Facilities and services
The School offers a wide range of cutting-edge research and support facilities which are available to researchers within the School, as well as external academic and industrial researchers.
ScotCHEM
Applications to use the School's facilities are welcome from the chemistry departments, who enjoy the same access privileges as ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø researchers.
You can search the chemistry facilities available at other Scottish universities on the . Advice on Scotland's specialist facilities is available from .
Business outreach
The School of Chemistry welcomes approaches from local, Scottish, UK and global enterprises to collaborate on research projects and grant applications. The School also welcomes requests to use their extensive analytical services. See the business outreach page for more information.
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Biomedical Sciences Research Complex mass spectrometry and proteomics facility (not solely School of Chemistry instruments)
- A Thermo LCQ Fleet, a 3D quadrupole ion trap with ESI interface and Dionex u3000 HPLC. This LCMS instrument is used for analysis of small molecules and peptides with the MSn capabilities aiding structural identification (hands-on).
- A Sciex 4800 MALDI TOF/TOF Analyser. This instrument is predominantly used to identify proteins by analysis of proteolytic digests (normally trypsin) by MS and MSMS fragmentation. PTMs and other modifications can also be observed and mapped by interpretation of the MSMS fragmentation patterns. The instrument is also used for intact protein mass analysis and some polymer and small molecule analysis.
- A ABSciex 5600+, ESI MSMS mass spectrometer and Eksigent nanoflow HPLC. This MSMS instrument is used for the analysis of proteolytic digests of complex mixtures or low concentration samples and can be used for identification of proteins, their point mutations, and post-translational modifications. It is also used for quantitative proteomic techniques such as iTRAQ and SWATH.
- A Sciex 6600 ESI MSMS mass spectrometer and Eksigent microflow HPLC. This instrument is used for the analysis of biomolecules.
Contact
Dr Sally Shirran
Email: ss101@st-andrews.ac.uk -
The School of Chemistry has access to a local St Andrews HPC cluster with 3520 cores for high-performance computing. Most commonly used simulation and visualisation programs are available.
Contact
Dr Herbert Früchtl
Email: herbert.fruchtl@st-andrews.ac.uk
Phone: +44(0) 1334 46 7261 or +44(0) 1334 46 3750For other matters please contact the School Computing Officer:
Mr Fraser Kirk
Email: frk2@st-andrews.ac.uk
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The School of Chemistry provides St Andrews researchers and the wider academic and industrial communities with access to a range of scanning and transmission electron microscopes (SEMs and TEMs).
The facility houses 6 instruments in addition to sample preparation equipment:
- Confocal Raman spectrometer (Renishaw inVia Qontor) with various in situ Linkam stages.
- An electron probe microanalyser (EPMA – JEOL JXA-iSP100) with 5 wavelength dispersive X-ray spectrometers (WDS) and a panachromatic cathodoluminescence detector.
- W-filament SEM (JEOL IT200) equipped with an EDX detector – ideal for high throughput analysis.
- A FE-SEM (JEOL IT800, resolution down to ~ 1 nm) with an EDX detector and a soft X-ray emission spectrometer (SXES) for light element analysis.
- A dualbeam FIB/SEM (FEI Scios) with EBSD and EDX detectors for the preparation of TEM cross-sections, localised patterning, high resolution SEM imaging and crystallographic mapping.
- A probe-corrected (S)TEM (FEI Titan Themis) equipped with EDX and electron energy loss spectrometers (EELS) for atomic resolution analysis.
Contact
Dr Aaron Naden
Email: e-micro@st-andrews.ac.uk
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Continuous wave EPR is available on a Bruker EMXplus spectrometer at X-band (9.5 GHz) with variable temperature capability (4 K – 500 K) and special holders for aqueous liquid samples (flat cell and AquaX).
Pulse EPR is available on a Bruker Elexsys E580 spectrometer at X-band (9.5 GHz) with a cryogen free variable temperature cryostat (1.5 K – 300 K) and ELDOR (two microwave frequencies), ENDOR (radiofrequency excitation) and AWG (arbitrary waveform excitation) upgrades.
Contact
Dr Bela Bode
Email: beb2@st-andrews.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 3869For more information on EPR research and applications in St Andrews, please visit the .
