Material Characterization Equipment Includes:

• Surface area – multipoint BET method
   
• Specific metal area and metal dispersion – Chemisorption
   
• Pore volume and pore size distribution – N₂ adsorption
   
• Surface and particle morphology and chemistry – Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)/Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS)
   
• Reducibility and oxidizability – Temperature-programmed-reduction (TPR) and Temperature-programmed-oxidation (TPO)
   
• Solution chemistry -UV-Visible Spectrophotometer
   
• Material viscosity and shear rate profile - Brookfield Rheometer
   
• Rapid gas analysis- Micro-GCs or Mass Spectrometer
   
• Gas and Liquid (such as fuels) analysis- Agilent 6890 Research GCs

Microscopy Services:

PCI Microscopy Services can provide the entire spectrum of services from sample preparation through examination and analysis.

Microscope Capabilities

• PCI’s ISI DS130 Scanning Electron Microscope and EDS detector provide both imaging and surface chemistry for elements of atomic number 6 (carbon) and higher.
   
• The DS 130 is a two stage SEM with an accelerating voltage adjustable from 0.5 to 40 kV using a LaB6 filament. The upper stage is used for high magnification work with a realistic resolution of 20 nm. The sample size for this upper stage is limited to about 8 mm in diameter by about 2 mm thick.
   
• The lower stage of the DS 130 can accommodate samples of up to about 150 mm in diameter by 40 mm thick. It is typically used for magnifications from about x 40 to x 25,000. This stage is equipped with both a secondary electron (E-T) and backscattered electron (Robinson) electron detector.
   
• EDS chemical analysis is performed in the lower stage using a Kevex Quantum detector. This detector has an ultra thin window and is sensitive to carbon and elements of higher atomic number.

The output of the digital data acquisition system includes:

 - Images (hard Copy or electronic files)
 - Surface Chemistry (with or without standards)
 - Compositional Maps

Sample Preparation:

PCI maintains cutting, mounting and polishing equipment in order to do cross sectional analysis. Gold and carbon coating can be done in order to image insulating samples.