Instrumentation and Techniques – RJ Lee Group, Inc. (RJLG)

Equipment Name	Used for	What materials can this technology analyze?	What industries may find this equipment useful?	What groups within RJLG use this piece of equipment?	This technique analyzes:	Other information
High Resolution Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM)	Electron Microscopy Stereopairs of surface	Solid State and Non-volatile Materials Metals/Alloys Ceramics Polymers/Rubbers, in forms of nano-phase or bulk	Materials Sciences Engineering Environmental Pharmaceutical Nano		Particulate vs Bulk Analysis
Rapid Air 457	Air Content Via ASTM C457 Procedure C and Manual Point Count via ASTM C457 Procedure B	Asbestos Air Sample Filters for Asbestos Bulk Materials on Filters Many Other Materials	Construction Materials	Construction Materials
High Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC)	Air Quality Monitoring	Drinking Water Liquids Soils Solids Surface Wipes Air Filters Sorbent Tube	Industrial Hygiene Environmental Gas and Oil	Chemistry	Trace vs Major Analysis
Gas Chromatograph Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID)	Air Quality Monitoring Analysis for Volatile Organic Compounds	Materials that can be Volatilized Contaminants Investigations Purity Determinations Solvents Oils Environmental	Industrial Hygiene< Environmental Gas and Oils	Chemistry	Trace vs Major Analysis
Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)	Analysis for Asbestos using various methods, including but not limited to: AHERA NIOSH 7402 ASTEM 5755 EPA 100.1 EPA 100.2 ISO 13074	Rocks Minerals Asbestos Crystalline Silica Cement/Concrete Building Materials Pharmaceuticals Pigments Metals Ceramics Organics Fly Ash Slags All Crystalline Materials	Material Science Asbestos Mining Engineering	Asbestos (TEM) Nano Litigation	Particulate vs Bulk Analysis
Polarized Light Microscope (PLM)			Construction Materials Mining Asbestos Home Owners	Optical Construction Materials	Trace vs Major Analysis
Helium Pycnometer	Bulk Density Of Solids	Diisocyanates Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHS) Formaldehyde Other Carbonyl Compounds	Environmental Gas and Oil Construction Materials	Chemistry	Particulate vs Bulk Analysis
Heavy Liquid Separation (HLS)	Characterizing Contaminants In Powder Metals Characterizing Hollow Particles in Powder Metals	Powders Carbon Blacks Cement Fibers Ceramics Powdered Metals Alumina Silica Soils	Aerospace Medical Power Generation Military Powder Metal Producers Additive Equipment Manufacturers	Powder Metals Division	Particulate vs Bulk Analysis
Computer-Controlled SEM (CCSEM) w/optional EDS	Characterizing Powders / Particulates / Discrete Features in Size Range of about 0.1 - 500 Microns	Wipes Paints Soils	Powder Metals Producers Powder Metals Users Steel Makers Environmental Studies Pharmaceutical Powder Feedstock Law Enforcement	Powder Metals Division Materials Characterization Forensics (Gunshot Residue Analysis, or GSR)	Particulate vs Bulk Analysis
Gas Chromatography (GCMS)	Chromatography with a Mass Selective Detector Identification of Organic Molecular Structure Air Toxins	Activated Carbon	Oil Gas Industries Quality Control Functions Plastics Forensic Investigations Industrial Hygiene Law Enforcement Environmental Industry	Key Investigative Tool for Many Uses	Trace vs Major Analysis
GENESYS^™ 10S UV-VIS Spectrophotometer	Determination of Trace Capacity Number Determination of the Molasses Number of Activated Carbon Determination of the Methylene Blue Number of Activated Carbon	Powder Metals for Additive Manufacturing and Powder Metallurgy	Activated Carbon Manufacturing	Chemistry	Trace vs Major Analysis
Inductively Couple Plasma - Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES)	Elemental Analysis Metals Characterization and Quantitation Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) Trace Metal Analysis Major Constituent Analysis Materials Characterization and Quantitation	Waters Wastewaters Liquids Solids Wipes Air Samples	Environmental Local Municipals Industrial Hygiene Waste Characterization and Disposal Glass Composition Analysis Pharmaceutical Quality Control - Manufacturing Industry Mining Coal Power Plants Industrial Hygiene Environmental	Inorganics Biopharm	Trace vs Major Analysis	Able to quantify over 50 elements
Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)	Elemental Analysis Trace Metals Analysis Metals Characterization and Quantitation Isotopic Speciation Metals Ratio Analysis	Hardened Concrete Aggregates Building Materials Rock Samples Soil Dust Vermiculite Building Materials Talc Cosmetics Drinking Water Aqueous Waste Industrial Influent/Effluent Solid Waste Sludges Surface Wipes MCE Filters	Environmental Local Municipals Local Residents Industrial Hygiene Waste Characterization and Disposal Water Supply Homeowners Pharmaceutical Companies	Inorganics Chemistry Forensic Pharmaceuticals	Trace vs Major Analysis
X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF)	Identifying and Quantifying Major and Minor Elements from F through U, reported down to 0.01%	Coatings Metals Carbon Polymers Thin Films Inorganics Glass Ceramics Paper Teeth Bone	Any industries that need to know the chemistry of a material	XRD/XRF (Concrete, Construction Materials, Litigation, Chemistry, Etc.)	Trace vs Major Analysis	Complimentary to XRD Used generally for semi-quantitative analysis Calibrations created specific to client needs for full quantification Can be used in conjunction with ICP to get a complete analysis of majors and trace elements Can use ICP/LECO to account for light elements that aren't detectable by XRF (lighter than F) Can be reported either as elements, or more commonly, as oxides
Ion Chromatography System (IC)	Ion Analysis Determination of Hexavalent Chromium	Drinking Water Groundwater Industrial Wastewater Air Aqueous Waste Industrial Influent/Effluent Solid Waste Soils Sludges Surface Wipes MCE Filters	Local Municipals Industrial Hygiene Environmental Power Plants Industrial and Manufacturing Industries	Chemistry	Trace vs Major Analysis
Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometer	Lead Analysis	Organics Polymers Plastics Oils Contaminants Some Inorganics Talc	Environmental Industrial Hygiene	Chemistry	Trace vs Major Analysis
Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (CVAA)	Mercury Analysis	Inclusions in Metals Powder Metals for Additive Manufacturing Particle Size Distribution/Shape Factors/Cross-Contamination in Air Particulate Samples Gunshot Residue (GSR) Samples Pharmaceutical Powders Ceramic Powders	Environmental Industrial Hygiene Industrial Industries Manufacturing Industries	Chemistry	Trace vs Major Analysis
X-ray Diffraction (XRD)	Mineral Phase Identification Mineral Quantification Crystallinity Determination (Amorphous Quantification) Crystalline Silica Quantification Crystallite Size Determination	Solids Powders	Mines Quarries Industrial Mineral Suppliers Pharmaceutical Industry Power Plants Oil and Gas Industry	Concrete< Construction Materials Litigation Chemistry Biopharm	Particulate vs Bulk Analysis	Complimentary method to XRF
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)	Organic Identifications Some Inorganic Industrial Hygiene Oil Mist in Air Quartz in Coal Mine Dust Forensic Investigations	Sulfur (S₈)	Oil Gas		Particulate vs Bulk Analysis	Multiple uses
Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer (PTR-MS or PTRMS)	Real-Time Detection Of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Air Quality Monitoring Air Toxics Measurement Fence Line Monitoring Illicit Material Detection	Coal Shale Pharmaceuticals Metal Oxides Metal Carbides Carbonaceous Molecules (General) Polymers Minerals Art Plants Biomacromolecules Organic Molecules Pigments/Dyes Molecules Exhibiting Aromaticity Explosives Gunshot Residue Narcotics Biological Materials	Environmental Studies Gas and Oil Industry Security and Threat Detection Food Industry		Trace vs Major Analysis
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS)	Surface Elemental Analysis Chemical State Elemental Analysis Thin Film Analysis Surface Contamination Depth Profiling to Determine Layer Thickness	Coatings Metals Carbon Polymers Thin films Inorganics Glass Ceramics Paper Teeth Bone	Semiconductor Manufacturing Packaging Textiles Electronics Plating	Materials	Particulate vs Bulk Analysis
Raman Spectroscopy		Hardened Concrete	Gas and Oil Renewable Energy Pharma Agriculture Polymer Coating Forensic Art Conservation	Materials Biopharm	Particulate vs Bulk Analysis	Can often be used in conjunction with infrared spectroscopy to permit more complete chemical assessment of the analyte Alternative method of fluorescence is inhibiting, especially when using visible lasers
Gas Chromatograph Electron Capture Detector (GC-ECD)	Trace Sulfur Analysis in Drywall and Gypsum	Halogenated Aliphatic Hydrocarbons Aromatic Hydrocarbons Alcohols Glycols Ketones Glycol Ethers Esters Cresol Phenol	Construction Materials Environmental	Chemistry	Trace vs Major Analysis
Liquid Chromatography / Mass Spectrometer / Mass Spectrometer (LC/MS/MS)	Mass Spectrometry Compound Identification	Nitrosamines Pesticides Drugs of Abuse Pharmaceutical Byproducts Carbohydrates Antibiotics Aflatoxins Peptides and Proteins Explosives Aldehydes Ketones	Industrial Hygiene Environmental Sampling Fermentation Broths Growth Media Agriculture Industry Process Control Biomedical Analyses	Chemistry	Trace vs. Major Analysis

