I-Corps: Multi-Element Scanning Thermal Analysis (MESTA) Technology for Industry, Academic Research and Other Applications

Florida Agricultural And Mechanical University, Tallahassee FL

Investigators

Abstract

Holistic chemical analysis of heterogeneous solid samples in complex matrixes such as aerosols, soils and sediments is very desirable in research and industry applications but difficult due to the limited available separation technology. Currently, academic researchers analyze their heterogeneous mixture of solids using sophisticated methods such as the solid state NMR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) to identify the forms of the Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N) and Sulfur (S) compounds. Those sophisticated methods are costly and not available to most researchers. Most researchers would settle their analytical needs by analyzing their sample with an elemental analyzer, which provides only the bulk C, N and S concentrations and little information about the chemical nature of the compounds. This team has developed the Multi-Element Scanning Thermal Analysis (MESTA) technology to solve this problem and successfully applied it to the direct analysis of aerosols with sensitivity, precision and accuracy. The proposed technology, MESTA can characterize the thermochemical properties of compounds, in terms of their quantitative C, N, S and H thermograms, in a wide range of samples with no or little requirement of pretreatment. This relatively simple and novel technology fills a significant gap in the holistic (non-partial) chemical analysis of heterogeneous samples that are often encountered in industrial and academic research applications. For example, MESTA can quickly and cost-effectively determine the quantity and quality of petroleum end products from a crude oil sample and assess their polluting impurities to the environment (contents and forms of S and N compounds) in each product. MESTA can simplify the analysis of many solid environmental samples necessary for academic research of geo, soil and environmental sciences. It can do routine analysis of industrial samples for quality control and assurance. It is valuable in foods and food products quality control and inspection, in homeland security substance identification and characterization.