News from LabRulezICPMS Library - Week 21, 2026

Our Library never stops expanding. What are the most recent contributions to LabRulezICPMS Library in the week of 18th May 2026? Check out new documents from the field of spectroscopy/spectrometry and related techniques!

👉 SEARCH THE LARGEST REPOSITORY OF DOCUMENTS ABOUT SPECTROSCOPY/SPECTROMETRY RELATED TECHNIQUES

👉 Need info about different analytical techniques? Peek into LabRulezLCMS or LabRulezGCMS libraries.

This week we bring you brochure by MILESTONE and application notes by Shimadzu and Thermo Fisher Scientific!

1. MILESTONE: ETHOS™ LEAN Compact Microwave Labstation

• Brochure
• Full PDF for download

Sample preparation is the foundation of many analytical workflows, and often the most critical step. In elemental analysis, proper digestion ensures accurate and reproducible results with AAS, ICP, and ICP-MS by enabling complete recovery of target elements, minimizing interferences, and reducing blanks. With over 35 years of innovation and more than 30,000 microwave systems installed worldwide, Milestone is a global leader in microwave sample preparation. The ETHOS LEAN, now in its 2nd series, represents this expertise: a compact, affordable labstation delivering full digestion capabilities without compromise. Beyond digestion, ETHOS LEAN supports solvent extraction for chromatography, solvent-free extraction of natural products, and even microwave synthesis workflows, offering unmatched versatility in its class. Selecting the right system is more than a purchase decision: it’s choosing a partner. With Milestone, you gain not only proven technology but also the knowledge and support to ensure long-term success.

BUILT FOR MORE THAN DIGESTION

ETHOS LEAN goes beyond digestion. As a compact Microwave Labstation, it supports a suite of accessories that expand its capabilities into multiple workflows. Microwave technology provides a faster, cleaner, and more efficient alternative to conventional sample preparation techniques, reducing processing time, simplifying operations, and minimizing reagent consumption. 

Solvent extraction

Closed-vessel microwave technology streamlines extraction for chromatographic analysis, dramatically reducing solvent use and cutting analysis times. Ideal for organic pollutant extraction from environmental samples or fat determination in food and feed.

Solvent-free extraction

Patented Milestone technology enables fast and efficient essential oil extraction in just minutes, preserving aroma and natural composition while minimizing degradation. Selective heating promotes a quicker, more efficient release from plant cells.

Microwave synthesis

Microwave synthesis is a safer and faster alternative to heating mantles or complex reactors, enabling rapid optimization of conditions. Its speed supports research projects and allows practical teaching sessions within standard class times.

High-temperature processes

With the ultraFAST accessory, ETHOS LEAN reaches 1200 °C in just minutes, transforming into a microwave furnace for demanding high-temperature applications such as inorganic synthesis, fusion, or fire assay.

2. Shimadzu: Discriminating between Microsamples of Similar Resins with a Combination of FTIR and Thermal Analysis Instruments

• Application note
• Full PDF for download

User Benefits

• Using the ATR method with FTIR spectroscopy enables simple and rapid qualitative analysis of polymers.
• DSC analysis may be able to reveal differences in polymer thermal histories that cannot be confirmed by FTIR alone.
• TG-DTA can be used to confirm the content level of inorganic additives in polymers

A wide range of polymer resins is used in modern society for diverse applications, resulting in increasing demand for qualitative analysis of resin microsamples, such as identifying resin contaminants in products or qualitatively evaluating microplastics for environmental impact assessments. FTIR spectrophotometers are commonly used for qualitative analysis of polymers. In particular, the ATR (attenuated total reflectance) method is widely used because measurements can be performed simply and quickly by clamping a sample against a prism to ensure close contact. 

While the ATR method makes it relatively easy to discriminate between different types of polymers, clear differences may not appear when analyzing similar polymers—for example, when there are only slight differences in the type or content of additives or the thermal histories during manufacturing. In such cases, differences may be confirmed by using thermal analysis instruments, such as a DSC or TG-DTA system. 

This article describes an example in which three instruments— an IRSpirit-TX FTIR spectrophotometer, a DSC-60 Plus differential scanning calorimeter, and a DTG-60 simultaneous DTA-TG unit (Fig. 1)—were used to confirm differences among six microsamples of polypropylene (PP) resin.

Conclusion

Details of the six types of PP resin identified from the above measurement results are shown in Table 4. The results indicate that by using an FTIR spectrophotometer in combination with thermal analysis equipment, such as DSC and TG-DTA systems, it is possible to distinguish between minute amounts of the same type of resin with various different properties.

3. Thermo Fisher Scientific: XPS depth profiling of advanced solar cells with femtosecond laser ablation

• Application note
• Full PDF for download

Perovskites are an emerging class of materials in the solar cell industry, exhibiting a number of promising properties, such as improved efficiency and weight, compared to traditional silicon-based devices. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is an established tool in solar cell research due to its ability to provide extremely surface-sensitive information about elemental composition along with chemical and electronic states.¹ XPS is ultimately a surface analysis technique, however, and in order to assess the full composition of complex, multi-layered structures such as solar cells, a technique known as depth profiling is necessary, which performs multiple rounds of successive material removal and analysis. 

This application note explores a recent study by Chandler et al. that focuses on solar cells designed for aerospace applications,² where accurate determination of the “true” starting composition of the stacks is essential for tests that simulate space conditions, such as radiation exposure. Without a reliable baseline, it becomes impossible to distinguish between changes induced by the experimental conditions and artifacts introduced during analysis. Conventional ion beam sputtering methods used for depth profiling are known to distort chemical information for perovskites; femtosecond laser ablation (fs-LA) is presented as a novel, alternative method that helps to preserve vital chemical information.

Experimental

A halide-perovskite-based solar cell was fabricated on an ITO/SnO₂ substrate using a spin coating method; the structure of the layers is shown in Figure 1.

Analysis was performed with the Thermo Scientific™ Hypulse™ Surface Analysis System, which is equipped with both traditional ion-beam sputtering and femtosecond-laser ablation capabilities. XPS data was collected in SnapShot acquisition mode using an X-ray spot size of 30-200 µm, depending on the method of depth profiling. 

A MAGCIS ion gun was employed for the sputter depth profiles, generating either a 500 eV monatomic Ar⁺ beam or 8 keV Ar₁₅₀⁺ clusters. The fs-LA depth profiles were generated using a 1,030 nm wavelength laser operating at a 160 fs pulse length. The pulse energy was increased from 42 µJ to 167 µJ when transitioning from the perovskite layer into the substrate structure. A flood gun was employed for charge neutralization during profiling.

Summary 

This study confirms the challenges associated with traditional ion sputtering (both monatomic and cluster) for the depth profiling of perovskite-based solar cells. These methods cause preferential sputtering, particularly of lighter elements like carbon, nitrogen, and iodine, which distorts elemental ratios in the profiles and results in artificial signals, such as the formation of metallic lead (Pb⁰). Depth profiling with femtosecond laser ablation represents a novel and robust alternative that preserves the original chemical composition and oxidation states throughout the perovskite layer. By avoiding preferential removal effects, accurate compositional information is maintained during the profile, and erroneous peak signals associated with chemical reduction are eliminated. These factors are vital in establishing a chemically undisturbed baseline before performing tests that simulate environmental effects on the solar cells. 

With fs-LA depth profiling, any induced changes can be confidently delineated from analytical artifacts, and researchers can better understand and mitigate environmental effects on solar-cell performance, eventually leading to improved solar technologies for aerospace applications.