The Analytical Services Unit (ASU) was established in 1995 as Laboratory of Analysis and Characterization of Solids (LACS). Since 4/1/2007 it’s name was changed to ASU. It occupies a total surface of 280 m².
The main objective of the Unit is to bring together all the analytical ilable in CPERI, in order toinstrumentation ava provide high quality, reliable and integrated material characterization both at routine level and at advanced fundamental level, that can support successfully applied research projects.
The general, long-term goals of the Unit focus on the establishment of a fully equipped and organized laboratory, that will be able to offer high quality analytical services to both, research projects and industrial private enterprises.The Unit has been accredited with ISO 9002 for the analytical services that it provides.
The Unit is in continuous collaboration with all the CPERI research laboratories and also with private enterprises, in order to ensure the necessary funding for the operation and maintenance of its personnel and equipment.

Mission of the Analytical Services Unit (ASU)
The Analytical Services Unit (ASU) will provide high-quality, cost-effective chemical analysis and related technical support to solve research problems of our clients – Chemical Process Engineering Research Institute, Universities, and others — and will conduct research and development in analytical chemistry applications

The Analytical Services Unit (ASU) is a service center, with the primary mission of providing a broad range of analytical chemistry support services to the scientific and engineering programs at CPERI. In addition, the ASU works on instrumental and methods development, and provides analytical services for governmental, educational, and industrial organizations. The ASU handles a wide range of analytical problems, from routine standard analyses to unique problems that require significant development of methods and techniques. The Analytical Services Unit (ASU) is administratively within the horizontal structure of CPERI and it role is to provide technical support for all the research groups of the Institute. The main objectives of the Unit were to bring together all the instrumentation available from the different research groups of CPERI, in order to provide basic characterization and analytical support services to all the research projects and to facilitate its accessibility to private enterprises (e.g. local industry, companies that are situated at the Incubator of the Technology Park etc.). The scientific and technological goals of the Unit are therefore oriented towards the better realization of the above role. ASU has already developed excellent experimental facilities and acquired high quality modern analytical instrumentation for the detailed physical, chemical and morphological characterization of inorganic materials, catalysts, polymers, membranes and molecular sieves. The most important goal of the unit is to continuously integrate, extend and upgrade the analytical services that it provides. This can be achieved by further improving its infrastructure with the acquisition of new, state-of the-art instrumentation. Material knowledge at the smallest observable level and exploration of locally appearing effects are considered the most essential needs. The purchase of powerful analytical instruments, of decisive importance for any future developments in material characterization, are continuously in the future strategic plans of ASU. The Unit has been organized in such a manner as to provide easy access of its analytical services to private enterprises. In our effort to achieve the best organization and also to assure the highest quality of our analytical services, the Unit has been accredited with the ISO 9002 certificate. Our QA/QC program has been established for our customers, to ensure them that their results are accurate and precise. The ASU has a sample receiving system that allows efficient processing of samples, including use of chain-of-custody forms. The ASU also has quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) systems in place to produce data packages that meet rigorous reporting requirements.The Unit is equipped in order to perform physical and chemical characterization of materials, mainly solids, by providing the following types of analyses:

• Morphology, nanoparticles size measurement, structural properties, crystalline phase characterization, identification of chemically different species at magnifications up to 1.200.000 with High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) equipped with X-ray EDS
• Surface morphology observation (magnification 10-300.000) with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
• Microanalysis (local elemental analysis) with X-ray EDS
• Surface mapping of elements and linescans with SEM-EDS
• Surface Area (BET) measurement with nitrogen sorption
• Area and Volume of micropores (t-plot method) with nitrogen sorption
• Pore Size Distribution with nitrogen sorption
• Pore Volume, Pore Size distribution and Surface Area with Mercury Porosimetry
• Crystalline compounds identification with X-ray Diffraction (qualitative analysis)
• Unit Cell Size of Zeolites with X-ray Diffraction
• Elemental analysis of aqueous solutions, inorganic solid materials and organic materials with Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES)
• Particle Size Distribution with laser diffraction (wet and dry dispersion methods)
• Thermogravimetric Analysis – Differential Scanning Calorimetry (TGA-DSC)

During the past ten years, ASU has developed modern laboratory equipment (approximate total value of 780,000 Euro) for the detailed physical, chemical and morphological characterization of materials, including:

• High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM) (JEOL JEM 2010) equipped with X-ray Microanalysis (Oxford INCA)
• Scanning Electron Microscopy (JEOL 6300) and X-ray Microanalysis (ISIS 2000)
• Catalyst Characterization with Temperature Programming Methods (AMI-1, Altamira) and Mass Spectrometer Detection (Balzers, Omnistar)
• Study of Pore Structure with N2 physisorption (Autosorb-1,Quantachrome)
• Thermogravimetric Analysis – Differential Scanning Calorimetry (TGA-DSC) (SDT 2960, TA Instruments)
• Elemental Analysis with ICP Spectroscopy (Optima 4300 DV , Perkin Elmer)
• Crystalline phase identification and lattice parameters with X-ray Diffraction (Siemens D-500)
• Particle Size Distribution (Mastersizer X, Malvern)
• Catalyst Preparation

To ensure the best results for our clients, the Analytical Services Unit has implemented a comprehensive Quality Control/Quality Assurance Program. Quality Assurance is a set of operating principles that, if strictly followed during the sample delivery and analysis, will produce accurate data of defensible quality. This program is designed to comply with ISO 9002 regulatory agencies and applies to all samples submitted to the laboratory. A comprehensive Quality Control/Quality Assurance Program is in place in the unit. Elements of the QA/QC program include:

• Staff organization, responsibilities and training requirements
• Sample control and documentation procedures
• Standard operating procedures (SOP) and method audits
• Internal quality control activities and corrective action procedures
• Equipment calibration and preventive maintenance procedures
• Data quality assessment and reporting system

Quality assurance audits, such as inter-comparison studies, internal standards, quality control samples, and replication samples are used to maintain quality analytical results. Our QA/QC program has been established for our customers, to ensure them that their results are accurate and precise. All instruments are validated on a regular basis, according to standard procedures. The instrument response must be within specified limits. Also, to ensure rapid turn around, the instruments are properly maintained. It is essential to ensure sample integrity from sample collection to data reporting. This includes the ability to trace possession and handling of the samples from the time of collection through analysis and final disposition. This process is referred to as chain-of-custody. At ASU chain-of-custody is managed as follows:

• Sealed, labeled samples are delivered to the laboratory by the client.
• Upon receipt of the sample, a chain-of-custody form is completed and signed by both the client’s field technician and the receiving Analytical Laboratory technician. The date, time, sample name and any particular preservation instructions are recorded .
• In the laboratory, the sample custodian inspects the sample condition, assigns a lab number and logs the sample into the laboratory log book.
• The sample custodian obtains the sample analysis requirements and schedules the sample for the various tests required.

The unit is in continuous collaboration with all the CPERI research groups, performing most of the analytical work required for their research projects. It is also in collaboration with other research institutions and has participated in joined research work and publications. Analytical work has also been performed for individual clients.

• Chemical Industries of Northern Greece
• BP-Amoco
• Ferroxcube

• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
• University of Ioannina e.t.c.