Special Analysis

Head of Working Group

"Driven by academic curiosity, what inspires me in my job as head of the accredited test lab are the fascinating moments constantly recurring. Both in the framework of user-oriented research and development work, and in connection with material characterizations for testing services – investigation and assessment of things unknown at first, of material properties hidden, can be compared with investigative work."


Dr. Sascha Dietrich

Head of Accredited Test Laboratory

Special Analysis

In addition to the standard tests we also use numerous special methods for failure and defect analysis in the different classes of materials (leather, collagen materials, leather fibre boards, coated textiles, textiles, films and plastics).

Surface Topography

Profilometry (tactile / optical)

Fields of Application:

  • Determination of roughness parameters (2D / 3D)

  • Analysis of grain depths and defects

  • Determination of waviness, contours

  • Coating Thickness Measurement

  • Fault diagnosis, technology-accompanying investigations

Suitable Materials:

  • All materials (leather, plastics, textiles, etc.)

Analytical Instruments:

  • Strip light projection

  • Confocal laser scanning microscope

  • Shape from Shading technology

  • Instruments with stylus methods in different resolutions (nm to µm)

  • Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)

Your contact person:

Dr. Martin Strangfeld

Department Surfaces


Microscopy

Light Microscopy

Fields of Application:

  •     Photographic documentation,

  •     Microscopic examination of samples (surface, cross section, thin section),

  •     Quantitative image evaluation/statistics,

  •     Coating thickness measurement,

  •     Fault diagnosis, technology-accompanying investigations

Suitable Materials:

  •     All materials (leather, plastics, textiles, etc.)

Analytical Instruments:

  •     Stereomicroscope

  •     Incident and transmitted light microscope

  •     Digital camera

Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM)

Fields of Application:

  • Scanning electron microscopic examination (resolution about 10 nm),

  • Measurement of coating thicknesses,

  • Fault diagnosis,

  • Technology-accompanying investigations

Suitable Materials:

  • All materials that are vacuum resistant or have limited vapour pressure, even microscopic samples

Analytical Instruments:

  • REM Quanta FEG 250

Your contact person:

Antoaneta Trommer

Head of Working Group Material Failure Analysis


Atomic-Force-Microscopy – AFM

Fields of application:

  • Determination of nanoscale roughness

  • Analysis of mechanical properties from biomaterials to polymer blends

  • Measurement of conductivity on the nanometer scale.

Suitable Materials:

  • All materials (from metal to ceramics to biomaterial).

Analytical Instruments:

  •  JPK NanoWizard 3 AFM

  • QI Software

  • Conductive AFM (CAFM)

  • Heated measuring cell for measurements in air and liquids

Your contact person:

Dr. Enno Klüver

Head of Department Collagen


Analytics and spectroscopy

Energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX)

Fields of Application:

  • Fast semi-quantitative elemental analysis up to about 0.1%,

  • Analysis of surfaces / on cross sections,

  • Local analyses up to about 1 µm resolution

Suitable Materials:

  •  All materials that are vacuum resistant or have limited vapor pressure, even microscopic samples

Analytical Instruments:

  • At the scanning electron microscope ESEM-REM

Your contact person:

Antoaneta Trommer

Head of Working Group Material Failure Analysis


X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)

Fields of Application:

  • semi-quantitative, standard-free elemental analysis up to about 0.1 at%

  • analysis of surfaces, signal depth only about 5 to 10 nm

  • information about bond states possible (e.g. polar / non-polar fractions of carbon bonds)

  • non-destructive statements about depth distribution by means of angle-dependent measurements

  • depth profiles by gentle sputter ablation (bond preservation by use of cluster ions)

  • local analysis possible down to about 10 µm on an area of 200 x 200 µm² (Imaging XPS)

  • large sample stage, throughput of sample series effectively possible

Suitable Materials:

  • all materials that are vacuum resistant (after degassing e.g. also leather, polyamide)

Analytical Instruments:

  • modern X-ray photoelectron spectroscope AXIS Supra® with Al/Ag monochromatic anode and Mg/Al dual anode

Your contact person:

Dr. Frauke Junghans

Head of Department Surfaces


FTIR spectroscopy / microscopy

Fields of Application:

  • Examination of samples in the mid infrared (2.5 µm to 25 µm),

  • Identification of chemical groups, especially on surfaces,

  • Troubleshooting

  • Measurement in Transmission H-ATR

Suitable Materials:

  • Solutions, liquids, solids

Analytical Instruments:

  • FTIR microscope Nicolet iN10 with FT-IR extension module

UV/VIS spectroscopy

Fields of Application:

  • Investigation of samples in the ultraviolet and visible light range (190 nm to 900 nm)

Suitable Materials:

  • Solutions, liquids and solids

Analytical Instruments:

  • EVOLUTION 600 (Thermo Electron)

UV/VIS spectroscopy

Fields of Application:

  • Investigation of samples in the ultraviolet and visible light range (190 nm to 900 nm)

Suitable Materials:

  • Solutions, liquids and solids

Analytical Instruments:

  • EVOLUTION 600 (Thermo Electron)

Your contact person:

Further test methods on requestAccredited Test Laboratory


Contact

FILK Freiberg Institute gGmbH
Meißner Ring 1-5
09599 Freiberg

GERMANY

Fon: +49-(0)3731-366-0
Fax: +49-(0)3731-366-130
E-Mail: mailbox@filkfreiberg.de