Using the ubiquitous presence of water, you can get data on a whole range of chemical properties from your materials with dynamic vapour sorption, a technology optimised by Surface Measurement Systems. ‘We want to find out: what is the impact of moisture on your materials?

When studying a material, one of the key questions people ask themselves is: how do I characterise it? There’s a myriad of materials characterisation methods available, but an option that is not yet as widely known is dynamic vapour sorption (DVS). The British company Surface Measurement Systems has been pioneering this technology for a few decades and is currently exploring opportunities to come to the Benelux.

But why would you want to use DVS? ‘What distinguishes our method is quite subtle’, says Professor Daryl Williams, Managing Director at Surface Measurement Systems and inventor of the technique. ‘It’s really a question of how you want to interrogate your material and what information you want to get out of it. Analytical techniques like NMR, X-rays or UV/Vis tend to tell us what material is present and where, which is helpful analytical information. But there’s a whole range of properties that are more chemical in nature that they leave out.’