• Microscopy
• Specimen application:
  Man-made fibres:
• Specimen application:
  Paper
• Specimen application:
  Automotive Top Coatings

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When light is not enough

Whether in the context of high-gloss paints and coatings, tough UV-resistant plastics, top-quality ultra-white paper and the vast range of colours found in modern man-made fibres - the effects of the pigments and extenders used depend decisively in all these and many other applications on their geometry, size and distribution in the matrix.(Specimen application: Man-made fibres).

Only optimum dispersion of the titanium dioxide pigment particles in a paint can guarantee best possible, haze-free gloss. Agglomerations of particles result in unacceptable surface properties in top-coat paint systems. Poor adhesion of the titanium dioxide pigment to the polymer of a man-made fibre can, equally, produce a significant impairment of spinning and other processing characteristics.

Visualization is therefore an essential element in the evaluation of a product, a specimen or a result from the Research & Development department. Light-based microscopy, due to its excessively low resolution, is not suitable for representation of pigment and extender particles. The scanning electron microscope (SEM), on the other hand, permits the study of surfaces and particles up to a magnification of 200,000-fold. This instrument's great depth of focus, combined with the three-dimensional impression it produces, mean that its images can be easily interpreted. In company with electronic image evaluation, computer-assisted image processing and image enhancement also permit high-speed communication of results on data-bearers or by E-mail.

Combined with EDX micro-range analysis, scanning electron microscopy supplies not only information on morphology but also a large range of analytical data concerning the chemical composition and quality of specimens. Energy-dispersive micro-range analysis is an important analytical tool in the investigation of failures and accidents.
(Specimen application: Paper).

The facility for visualization of the microcosms of pigments and extenders enables us to offer to our customers a significantly more tangible impression of the performance potentials and properties of products than is possible on the basis of measured physical data and chemical analyses alone.
(Specimen application: Automotive paint systems (only available in german language)).

Contact Ute John or Martin Zilse if you'd like more information or advice on a specific problem.