Research at Tascon

Tascon is a worldwide leading provider of surface analytical services. Our services include analytical service and consulting for our customers on all topics related to surfaces. In our laboratories you will find a unique combination of many years of analytical experience and practical know-how. On the one hand, our experience is based on the large number of samples that we analyze for various fields such as electronics, plastics and automotive industries. On the other hand, we invest great efforts in research and development in order to be able to offer our customers the latest research results in the field of surface analysis. For many years, our research competence has been bundled in a specially established research department. Several colleagues work on the latest developments in the field of material and surface analysis. The research and development department has thus become an important part of our company. Our research activities are manifold. They include participation in publicly funded projects, both in project coordination and as analytical project partners, which includes the training of PhD students in cooperation with different universities and subject areas. In addition, we regularly publish the results of our research projects in peer-reviewed journals to share them with experts from all over the world. Below you will find a selection of frequently cited articles in scientific journals with the participation of Tascon from recent years.

Examples of publications

• Clark, P. A.; Hagenhoff, B. ; Kersting, R.; Tallarek, E. Applications of ToF-SIMS for imaging and depth profiling commercial materials, Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B 2016, 34, 03H135
• Veith, L.; Vennemann, A.; Breitenstein, D.; Engelhard, C.; Wiemann, M.; Hagenhoff, B Detection of SiO2 nanoparticles in lung tissue by ToF-SIMS imaging and fluorescence microscopy, Analyst 2017, 142, 2631-2639
• Heller, D.; Hagenhoff, B.; Engelhard, C. Hidden information in principal component analysis of ToF-SIMS data: On the use of correlation loadings for the identification of significant signals and structure elucidation, Surface and Interface Analysis 2017, 49, 1028-1038
• Heller-Krippendorf, D.; Veith, L.; ter Veen, R.; Breitenstein, D.; Tallarek, E.; Hagenhoff, B.; Engelhard, C. Efficient and sample-specific interpretation of ToF-SIMS data by additional postprocessing of principal component analysis results, Surface and Interface Analysis 2019, 51, 1078-1091
• Alcala, R.; DeLaRiva, A.; Peterson, E. J.; Benavidez, A.; Garcia-Vargas, C. E.; Jiang, D.; Pereira-Hernández, X. I.; Brongersma, H. H.; Veen, R. ter; Staněk, J.; Miller, J. T.; Wang, Y.; Datye, A. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 2021, 284, 119722

Scientific conferences with participation of Tascon GmbH

In addition to the publication of our results in scientific journals, we are also present at international scientific conferences with contributions related to surface analysis. In the following you will find a selection of the conferences we attended in 2019 and 2020:

• Analytics Conference (ANAKON) of the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the German Chemical Society (Münster, Deutschland)
• International Conference on Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (Kyoto, Japan)
• European Conference on Applications of Surface and Interface Analysis (ECASIA) (Dresden, Deutschland)
• Conference of the German Society for Mass Spectrometry (Münster, Deutschland)
• Winter School on Advanced Materials, Metrology and Standardisation (Claviere, Italien)

Research projects

The projects that we have participated in in the past and those that we are at present participating in are manifold. They range from nanoparticle analysis to battery research. The following list is a selection of our current and recently completed projects:

• Quantification of nanoparticles in tissue (NanoBioQuant)
• Analysis of pollutants on microplastics from surface waters (MikroPlastiCarrier)
• Detection and analysis of nanoparticles in tissues (NanoBioDetect)
• Development and application of innovative surface analytical methods to optimize the aging behavior in lithium-ion batteries (OptiLIB)

In addition to research in publicly funded projects, we also support research projects in bi- and multilateral industrial partnerships. This includes the analysis of samples as well as development support and coordination of such projects. If you are interested, please contact us.

Tascon in the LEIS users’ community

The LEIS community meets every year for a workshop to exchange ideas on how to advance the technology. The technique is used in a variety of fields ranging from semiconductors to catalysis and from X-ray optics to fuel cells. For most members in the community LEIS is a tool rather than a goal in itself. The LEIS users’ meeting helps the users to use this tool optimally, e.g. by exchanging ideas about sample preparation, optimization of the analytical methods or issues in data interpretation.

Tascon believes in supporting this community. One of the ways to express that support is by maintaining the LEIS users’ publication list, which is currently under construction.