions through clean energy which they have presented in various competitions and won awards. For example, in AY 2008/2009 Chow Siew Wei, Kevin Pye, Wang Pai, Dilip Joy Thekkoodan and Foo Ce Yang presented their design project on "Solar Powered Golf Buggy" and received the NUS Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize, and later the High Achievement Award during 23rd Faculty Innovation & Research Competition in Based on their FYP work, Hwang Zhixiang and Ong Jin Yuan Malcolm received Merit Award during 27th Faculty Innovation & Research Competition in Also based on the UROP project under our guidance, Hwang Zhixiang was invited to give a Plenary Talk at the National Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) Congress 2013 on 16th March Several students have published their works based on their final year projects in leading journals.

5 As a reflection of the best learning they had through our teaching methodology, many ESP students did well after graduating. For example, Kevin Pye Phyo Nay Yaung received prestigious NRF-CEPO grant to do his PhD and joined Yale University; Siah Sin Cheng is reading PhD in MIT and Liu Licheng completed his PhD in SERIS. ESP Innovator s Laboratory The Innovator s ESP lab simultaneously functions as a project room, a seminar room, an outreach workshop venue, and an electronics laboratory. It was created two years before the launch of ESP by A/Prof Khursheed, who used it to conduct a General Education Module, called Modes of Invention. This course took in students from all departments, and aimed to provide students with a better understanding of scientific invention and discovery, primarily by using an experimental historical A/Prof Anjam Khursheed sharing classical approach. Lectures with live demos focused on case experiments with Physics teachers in Innovator s Lab studies on great inventions and discoveries in the history of electricity and magnetism, while students were given assignments to make up and recreate classic scientific instruments for themselves from simple readily available materials. In 2006, the Innovator s Lab was transformed to become part of ESP, and from then on, it became the venue for core ESP projects, as well as the venue for an Introduction to Electronics Course. It continues to run courses that focus on hands on invention and discovery. The Innovator s Lab houses hundreds of homemade scientific instruments and engineering devices that have been made by A/Prof Khursheed and his students over a period of approximately 13 years. Student projects as diverse as creating their own homemade antennas or sensor systems are run in the lab, and the recreation of classic experiments in the history of engineering and science continues. The lab is also frequently used as an outreach workshop venue for physics school teachers in Singapore, a forum for promoting a more hands-on historical way of teaching physics in schools.

Nano Materials and Devices

Nano Materials and Devices Professor Michael Austin Platform Technologies Research Institute Nano Materials and Devices Program Aim: to develop an integrated capability in nanotechnology Design and modelling