Research Lab

Darcy Lab

The Darcy Lab offers unique MRI facilities specially equipped for researching the properties of technological porous materials.

Facility Sharing
Sharing possible

Scanning porous materials under extreme conditions

What is the process which is responsible for decay of concrete structures decay? How can we store solar heat in a thermal battery, so that we use it to warm our homes in winter? What happens in a chemical reactor full of catalysts, and when is liquid steel hot enough to burst a ceramic trough? The answers to all these questions can be found with the globally unique MRI facilities available at the Darcy Lab. 

Porous materials

What these questions all have in common is that their solutions lie in the properties of porous materials. In order to understand something of concrete decay, researchers must know such facts as how big are the pores in the material and which salts does the material contain. The same applies to the catalysts that accelerate a chemical reaction, and to a ceramic trough at Tata Steel. The MRI facilities at the Darcy Lab are specially equipped for examining the porosity and composition of materials. 

Extreme conditions

Extremely high temperatures are just some of the conditions under which Darcy Lab's MRI scanners can work. This enables researchers to study fires resistance of materials. Not only water molecules but all kinds of salts in the material can be localized with the scans. As well as images, the scan output includes numerical information useful for field testing mathematical models of, say, the drying process of the materials.

Unique research possibilities

Most MRI scanners are unable to scan materials that contain magnetic contaminants. The equipment at the Darcy Lab, by contrast, is specially equipped for this purpose. The MRI scanners make scans in less than a millisecond, roughly thirty times as fast as a standard machine. This is necessary because magnetic contaminants in the materials (such as iron) greatly accelerate the speed at which the signal decays. At the other extreme, it is possible to conduct experiments lasting several hours, or even a couple of months. Owing to this special combination of research options, the facilities of the Darcy Lab are globally unique. 

Cooperation

The research conducted at the Darcy Lab is usually inspired by real-life problems encountered in industry. Scientists at TU/e cooperate with other research institutions and companies such as AKZO, DSM, OCE, Rijkswaterstaat,TNO and Tata Steel. For more information, interested parties should contact Leo Pel. 

Visit our other state-of-the-art labs and facilities

Research Lab

Center for Multiscale Electron Microscopy

CMEM offers state-of-the-art facilities for the study of innovative molecules, materials, and processes.

Research Lab

CWTe lab facilities

The CWTe facilitates research on wireless systems and antennas, raising the Internet of Things to a higher level.

Research Lab

Equipment & Prototype Center

The  Equipment & Prototype Center (EPC) makes custom experimental setups and prototypes for various fields of research.

Research Lab

Future Fuels Lab

In the Future Fuels Lab scientists are researching green fuels and cleaner combustion methods for engines.

Research Lab

High Capacity Optical Transmission Lab

The High Capacity Optical Transmission Lab facilitates research on innovative optical fibers and signal processing techniques to enable…

Research Lab

Institute for Complex Molecular Systems Laboratory

ICMS/Lab facilitates the development and characterization of innovative materials from a molecular perspective.

Research Lab

Laboratory for Cell & Tissue Engineering

The Laboratory for Cell & Tissue Engineering facilitates culturing of autologous tissues across the full spectrum of the research field.

Research Lab

Microfab/Lab

The Microfab/Lab facilitates the development of new micromanufacturing technologies for use in life sciences applications.

Research Lab

Multiscale Lab

The Multiscale Lab facilitates research on the micro-mechanical deformation and failure behavior of a broad class of (innovative) materials…

Research Lab

NanoAccess

NanoAccess makes it possible to produce, process and analyze innovative materials with nanometer accuracy, without releasing the necessary…

Research Lab

NanoLabTUe

The NanoLabTUe offers a unique combination of equipment for developing optical chips and other applications based on compound semiconductor…