Pop quiz, quality control specialists and product developers. Which is a better surface analysis method: X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) or Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA)? The answer? Trick question. XPS and ESCA are actually the same technique. But fun and games aside, this materials testing method has wide ranging applications as an effective quality […]
ESCA Blog Posts & Resources
Plastics Analysis: 4 Examples of Materials Testing Techniques in Action
For decades, plastics have become increasingly ubiquitous within our daily lives, serving as an essential packaging material and product ingredient. But despite the years of use, and countless hours spent perfecting a plastic’s chemical makeup and manufacturing process, failure or malfunction happens—whether it be through human error or an equipment misfire on the production line. […]
What Manufacturers Should Do if They Suspect Product Contamination
Every manufacturer knows that the risk of product contamination is present at every stage of the production process. From improper removal of cleaning agents to dirty production lines, product contamination can not only cause costly production delays, but also more serious consequences such as expensive product recalls and bad PR if the contaminant isn’t found […]
What’s the Difference Between ESCA Analysis and Auger Electron Spectroscopy?
All manufacturers strive to produce the highest quality products for their customers. As a result, materials testing services from a materials testing lab like Innovatech Labs are frequently used to ensure that product quality. Materials testing can uncover the causes of product failures, identify contaminants or toxins, and also determine the chemical composition of samples. […]
What’s That Stain? Materials Testing Can Give You Answers
Learn about the different materials testing techniques that can be used to identify stains and contaminants on manufactured products.
ESCA Analysis Deconstructed
ESCA analysis is an incredibly useful materials testing technique that has quality control applications for many industries including medical device and electronics manufacturing. In this post, we’ll deconstruct and explore this material testing technique.
Your Guide to Discovering What Type of Materials Testing You Need to Solve Product Quality Issues
As a quality assurance specialist, you’re trained to spot quality issues and product defects. You know that if the fit isn’t right or the specified color mixture is slightly off, you need to find the cause and a solution to fix it. However, quality control is difficult when there’s an unknown contaminant on your products […]
How Adhesive Label Delamination Can Be Solved with FTIR Analysis
When developing adhesive labels, there is one prevailing goal: the adhesive must stick to its subject. Adhesive labels that lose their adhesion over time, or delaminate, are failed products. Extensive product testing ensures that most of these failed label materials never make it to market. However, those that do can cause serious problems for the […]
Ensure Medical Device Durability with ESCA Analysis
Tasked with helping human bodies fight off disease and illness, the medical device market is booming. Research and development (R&D) teams in the medical device industry have been developing groundbreaking products to help people fight off disease and illness and live longer lives. Able to mimic and support organs and other bodily systems, medical implants are […]
Guess the Materials Characterization Technique Part II
When unknown contaminants appear on your products due to failures in manufacturing processes, there are techniques that can help you identify the cause of the issue. Materials analysis laboratories use materials characterization to analyze and reverse engineer unknown materials to discover their composition. In our last post, we brought up four issues and asked you […]
