Expanded Analytical Chemistry Lab at Covalent Provides Comprehensive Testing for Solids and Liquids

A new ICP-OES and microwave digestor at Covalent Metrology round out its chemistry laboratory to deliver complete, modern chemical analysis for solid and liquid samples.

April 4, 2023 – Sunnyvale, CA. Covalent Metrology, a top provider of premiere analytical services in North America, announced a major expansion of its analytical chemistry capabilities. Covalent now offers inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) on a state-of-the-art system from Thermo Fisher Scientific: the iCAP 7400 ICP-OES. Both OES and mass spectrometry services will furthermore support a much broader range of solid materials, owing to the installation of a new Anton Paar Multiwave 5000 microwave digestor. These two additions complement an existing suite of chemical analysis instruments that showcase cutting-edge technologies released over the past three years. Covalent’s expanded chemistry laboratory brings its clients the latest advances in chemical characterization. It will help researchers and engineers probe the chemistry of materials and components used to optimize pharmaceuticals, medical devices, customer electronics, and more.

ICP-OES is used to identify and quantify the atomic concentrations of different element species in a sample. Low signal interference in this technique, combined with its excellent detection range (covering most of the periodic table), makes ICP-OES a staple in materials science, pharmacology, and more. Trace analyses of contaminants, impurities, or defects are particularly well suited for the iCAP 7400, owing to the exquisite detection sensitivity of the system. The iCAP 7400 is furthermore optimized for high-throughput testing, making it a powerful monitoring tool that delivers fast, reliable, and high-quality data.

ICP-OES and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS: also available at Covalent) require liquid or gaseous samples. To expand the range of candidate samples for these systems, Covalent has also added a new Anton Paar Multiwave 5000 microwave digestor to its chemistry suite. The now fully equipped wet-chemistry lab setup enables the preparation of a much wider range of samples. Even difficult solids such as glasses, ceramics, or metal alloys can now be readily investigated with Covalent’s state-of-the-art ICP instruments.

Covalent now offers a full range of spectroscopy and analytical chemistry capabilities, including ICP-MS, Laser Ablation ICP-MS, ICP-OES, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS), glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and microscopy, and Fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. It makes comprehensive chemical characterization accessible and affordable in Silicon Valley and beyond, helping clients to measure the elemental and chemical composition of just about any bulk or surface material of interest.Â

“The latest installations of the iCAP 7400 ICP-OES and Multiwave 5000 microwave digestor round out Covalent’s Analytical Chemistry Lab setup. These new inorganic tools mean that we can offer solutions for virtually any problem our customers throw at us.†said Dr. Nanette Jarenwattananon, Director of Chemical and Materials Analysis at Covalent Metrology, “We know there is a strong appetite in Silicon Valley for a lab with a full suite of chemistry capabilities. Now, Covalent can support these clients with flexible services they can count on from start to finish on their most difficult projects.â€

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