MERLIN - Materials Energy Research Lab in Nuclear

MERLIN is our active materials labs with capability for working with uranium compounds.
MERLIN is physically split into three areas:
- Materials Manufacture & Synthesis
- Materials Characterisation
- Thermal Hydraulics Laboratory
For access and information, please contact Dr. Simon Middleburgh.
Equipment List
Materials Manufacture & Synthesis
- Glovebox: MBraun LABStar
- for handling pyrophoric metal powders and small quantities of uranium
- Downflow Booth
- Ball Mill: Retsch PM 100
- Roller Mill
- Automatic Pellet Press
- Pellet press: Retsch
- Cold Isostatic press
- Suite of 3D printers including resin, ceramic, metal and plastic printers
- Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence Spectrometer
- Planetary ball mill
- Shaker Sieve Stack: Retsch AS200
- Vacuum furnace:
- Maximum temperature: 2200°C
- Atmosphere: Vacuum or
Inert gas.
- Tube furnace:
- Maximum temperature: 1800°C
- Atmosphere: air, inert gas or hydrogen.
- Vertical tube furnace:
- Maximum temperature: 1600°C
- Batch furnace: Carbolite CWF 1300
- Maximum temperature: 1300°C
- Drying Oven: Carbolite
- Fume hood
- Sectioning: Buehler Isomet High Speed with SiC and Diamond tipped blades.
- Metallographic and ceramographic preparation:
- Grinding and Polishing: Buehler EcoMet 30
- Mounting: Buehler SimpliMet 4000
- Spray Dryer: Yamato DL410
- Bottom-loaded Furnace: Carbolite Giro 30-3000C
- Arc Melter: MTI EQ-SP-MSM207
- Kiln for thermal treatment of large samples
- Centrifuge
- High Pressure Reactor capable of reaching 150 bar and 300 C, volume 100 ml.
- Pycnometer
- Fuser for production of glass discs and dissolution in liquids
- Suite of Analytical balances
Materials Characterisation
- Scanning electron microscope: Hitachi TM4000
- Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy: Oxford Instruments Aztec One
- Raman microscopy: Bruker SENTERRA II
- High temperature Mechanical Tester: Walter + Bai LFMZ-100-M 100kN Servo-Electrical Uniaxial test machine with 900 C Furnace
- Optical microscopy: Leica DM2700
- X-ray diffraction: Malvern Panalytical Aeris
- heated stage capability
- Simultaneous Thermal Analysis: Netzsch STA 449 F-series (information)
- Mass Spectrometry: Netzsch QMS 403 Aëolos Quadro
- Zeta Potential: Cordouan Technologies Wallis Zeta Potentiometer
- Viscometer
- Laser Flash for measurement of thermal properties of samples upto temperatures of 1600 C in air and in vacuum.
- Scintillation detector with high speed digital to analogue convertor

Thermal Hydraulics Laboratory
- BULLET: Please see more from clicking here
- THOR: Please see more from clicking here
Upcoming Projects / Equipment
- Glovebox with High Purity Ar
- Highg Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometer
- HEPA Filtered Gloveboxes for handling Radioactive Materials
- Dual Beam UV-Visible Spectrophometer
- Shielded Gamma and Scintillation Counters