Laboratory analysis and expertise of surface coatings

Your needs : to analyze and study the state of a coating on your products and materials as part of an R&D project or following a product failure

What is a coating ?

A surface coating is applied to a product or material to improve their surface properties (appearance, resistance, adherence, permeability…) and to protect them from environmental attacks. Coatings can be organic (polymer) or inorganic (metallic or ceramic) in nature.

To modify the surface properties of a material to make it more compatible with its environment and the conditions in which it will be implemented, different methods can be used :

  • Mechanical operations which work on existing material : burnishing, gumming, polishing…
  • Chemical operations aiming to apply a solution to a product’s surface : varnish, paint, adhesive…
  • Electrochemical operations or passivation / anodization systems, which seek to chemically modify a surface using a surface treatment bath 

Why analyze a product’s coating ?

Surface treatment operations are an essential step of R&D processes to determine the performance of a finished product and to ensure its longevity. The point of origin of product failures such as ruptures, wear or the apparition of a stain can be linked to the quality of a coating.

Analysis and characterization of coatings make it possible to determine the chemical composition of layers and to verify their compliance and their performance.

Support and assistance from an expert laboratory using techniques specific to the study of coatings will allow you to improve the efficiency and quality if your products while complying with environmental and regulatory constraints.

Our solution : to carry out characterizations and expertise of your coating using specific techniques

Thanks to expertise in surface treatments for organic or metallic elements, FILAB laboratory can assist you in analyzing defects found in the coating of a product by providing various services :

Our services

  • Chemical composition analysis of a coating

  • Identification and characterization of surface layers (coatings, surface treatments…)

  • Coating impurity analysis

  • R&D support : choice of surface treatment or cleaning procedure

  • Evaluation of the state of a surface and the homogeneity of surface elements

  • Coating thickness measurements

  • Accelerated aging tests

To provide these services, FILAB laboratory uses cutting-edge analytical techniques such as Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with an EDX microprobe (SEM FEG EDX) and outermost layer analysis techniques such as ToF-SIMS, XPS…

Thomas GAUTIER
Thomas GAUTIER Head of Materials Department
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