Industrial Problem Solving Using Surface Analysis Techniques

Surface analysis is the study of the chemical composition and/or physical structure of the outer regions of solid samples.  Surface composition is important in many chemical processes involving the interaction between surfaces and their environment, or between two surfaces.  Examples include oxidation, corrosion, wear, catalysis, adhesion and bonding. 

Two of the most popular surface analytical techniques are XPS and AES, which are forms of electron spectroscopy.   

This presentation will provide a basic review of these techniques and the information they supply, along with current applications and case studies from the use of XPS and AES in an industrial laboratory.

Kent Rhodes, Ph.D.

 of McCrone Associates

Biography 

 Kent Rhodes is Vice President and Director of Instrumental Analysis at McCrone Associates, an independent research and consulting firm in Westmont, IL.  At McCrone, he supervises the electron optics and chemistry groups.  He joined McCrone in 1990 as a research scientist specializing in surface and microanalysis.

Kent earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Northwestern University, where he studied thin films on metal surfaces for his dissertation.