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The Electronics workshop collaborates with academic, research and teaching staff to provide a technical service.
The Electronics Workshop provides the following technical services:
- Electrical and Electronic Instrument maintenance, test and repairs.
- Electromechanical equipment maintenance and repairs.
- Routine Portable Appliance Safety Testing (P.A.T.)
- Provides advice and guidance on a range Electrical and Electronic projects and issues.
- Design & Construction of custom Laboratory Equipment.
- Integrate the design of mechanical requirements with Electronics.
- Interface instruments to computer systems and computer-based equipment.
The Electronics workshop has a Stock of Electronic Components & Consumables – cables, connectors etc
The range of Electronic test equipment includes oscilloscopes, multi-meters, waveform generators, power supplies etc
Contact
Visit the Electronics Workshop room 104j/205a in the Purdie Building adjacent to the Chemistry Mechanical Workshop.
Scott Filipovic
Email: sf75@st-andrews.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 1985 -
London Metropolitan University has an elemental analysis service and can only analyse for 4 Elements - carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and sulfur (CNHS). Additonal information on the service can be found here .
For submitting samples to the elemental analysis service at London Metropolitan University follow these steps:
- Fill out the standard order form requesting elemental analysis, stating the number of samples and grant code to be charged. Submit to Linda Brannan (Purdie Building, Room 214).
- Once the office generate an order number, note this on the Elemental analysis order form (Word) together with other requested informationm
- Please email a completed or to elementalanalysis@londonmet.ac.uk.
- A valid purchase order number must be emailed with the sample submission form.
- Samples must be sent in suitable vials with easy access to the sample.
- Air-sensitive samples are to be sent in a single glass ampoule vial (with an opening of at least 7mm) or a clear glass vial with a threaded screw cap.
- Do not send samples in flame melting point tubes as they are hazardous.
- All samples must be clearly labelled with your sample reference number.
- Please provide ca. 10 mg of sample.
- Pack your samples appropriately and post them (with the form) to the address given on the form.
If you require a quote, please email back the completed .
The results will be communicated by email, usually within a few days.
Prices
Sample type Price *
CHN analysis for stable sample (duplicate) £15
CHN analysis for air sensitive sample (duplicate) £22
CHNS analysis for stable sample (duplicate) £18
CHNS analysis for air sensitive sample (duplicate) £25
* Price excludes VAT -
Glass-blowing repairs and orders are now dealt with by in Stirling. Please for glass-blowing repairs and orders.
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The Chemistry Mass Spectrometry Accurate mass service offers mass spectrometry measurements to within 5ppm on the following instruments:
- Thermo Exactive Orbitrap. Ionisation techniques available are ESI (pos and neg) APcI (pos and neg) ASAP (pos).
- Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Exploris MX with Vanquish standard LC.
Samples are by submission to the service only.
Please contact Caroline Horsburgh (cerh@st-andrews.ac.uk) with a completed Mass spectrometry form (PDF) prior to sending your sample to discuss the aim of the analysis and the approaches to achieve the best results.
Samples should be submitted in very small sample vials in neat form. Samples that contaminate/ block the instrument shall be returned as unsuitable.
Contact
Mrs Caroline Horsburgh
Email: cerh@st-andrews.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 3790 -
Chemistry
The Chemistry Mechanical Workshop aims to provide a comprehensive service for all who need it, undertaking a wide range of design and manual work, including:
- Repair, maintenance and alteration of lab equipment (Vacuum pumps, chillers, etc),
- Work on compressed gas and vacuum systems,
- Work on existing lab/building fixtures and fittings,
- Manufacture and alteration of small bespoke pieces using the workshop machinery here,
- Everything in between!
Feel free to pop into 104k (next to stores) with any issues you may need assistance with.
Contact
Mr Jack Bremner
Email: jb339@st-andrews.ac.uk
Phone: 01334 46 3798Physics
The Physics workshop offers the complete engineering package from design to delivery of anything research related.
It provides technical support for the design, manufacture and modification of bespoke and existing scientific equipment for teaching and research groups within the University.
The workshop team creates designs using the latest 3D CAD/CAM software to produce engineering drawings and solid models.
