Chemical Analysis
Our chemical analysis capabilities reveal exactly what’s in a material and why it behaves the way it does. We detect contaminants, verify composition, and link chemical signatures to real-world performance. From pharmaceuticals to semiconductors, our analyses provide the clarity and confidence needed when material chemistry directly impacts safety, reliability, or outcomes.
What Is Chemical Analysis?
Chemical Analysis is straightforward in principle but complicated in practice – at its heart, it is attempting to identify what elements or compounds are present in a given sample that are causing it to behave (or not behave) in a specific way. In the material testing world, chemical testing can help with analyzing materials for contamination, understanding degradation patterns, informing specific failure analysis, and more.
Chemical analysis is often combined with mechanical analysis to help scientists understand the ‘why’ behind the results of material analysis, not just the ‘what’ – for example, if you find that a material fatigues too quickly as a result of a mechanical analysis, chemical analysis can inform an understanding of why.
Covalent’s chemical testing services allow for analyzing polymers, verifying the composition of thin films and coatings, trace element analysis, and more.
How It Works
Covalent’s chemical testing laboratory is often called on to verify purity of material, detect contaminants that affect the performance of a material, or optimize formulations early in the product development process.
Various types of chemical analysis are suited to specific applications. Spectroscopy techniques provide information on chemical bonding, structure and surface information and can detect trace elements with astounding precision. Chromatography is about separating complex mixtures into their components, to identify concentrations of specific elements.
The field’s breadth is one of its greatest strengths – whether your sample consists of organic or inorganic compounds, volatile or stable, solid, liquid, or gas, Covalent’s scientists can help you identify the appropriate method. Expertise is required to translate the existence (or absence) of a chemical at a given level into operational insight.
Techniques Used in Chemical Analysis
Rapid, non-destructive chemical identification. Explore
Measures Auger electrons for high-resolution surface analysis. Explore
Quantifies elements and isotopes with nanometer depth profiling. Explore
Quantifies elemental composition at the micron scale. Explore
Quick, non-destructive material composition & thickness analysis. Explore
Rapid, non-destructive molecular fingerprinting across materials. Explore
Identifies and quantifies small organic molecules in mixtures. Explore
Separates molecules by size to determine polymer properties. Explore
Sputters surfaces to quantify composition & depth-profile layers. Explore
Measures trace elements with high accuracy. Explore
Quantifies multiple elements at very low concentrations. Explore
Identifies elements in the outermost atomic layer. Explore
Ultra-high-resolution elemental and isotopic imaging. Explore
Quantifies elements via gamma rays from irradiated samples. Explore
Determines molecular structure, composition, and dynamics. Explore
Nanoscale chemical characterization & topography at sub-5nm. Explore
Measures inelastic photon scattering for chemical identification. Explore
Quantifies elemental composition and thin-film thickness. Explore
Ultra-sensitive surface analysis with chemical imaging & depth profiling. Explore
TXRF is a surface sensitive elemental analysis technique used to determine the concentration of trace metal contamination on wafer surfaces. Explore
Determines work function and valence electronic structure of surfaces. Explore
Measures absorbance, reflectance, and transmittance (175–3300 nm). Explore
Non-destructive elemental composition & thin-film analysis. Explore
Measures surface topography with sub-nanometer vertical resolution. Explore
Analyzes electronic structure of atoms and molecules. Explore
Non-destructive analysis of crystal phases, lattice, and strain. Explore
Measures surface elemental composition and chemical states. Explore
