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Case Studies

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nmCS in action

The nmRC Commercial Services team is eager to help with your  materials analytical challenges. Have a look below at a range of case studies showcasing the materials analytical capabilities at the nmRC and wider UoN, and how they have been deployed to solve a number of industrial problems or collaborative research projects

Could we offer insight on or help answer your problem? Could we work with you to engage in a groundbreaking project? To see if the expertise or facilities at the nmRC can benefit you or your initiative please get in touch.

 

 

 

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Case study 1

Surface Characterisation of Spray Dried Drug Loaded Polymeric Microparticles

How Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was used to characterise the surface strucutral and mechanical properties and their effect on performance in paramaceuticals.

 

Case study 2

Visualising Protein and Surfactant Distribution in PLGA Microspheres

How the use of synergistic surface analytical techniques was used to study and describe the surface and 3D chemical distribution of surfactant and protein components in micro particulate formulations.

Case study 3

Visualising the Effect of Excipients on Salt Disproportionation During Dissolution

How in-situ Raman imaging was used to understand the dissolution behaviour of pharmaceutical formulations.

 

Case study 4

Imaging Probiotic Coatings in Pan Bread

How Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to image and measure the the thickness of microscale probiotic films introduced to pan bread. 

Case study 5Characterising Bleached Hair Damage

How optical profilometry, AFM ToF-SIMS and XPS were used to reveal the physical and chemical changes to hair fibres occurring during bleaching. 

Case study 6

Understanding Performance Fuel Engineering

How Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) was used to study the constituents of diesel engine fuel filter deposits.

 

Case study 7

Understanding Textile Contamination

How the identification of a contaminant present in bulk textile production was achieved using Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS).

 

Case study 8

Soot-in-Oil Diagnostics

How Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) were used to study how characteristics of soot particles affect the level of engine wear and fuel consumption.

Case study 9

Polymer Composition and Spatial Distribution

How X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used to identify thin films of polymers on the surfaces of advanced material systems.

 

Case study 10

Characterising the Polymer-Metal Interface of 3D Printed Electronics

How correlative materials analysis techniques were used to study the polymer-metal interface and conductive metal layer in 3D inkjet printed products. 

 

Case study 11

Porous Magnetic Microspheres for Biomedical Applications

How Mineral Liberation Analysis (MLA) was used to automate the quantification of mineral compositions and distributions in polished magnetic microsphere samples. 

Case study 12

Transmembrane Electron Transport Using Carbon Nanotube Porins

How cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) was used to provide morphological and chemical characterisation of bipolar electrodes. 

 

Case study 13

Vancomycin Induced Complextion and Aggregation of Mucins

How Environmental SEM (ESEM) was used to investigate complextion/depletion interactions for model mucin systems. 

Case study 14

 A Native State Protein Analysis on Surfaces by OrbiSIMS

How 3D OrbiSIMS was used to detect and identify proteins on material surfaces in their native state using a soft ionisation gas cluster ion source.

Case study 15Performance Fuel Engineering: Part 2

How further advanced materials characterisation capabilities were used to correlatively characterise fuel injector deposits to realise reasons for poor efficiency and air quality. 

 

Battery case study

Investigating the Internal Structure of Mg ion Batteries

How a focussed ion beam (FIB) lift out for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterisation of Mg ion battery working electrode deposits was used to understand performance issues over time. 

Particle case study

Functional and Coloured Polymer Powders for Laser Sintering

How the correlative materials characterisation of polymer particle coatings was used to demonstrate functionality and sustainability.

Case study 18The Structure and Composition of Li Ion Battery Materials

How FIB-SEM-EDS was used to analyse and verify the homogeneity of Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) cathodes.