Consolidation and Improvement of Nanotechnology Research Facilities at the University of Kentucky

The Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CeNSE) was formed in 2004. In 2006 CeNSE consisted of four small laboratories located in the basement and third floors of the ASTeCC building on the central campus of the University of Kentucky. The equipment was wedged into the space with most of the utilities and gas cylinders strapped to the equipment. The lone particle protection device was a portable clean room which consistently ran at negative pressure thus pulling particles into the space. The Center used a single fume hood to do both solvent and acid processes. Additionally there were no temperature and humidity controls. These factors caused an issue with getting consistent results on experiments. The goal of this project was to consolidate and increase the effective size of the Center without increasing the number of rooms and to do so with a very limited budget.