NASA Investigative Chemistry Laboratory (NICL)

NASA Investigative Chemistry Laboratory (NICL)

The NICL houses a full spectrum of state-of-the-art analytical instruments for both qualitative and quantitative analyses of non-volatile organics, volatile organics, inorganics, elements, and ions to meet diverse operational and research needs. The laboratory performs chemical analyses for identification of unknown contaminants/materials; supports failure analyses and testing for multiple programs; and provides real-time problem solving, testing, and support to multiple NASA and KSC programs.

NICL can provide microscopic imagery and analysis through use of a wide variety of techniques. The use of environmental Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectrometers (SEM/EDS), allows for high resolution imaging of the form and structure as well as elemental composition for both materials and life science applications on uncoated and nonconductive samples such as swabs or tape pulls. This resource can be used for a wide array of purposes including identification of contaminants or documentation of materials on an elemental level. Other microscopic techniques available within NICL include optical stereo microscopy with coaxial illumination, transmitted polarized light microscopy, differential interference contrast microscopy, and fluorescence microscopy (Blue-Green-UV). Complementary instrumentation for analysis of organic and inorganic samples include a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), a dispersive Raman spectrometer, and an x-ray powder diffraction (XRD) system.

The NICL can also provide a number of qualitative and quantitative analyses for solid, liquid, and gas samples. The laboratory houses both an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) for quantitative elemental analysis for matrices such as high purity water, plant materials, and alloy samples; a spark OES for alloy identification; a carbon/sulfur (C/S) analyzer for C/S content in metals, ores, ceramics, and other inorganic materials; and both microscopic x-ray fluorescence and portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometers for elemental and chemical analysis of materials. Additionally, there are also ion chromatographs equipped for anion and cation analysis as well as a high performance liquid chromatograph equipped with a diode array detector, fluorescence detector, and refractive index detector for analysis of organic analytes.

The NICL also houses state-of-the-art gas chromatographic (GC) instrumentation for qualitative and quantitative analysis of organic volatile liquids, residues, and gases. Instrumentation includes GC systems equipped with liquid, headspace/gas, and solid phase microextraction (SPME) autosamplers, a single quadrupole MS, a triple quadruple MS, flame ionization detector (FID), electron capture detector (ECD), thermal conductivity detector (TCD), and photoionization detector (PID).  The laboratory also has a cyrogenic preconcentrator for trace level gas (parts per billion level and lower) detection.

  • Wet Chemistry Laboratory with suite of capabilities including:
    • Chemical fume hoods, bench space, eyewash/safety shower
    • Precision analytical balances
    • Rotary evaporator, Soxhlet extractor, and RapidVap heated vacuum evaporator
    • Autotitrator
    • Melting point/boiling point determinator
    • pH/conductivity probes
    • Refrigerated centrifuge
    • Drying oven, muffle furnace, and vacuum oven
    • Microwave and hot block digestors
    • Heated water baths and sonicators
    • Gas pycnometer and rotational viscometer
  • Sample Preparation
    • Plasma Etcher
    • Gold coater with carbon accessory
    • Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) system
    • Sample sectioning equipment
  • Microscopy:
    • Optical stereomicroscopes with coaxial illumination
    • Transmitted polarized light microscope
    • Fluorescence microscope (Blue-Green-UV)
    • Scanning electron microscope with energy and wavelength dispersive spectrometers (SEM-EDS/WDS)
    • Single particle handling and analysis techniques
  • Spectroscopy/Spectrometry:
    • Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) equipped with microscope, attenuated total reflectance (ATR), horizontal ATR (HATR – flat and trough), and diffuse reflectance (DRIFTS) accessories
    • Raman spectrometer
    • X-ray Diffraction (XRD)
    • Micro x-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF)
    • Portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF)
    • Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES)
    • Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS)
    • Glow Discharge Spectrometer
    • Carbon/sulfur analyzer
    • Direct Analysis Real Time (DART) analyzer with time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometer
  • Chromatography:
    • Ion chromatograph (IC) with suppressed conductivity detection for anions and cations
    • High performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) with diode array detector, refractive index detector, fluorescence detector, and post-column derivatization system
    • Gas Chromatography: Multiple gas chromatography (GC) systems equipped with:
      • Liquid, headspace/gas, and solid phase microextraction (SPME) autosamplers
      • Single and triple quadrupole mass spectrometers (MS)
      • Flame ionization detector (FID), electron capture detector (ECD), thermal conductivity detector (TCD), and photoionization detector (PID)
    • Cryogenic preconcentrator for trace level gas detection
NASA Investigative Chemistry Laboratory
No Caption
NASA Investigative Chemistry Laboratory
No Caption
NASA Investigative Chemistry Laboratory
No Caption