---
type: "WebPage"
title: "Determination of the chemical nature of a deposit in the laboratory"
description: "You wish to determine the chemical nature of your deposits? What is a deposit? First of all, a deposit is a particle formed on the surface of a material as a result of interactions and attacks from an environment.A deposit..."
resource: "https://filab.fr/en/our-services/our-expertise-services/laboratory-analysis-deposit-contamination/determination-of-the-chemical-nature-of-a-deposit-in-the-laboratory/"
tags: ["EN", "pll_62b5cea3b86df", "Anaïs DECAUX"]
timestamp: "2025-12-31T08:43:30Z"
published: "2022-07-04T13:40:02Z"
language: "en"
author: "bwa"
---

# Determination of the chemical nature of a deposit in the laboratory

## You wish to determine the chemical nature of your deposits?

### What is a deposit?

First of all, a deposit is a particle formed on the surface of a material as a result of interactions and attacks from an environment.

A deposit can have different origins including:

- be present from the reception of the raw material,
- appear during the production process,
- be declared in its final environment 

### Why determine the chemical nature of a deposit?

The performance of a material is directly linked to its surface properties and a deposit is a sign of [**failure**](https://filab.fr/en/our-services/our-expertise-services/laboratory-analysis-failures.md).

Indeed, the formation of a deposit or the presence of pollution on a material can characterize problems of adhesion, roughness, wear…

In addition, deposits can also appear in formulations ([pharmaceutical](https://filab.fr/en/sectors-of-activity/analysis-industry-pharmaceuticals.md), [cosmetic](https://filab.fr/en/sectors-of-activity/laboratory-analysis-cosmetics.md) [chemicals](https://filab.fr/en/our-services/our-analysis-services/chemical-analysis-laboratory.md) …). In this case, the deposits can cause production non-conformities and delay the marketing of your products.

## FILAB assists you in determining the composition of your deposits

For more than 30 years, the FILAB laboratory has had the experience and the specific[analytical equipment](https://filab.fr/en/our-services.md) to meet the needs of analysis and [characterization](https://filab.fr/en/our-services/our-analysis-services/laboratory-surface-characterization.md) **of deposits**.

These are performed by **Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled to a microprobe** ([SEM-EDX](https://filab.fr/en/our-technical-resources/laboratory-analysis-sem-scanning-electron-microscopy.md)) to check the nature and chemical composition of the deposit.

- The organic deposit is then analyzed by chromatography ([GC-MS](https://filab.fr/en/our-technical-resources/laboratory-analysis-gcms.md),[LC-MS](https://filab.fr/en/our-technical-resources/laboratory-analysis-uplc/laboratory-analysis-hplc-lcms.md)) or spectroscopy ([FTIR](https://filab.fr/en/our-technical-resources/laboratory-analysis-ftir-spectroscopy.md), µ-IRTF) to break down the molecules of the deposit in order to analyze them more easily.
- The mineral deposit is analyzed by **X-ray Diffraction** ([XRD](https://filab.fr/en/our-technical-resources/x-ray-crystallography-laboratory-xrd.md)) to identify and quantify the crystalline phases present in the deposit in order to know its composition and then by **plasma optical emission spectrometry** ([ICP-AES or ICP-MS](https://filab.fr/en/our-technical-resources/laboratory-analysis-icp-icp-ms-icp-aes.md)) to identify and quantify its chemical elements.

Thanks to a tailor-made support, FILAB laboratory analyzes your problems and guides you until the interpretation of the results through the following expertise services:

  Characterize an [organic](https://filab.fr/en/our-services/our-expertise-services/laboratory-analysis-deposit-contamination/laboratory-analysis-of-organic-deposits.md) or [mineral](https://filab.fr/en/our-services/our-analysis-services/polymer-materials-analysis-laboratory/laboratory-material-characterization/laboratory-analysis-of-mineral-deposits/) deposit Validate the conformity of a surface
[Analyze the thickness](https://filab.fr/en/our-services/our-analysis-services/laboratory-surface-characterization/surface-coating-thickness-measurement.md) of a layer or the quantity of a deposit

[Audit](https://filab.fr/en/our-services/rd/laboratory-audit.md) or [training](https://filab.fr/en/our-services/rd/laboratory-analytical-chemistry-training.md) in organic deposit characterization methods

 [Search for a trace of a specific component by analysis](https://filab.fr/en/our-services/our-analysis-services/laboratory-surface-characterization/trace-analysis-by-sem-in-laboratory.md)