Reliable analytical results depend on many levels of expertise including using the right instrument, the correct sample preparation, and the best-suited technique. When that combination also includes expert and clear interpretation, you have results that not only provide answers, but answers that you can understand.

Our materials experts are always ready to discuss the instrumentation and the techniques available and how they apply to your situation based on the results you are looking for. In addition to standard analytical chemistry, electron microscopy, and optical microscopy services found in our Laboratory Testing Guide, we use the following instrumentation and techniques when seeking resolution to our customers’ problems. Search for instrumentation, materials analyzed by each, and other information by entering your term in the “Search" box above the table below.

For more information, please call us at 1.800.860.1775, option 5.

Customizable Automated Techniques

In response to customer requirements, we have developed laboratory automation techniques that reduce the time needed to analyze large numbers of particles to provide results more quickly while still continuing to maintain data quality.

Computer-Controlled Scanning Electron Microscopy (CCSEM)

CCSEM is an automated analytical technique that combines a scanning electron microscope (SEM), x-ray analyzer (EDS) and software-controlled digital scan to quickly locate, size and characterize large numbers of individual particles and group them based on their elemental composition and shape. A primary use for this technique is in the automated analysis of gun shot residue (GSR) particles. This technique can be customized based on the application needed.

Automated Steel Cleanliness Analysis Tool (ASCAT)

This technique is based on CCSEM and is primarily used as a quality control tool for characterizing inclusions in steel that have been trapped during the solidification process. The automated analysis quickly identifies and characterizes the steel inclusions but can also be customized based on the application needed.

To view our XRD, Raman, and EDS features & benefits handout, please click here.