The workshop can manufacture precision machined parts and equipment using computer numeric controlled (CNC) machines as well as conventional milling/turning/grinding/wire eroding/welding and precision fitting techniques.
Contact
Mr Drew Anderson
Technical Specialist (Mechanical Workshop)
Email: ada8@st-andrews.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 3276Mr Mark Robertson
Technical Manager (Mechanical Workshop)
Email: msfr@st-andrews.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 3191 -
The School currently has six powder x-ray diffractometers. The current facility comprises:
- three PANalytical Empyrean diffractometers
- a Rigaku Miniflex diffractometer operating in reflection geometry
- double Stoe diffractometer operating in transmission, capillary, mode.
Contact
Dr Oxana Magdysyuk
Email: om58@st-andrews.ac.uk -
Renishaw inVia Qontor confocal Raman spectrometer. See Electron Microscopy Facility website
Contact
Aaron Naden
Email: e-micro@st-andrews.ac.uk -
Scottish Centre for Interdisciplinary Surface Spectroscopy (SCISS)
The Scottish Centre for Interdisciplinary Surface Spectroscopy (SCISS) is a collaborative centre established in 2008 at the University of St Andrews by the , through an SRDG grant (£1.65 million SFC, and £0.95 million University of St Andrews). It focuses on real and momentum-space resolved electron spectroscopies applied to complex materials.
SCISS brings together several research groups from the University of St Andrews to form a cluster of excellence in solid state physics, solid state chemistry, and characterisation of functional materials. Their competences are multidisciplinary and cover:
- correlated electron physics
- heterogeneous catalysis
- molecular electronics
- density functional theory
- graphene, fullerenes, and other carbon allotropes
- topological phases
- supramolecular architectures
- and much more.
The SCISS laboratories are located both at the School of Chemistry and the School of Physics and Astronomy, and host a variety of state-of-the-art instruments such as STM/AFM, ARPES, and XPS. They also make use of national and international synchrotron facilities (for example, Diamond), as well as national super-computing facilities.
Contact
Renald Schaub
Email: rs51@st-andrews.ac.uk -
The Single Crystal X-ray Diffraction Facility provides a molecular structure determination service to researchers in the School of Chemistry as well as researchers in other Schools in the University, and to external collaborators. Routine data collection is at low temperature (100 K or 173 K) under nitrogen gas for both Mo and Cu radiation. Data collection is possible across a range of temperatures from 80 to 400 K. The facility currently includes the following instruments:
- Two Rigaku XtaLAB Synergy-S diffractometers (one Mo radiation, one Cu), each incorporating a PhotonJet-S MAX microfocus sealed-tube X-ray source and a HyPix-Arc 100° Hybrid Photon Counting (HPC) detector. Each of them is equipped with an Oxford Cobra cryosystem.
- Rigaku SCX Mini, sealed tube generator, SHINE Optic, Mo Radiation, with Mercury CCD detector and Oxford DTC cryosystem
For X-ray structure determination, please bring your crystals to Dr Cordes (427). Generally, do NOT remove them from solvent if they were grown in solvent. The X-Ray Submission Form (Word) will need to be completed, but this can be done after the crystals are evaluated.
Contact
Dr David Cordes
Email: dbc21@st-andrews.ac.uk (preferably by email in the first instance)
Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 3874 -
A solid-state NMR service is available with access to 400 MHz HFXY and 600 MHz HXY Bruker Avance III spectrometers. The service has implemented a wide range of double and triple-resonance experiments. In addition to routine experiments, the service has fast MAS (up to 40 kHz on the 400 MHz machine and 60 kHz on the 600 MHz machine) and variable-temperature capabilities (–10 to +120 °C with MAS, down to –100 °C for static samples).
Contact
Dr Daniel Dawson
Email: dmd7@st-andrews.ac.ukFor more information on research in solid-state NMR at St Andrews, please refer to .
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The department has six nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers for NMR spectroscopy of samples in solution.
The routine service work is served by three instruments:
- Bruker AV-IV NEO 400
- Bruker AV-III HD 400
- Bruker AV-II 400
All three low field instruments are equipped by BBFO probes that allow you to acquire spectra of any nuclei in the range of frequencies from 19F to 15N.
