Nano and Pico Characterization (NPC) Laboratory
The NPC Technology Center offers a curated collection of high-end scientific instrumentation to enable the physicochemical characterization of nanoscale materials, devices, and systems under a wide range of experimental conditions. Our technical capabilities and expertise include surface analysis by Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM); hydrodynamic size and surface charge analysis by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Zeta Potential (ZP) measurements; elemental and chemical analysis by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS).
Application Areas:
- Biomaterials
- Semiconductors and devices
- Energy harvesting/storage
- (Nano)drug delivery
- Environment
- Food
Physicochemical Properties:
- Surface analysis
- Topography & roughness
- Electrical & magnetic
- Mechanical
- Shape, size, dispersity
- Dissolution kinetics
- Compositional and isotopic analysis
Available Instruments:
- Scanning Probe Microoscopy
- Optical Profilometry
- Dynamic Light Scattering
- Electrokinetic Analysis
- Zeta Potential
- ICP – Optical Emmision Spectrometry
- ICP – Mass Spectrometry
Featured News
May 3, 2022 | UCLA researchers develop non-destructive image processing method for advanced cancer research
A team led by Professor Shimon Weiss and former PhD student Arkaprabha Basu has developed an image processing technique, SPOCC, which quantifies cytoskeletal properties using microscopic images. UCLA researchers develop non-destructive...
February 23, 2022 | Advanced mass spectrometer comes to the CNSI Nano and Pico Characterization Lab
A resource new to UCLA’s Nano and Pico Characterization Laboratory (NPC) will offer researchers the opportunity to interrogate the physical and chemical properties of materials down to the nanoscale and beyond. Advanced mass spectrometer...
February 7, 2022 | Sweating the small stuff: Smartwatch developed at UCLA measures key stress hormone
Now, a UCLA research team has developed a device that could be a major step forward: a smartwatch that assesses cortisol levels found in sweat — accurately, noninvasively and in real time. Described in a study published in Science Advances, the technology could offer wearers the ability to read and react to an essential biochemical indicator of stress.
August 1, 2020 |Neuromorphic Chips Take Shape
The concept of a brain-like computing architecture, conceived in the late 1980s by California Institute of Technology professor Carver Mead, is suddenly taking shape. August 1, 2020 |Neuromorphic Chips Take Shape By Samuel Greengard Intel combines 64 of its Loihi...
December 19, 2019 | Introducing new capabilities for biomechanics of cells and tissues in the NPC Technology Center
Now combined with both a confocal (Zeiss LSM5) and stereomicroscope (Leica M205 FCA), this state-of-the-art, multimodal system combines the power of two established techniques to interrogate the role of biomechanics in natural systems and as a platform for the...
August 20, 2019 | New Nanoparticle Analyzer Available Through November 2019
The nCS1 is a leading-edge technology that measures the concentration and size of particles ranging from 50 nanometers to 10 microns diameter in a liquid. The technology uses Microfluidic Resistive Pulse Sensing (MRPS), which is an electrical (non-optical) method for...