CAPABILITY ACCESS
Tenutec's lab, on your problem.
Not every question is answered by buying a material. When what you need is a measurement you cannot make in-house on a graphene sample or a polymer sample or a molecule nobody sells, you can engage Tenutec directly, on the same instruments and with the same chemists that produce the two material lines.
01 · MEASUREMENT
Characterisation
GRAPHENE SAMPLES
Tenutec runs its characterisation instruments as an open service for external samples. Two sample classes are covered, each with its own question to answer.
Graphene and carbon samples are a structural problem. How many layers is it really, how large are the flakes, how defective is the basal plane, and did the functionalisation chemistry attach what it was supposed to attach? None of that is visible optically and none of it is answered by a bulk measurement it takes electron microscopy at the right magnification, with a preparation step that does not change the aggregation state you are trying to measure.
Polymer samples are a molecular-weight problem first. Molecular weight and dispersity govern solubility, film formation, mobility and mechanical behaviour, and two batches that pass NMR identically can behave completely differently in a device because their chain length distributions differ. GPC answers that, with high-temperature capability for conjugated polymers that will not dissolve at room temperature.
Samples are accepted as powder, dispersion, solution, film or fibre. Reports include the original data files alongside our interpretation not only the images and traces we would have chosen and we say plainly where a measurement does not support a conclusion.
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
Raw data. Original image files and chromatograms, not only figures.
Written interpretation. What the data shows, and what it does not support.
Comparative context. Measurement against a reference sample where you supply one.
Turnaround. 2–4 weeks for a standard package; rush by arrangement.
SEM. Surface morphology, flake size and lateral dimension distribution, agglomeration and restacking, film and coating cross-sections, powder and fibre architecture.
TEM / HRTEM. Layer counting, lattice imaging, edge and defect structure, selected-area electron diffraction, nanoparticle and flake size distribution.
EDX. Elemental composition and mapping, carbon-to-oxygen ratio, confirmation of functionalisation and doping, residual catalyst and contaminant screening.
HAADF-STEM. Z-contrast imaging where mass rather than diffraction carries the information single heavy atoms and metal clusters on a carbon support, dopant siting, and the atomic-resolution view of defects that conventional TEM phase contrast obscures. Pairs directly with EDX mapping on the same scan.
AFM. Flake thickness and step height, the measurement that converts a lateral size distribution into an actual layer count; surface roughness, film uniformity, and nanoscale topography of coatings and membranes.•
Supporting. Raman for layer number and defect density (D/G, 2D/G), AFM for flake thickness, TGA for functional group content, BET surface area.
POLYMER SAMPLES
GPC. Number- and weight-average molecular weight and dispersity, against polystyrene standards; high-temperature GPC for conjugated polymers.
SEM. Film morphology and uniformity, phase separation, surface defects, cross-sections of coated layers.
TEM. Bulk-heterojunction domain size and morphology, crystallite and aggregate structure in thin films.
AFM. Film roughness and phase separation, domain size at the surface, dewetting and pinhole detection, monolayer coverage on SAM-treated substrates.
EDX. Elemental composition, heteroatom and halogen content, residual metal and additive screening.
Supporting. ¹H/¹³C NMR for structure and purity, UV-Vis-NIR for absorption and optical bandgap, cyclic voltammetry for HOMO/LUMO, TGA/DSC for thermal behaviour.
02 · CHEMISTRY
Customised synthesis
Monomers · conjugated polymers · SAM molecules · functionalised graphene · scale-up
Three kinds of request come to us, and they need different things. The first is a known compound that a group cannot make reliably or at the scale it needs here the value is reproducibility and purity, not novelty. The second is a structural variation on a known family: a different side chain, an extra fluorine, a longer spacer, made so that a structure–property trend can actually be measured. The third is a target that does not exist yet, designed together with the customer from a property specification. All three draw on the same capability behind the material lines: monomer and precursor synthesis, polymerisation, purification by Soxhlet fractionation and preparative methods, and full in-house characterisation. What we will not do is hand over a vial without the data behind it every batch ships with the analysis that lets you decide whether it is fit for your device. Scale-up is treated as part of the brief rather than a later problem. Where a published route does not scale, we develop one that does, and we say early when a target is not economically reachable at the quantity requested. Feasibility, cost, lead time and IP terms are agreed in writing before any work starts. Structures developed under a bilateral project stay confidential.
WHAT WE SYNTHESISE
Monomers and intermediates. Stannylated and borylated monomers, halogenated cores, side-chain intermediates.
Conjugated polymers. Donor–acceptor backbones, p-type and n-type, with side-chain engineering to your processing solvent.
Small molecules. Non-fullerene acceptors, transport materials, end-capped fused-ring systems.
SAM molecules. Carbazole and other cores with phosphonic acid or alternative anchoring groups.
Functionalised graphene. GO, rGO and covalently modified flakes to a specified surface chemistry.
Formulated inks. Any of the above delivered at a set concentration, solvent system and filtration.
SUPPLIED WITH
Standard. ¹H/¹³C NMR, GPC, UV-Vis-NIR.
On request. Cyclic voltammetry, ICP-MS for residual metal, elemental analysis, mass spectrometry.
Batch matching. Repeat batches matched to the reference batch you validated.
Lead time. 4–12 weeks depending on route length.
How an engagement runs
Step 01
Enquiry
A short description of the sample or target and what you need to know.
Step 02
Scope & quote
A written scope with deliverables, timeline, cost and IP terms. NDA in place first where you need one.
Step 03
Execution
Work runs in Tenutec's labs with a named contact and agreed checkpoints, so a result that changes the plan reaches you immediately.
Step 04
Report & handover
Data, materials and a written report including what did not work, which is usually the part worth the most.