Attachment 1 - Technical Specifications.pdf

Attachment No. 1 – Technical Specification

“Raman Spectrometer”

11/19/2025

BACKGROUND

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary national laboratory for energy systems research and development. As the energy systems laboratory, NREL’s unique strength lies in developing and integrating a broad array of energy technologies into robust, resilient systems - bridging foundational research with practical applications to lower energy costs, drive economic growth, bolster national security, and deliver abundant and reliable energy.

Understanding the phase structure and molecular structure of catalysts is essential for elucidating the active phases, reaction intermediates, and dynamic transformations that govern catalytic performance in real-world processes. Many catalytic materials undergo subtle structural and electronic changes under reaction conditions, such as reduction/oxidation of surface sites, defect formation, surface reconstruction, and phase transitions, that determine their activity and selectivity in a catalytic process. Traditional bulk-averaged techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Electron microscopy, etc. primarily reveal long-range crystallinity and average phase composition, but they are often blind to amorphous, nanoscale, or surface-localized species, which Raman spectroscopy facilely characterizes. Similarly, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provides high-resolution imaging of morphology and lattice fringes but offers limited information about molecular vibrations or short-range order, particularly under in situ conditions. We have many catalysis projects across centers that will benefit from this instrument in the BioEconomy & Sustainable Transportation (BEST) Directorate.

OBJECTIVE

Raman spectroscopy uniquely probes the vibrational modes of molecular bonds, enabling direct identification of surface functional groups, adsorbed intermediates, and metal–ligand coordination environments. Its sensitivity to short-range order (to the limit of isolated monomeric surface sites), defects, and electronic structure changes make it indispensable for correlating catalyst structure with function to generate structure-function relationships to design better catalysts at the heart of many projects at NREL and BEST directorate. Moreover, Raman can be applied operando and in situ, allowing real-time monitoring of catalyst evolution during reaction without the issues that IR spectroscopy faces due to fluid phase interference as Raman is orders of magnitude more sensitive to solids than it is to gases or liquids. Acquiring a Raman microscope will provide high spectral resolution and catalyst characterization capabilities critical for understanding structure–property relationships in catalytic materials beyond the reach of XRD, TEM, FTIR, and UV-Vis.

SPECIFICATIONS:

REQUIRED CAPABILITIES

• Fully integrated, high resolution, confocal, Raman microscope, optimized for 200-2200nm, which includes confocal Raman microscope, transfer optics, stigmatic spectrometer equipped with respective gratings to work with high- and low-resolution objectives:

o 600gr/mm (for Vis laser), o 1800gr/mm (for Vis laser), o 2400 gr/mm (for UV laser)

• multichannel charge coupled device (CCD) detector (research grade, >85% quantum efficiency in 300-1064nm range) with Peltier/thermoelectric cooling.

• multiple near- and long-working-distance objectives (10x regular, 50x regular, and 100x regular + 20x, 50x long-distance + UV objective 15-20x)

• computer software package for sample automation, data acquisition, and data analysis.

NREL will supply our own computer.

• UV laser and visible green laser with software-controlled adjustable power. This will be a like-for-like replacement, so we require 325nm and 532nm laser wavelengths.

• XY area scanning and XZ depth profiling modes with fast scan speeds (<5ms per point) to minimize sampling times to acquire reaction spectrokinetics

• Class 1 safety enclosure to protect Raman users and general lab users from laser exposure.

• High temperature reaction cell to run reactions during Raman spectroscopy at up to 1000°C.

Standard off-the-shelf cells should go to ~1000°C at ambient pressure, (e.g. LINKAM CCR1000). High temp cells are needed to ensure all chemistries studied at NREL (especially BEST) can be studied in the cell (e.g. alkane oxidations, CO2 hydrogenation, lignin hydrogenation, diol dehydrocyclization, etc). These cells will work with gases and liquids. All gas connections are already present.

TECHNICAL OR SAFETY REQUIREMENTS

• Class 1 safety enclosure to protect Raman users and general lab users from laser exposure.

• Equipment must be NRTL certified (https://www.osha.gov/nationally-recognized-testing-laboratory-program/current-list-of-nrtls)

• Include onsite startup of equipment and training at NREL

• Space Requirements/ Limitations o Equipment including accessories should be no larger than 53"w x 50"d x 19" high so that it fits in the existing space.

o Equipment will not be connected to the internet or intranet.

o Installation/commissioning requirements:

o This will include onsite installation of the equipment in the existing bench space (dimensions above), connecting to existing provided gas, water and vent lines, installing any necessary software, starting up/shaking down the equipment, and training NREL personnel.

TIMELINE

• Delivery shall be no more than 6 months from order placement.

https://www.osha.gov/nationally-recognized-testing-laboratory-program/current-list-of-nrtls https://www.osha.gov/nationally-recognized-testing-laboratory-program/current-list-of-nrtls