The department also has a Bruker AV-III HD 500 with four frequency channels and can be equipped with a wide portfolio of room temperature probes including BBFO+, BBI, 1.7mm 1H-13C-15N TXI and 1H-19F-BB TBO. It also has the capability of recording spectra at variable temperatures within the range from 200 to 370 K.
Other Bruker AV-III 500 and Bruker HD 700 instruments are both equipped with nitrogen-cooled Prodigy cryoprobes with direct observed (BBO) and inverse triple resonance geometry (TXI), respectively.
All six instruments are equipped with automatic sample changers and utilise a high level of automation that is controlled by in-house developed .
See the .
Contact
Dr Tomas Lebl
Email: tl12@st-andrews.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 7264Dr Siobhan Smith
Email: srs9@st-andrews.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 7264 -
Purdie Stores provides a source for commonly used laboratory supplies, including solvents, gases, labware, and safety equipment. The store manages external deliveries, maintain adequate stock levels, and offer notifications for order collection, ensuring a smooth process for the School of Chemistry’s research needs.
Stores are located on level 1 of the Purdie Building, Room 134.
To view the stores item inventory, price list and make an order, please go to
Opening hours (Excludes University closure days and bank holidays):
Monday - Friday- 9am to 12pm
- 2pm to 4pm
Contact
Email: purdie-stores@st-andrews.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 3784 -
The School currently has the following capability:
- UHV variable-temperature Omicron Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)
- UHV CreaTec low-temperature (4K) Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM with qPlus AFM) capable of single molecule electronic spectroscopy, vibrational spectroscopy and manipulation
- Four Molecular Imaging STM instruments, all of which work in ambient and electrochemical environments and are also capable of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)
- Two further AFM instruments.
- UHV Nicolet FTIR with polarisation modulation (PM) and ATR attachment.
- Digilab FTIR system with Specac diffuse reflectance accessory and online Hiden QMS for DRIFTS/MS measurements on powder catalysts.
- Scienta X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) with monochromatic source.
- UHV High Resolution Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (HREELS) system.
- UHV LEED/AES/TPD/high pressure cell and gas chromatograph.
- UHV quartz micro-balance system.
- Tensiometer for contact angle measurements.
Contact
Dr Steve Francis
Email: smf6@st-andrews.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 2273 -
Porosimetry
- Hiden IGA; CO2 and N2 adsorption by gravimetric method.
- Micromeritics Accupyc 1340 series Gas Pycnometer: measures true density by gas displacement.
- Micromeritics ASAP 2020 Accelerated Surface Area and Porosimetry System
- Micromeritics Tristar ii Surface Area and Porosity Instrument with VacPrep 061 Degasser
- Micromeritics 3Flex Surface area and microporosity analysis.
Thermal Analysis
Thermogravimetric analysis
For thermal analysis (TG, DTA, DSC, DIL), materials should be tested in a high temperature furnace prior to analysis for reaction with alumina, Al2O3, as this is most often the crucible material.
Simultaneous Thermal Analysis (TGA and DTA/DSC)
- Netzsch STA 449F5 with QMS403 Mass Spec: TGA/DTA or TGA/DSC coupled to a Aeolos Quadro mass spectrometer (300amu) for evolved gas analysis.
- Two Netzsch STA 449C, simultaneous TG-DTA or DSC.
- Stanton Redcroft STA-780 simultaneous TG-DTA: RT–1000°C.
Differential Scanning Calorimetry
- Netzsch DSC 204 F1: range -170°C to 600°C.
Thermal Expansion
- Netzsch Dilatometer DIL402C.
Spectroscopic Analysis
UV/Vis/IR
- UV/Vis: Jasco V650 – for solid or liquid samples
- FTiR: Shimadzu IRAffinity 1S IR Spectrometer – for solid or liquid samples
The instruments are in the Materials Characterisation Suite on Level 2 in the Purdie Building, rooms 217A-J
Get in touch to discuss any sample analysis you need done. Visit our spectroscopic analysis specialist to discuss any sample analysis requirements. They are in room 217J in the Purdie Building (through the PXRD room 217H on level 2).
Contact
Dr Gavin Peters
Email: gsp@st-andrews.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1334 46 3697