Microhardness testing and elemental mapping laboratories with Microvisionlabs.com? Approach: MicroVision Labs’ staff consulted with the client, and determined that, unfortunately, there could be a number of potential sources of a white material. Even before the bottle with the suspended material arrived, it was determined that there was less than 50 mL of water remaining, and likely less than a gram of material suspended in the water. The client was aware that this material could represent precipitated minerals from the source water, a polymer residue from the bottles, some form of biological tissue that might have formed despite sterilization procedures, or could very well represent some completely unforeseen foreign material. The issue facing the client is how to have the material tested, as most tests that they might request for one or the other of these known potential sources would destroy or alter the sample. Choosing a test was therefore something of a gamble, because if they tested for calcium (mineral precipitate) and it came up negative – that didn’t actually tell them what the powder was, just that it didn’t have any calcium. Based on this conversation, the non-destructive, specialized testing at MicroVision Laboratories was chosen as the best choice.
The diameter, perimeter, shape and aggregation patterning of particles are often of interest with manufactured or naturally occurring materials. Our PSA method is useful to measure and document the morphology and distribution of a sample. Whether you have particles, pores or film coatings, we can accommodate your project needs. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
Do you do any animal testing? No. Do you analyze any tissue samples or blood samples? No. We do not do any blood analyses and we are not set up to prepare tissue samples. What are some of the cool samples you have looked at under the scanning electron microscope? We have seen 10,000 year old Wolly Mammoth hair, meteorites, an artificial heart valve, civil war bullets, insulin pumps, rare colonial coins, a kidney stone, and a few things we can’t talk about. But some of the more mundane samples, like wood or salt crystals, have proven to be extremely interesting subjects to image. See a few extra info at go to website.
The scan from left to right shows a high tin concentration (green line) while areas of higher lead concentrations (blue line) were not intersected by the line scan. At the interface between the tin/lead solder and copper (red line), there is a mixture of the solder and copper which is the intermetallic layer. The EDS Map provides a nice visual mixture of colors which shows the intermetallic layer while the line scan clearly shows the intermetallic with the elemental graph.
?We partner with companies in all phases of product development and sales, including R&D, manufacturing, QC, advertising and failure analysis. Our laboratory offers a highly-trained and experienced staff utilizing a powerful set of analytical tools (SEM with EDS and backscatter detectors, Bruker X-Flash elemental mapping, X-Ray imaging, Micro-FTIR spectroscopy, Micro-XRF, light microscopy, cross sectioning/precision polishing and microhardness testing).
A client responsible for maintaining the facilities in a public school district called with concerns of a possible mold problem. Areas with high foot traffic, especially those where students tracked water in, were showing dark black spots in the floor tiles. Aggressive cleaning and buffing of the floor would remove the problem for a while, but after several few weeks, the problem resurfaced. The facilities management staff was convinced it was mold related, but sending samples, swabs, and air grabs to a mold lab for culturing showed no sign of fungal structures on the tiles. Discover even more info at https://microvisionlabs.com/.