Evolved Gas Analysis for Material Outgassing Characterization

There’s a lot that occurs during product development that the typical consumer is not aware of. There are various tests to identify suitable raw materials, considerations for design aspects, quality control tests, failure analyses, modifications & updates, and so much more to make a product market worthy, safe, and ready for store shelves. The average person might be surprised to discover that every material that we use has trapped gasses inside. These gasses may evolve during the operation of a particular product and can become a problem for the functionality of the product or could cause health hazards for end users. For example, moisture content above a certain level in the tiny chip inside your electronic device can result in the malfunction of the device. Similarly, the presence of certain gasses could result in rapid disintegration of a battery in your electric vehicle. This also includes harmful and toxic gasses like Fluorine (F), Chlorine (Cl), and Hydrogen Fluoride (HF). Any material can have trapped gasses and when sealed inside a hermetic device the gasses will evolve with time. For example, a pacemaker or cochlear implant (or rather any implantable medical device) contains complicated electronic parts inside of it. Over time these can get filled with trapped gasses that could fail or be lethal inside the human body. Therefore, it is critical to characterize the outgassing of any material that is part of the final product. At EAG, we have developed tools that can perform outgassing studies using a proprietary technique called Evolved Gas Analysis (EGA).