With the help of TEM, materials can be analysed on the nanometer- to micrometer-scale, which can be useful either as a complementary technique or as preparation and sample screening before experiments at large scale research infrastructure facilities. 

Using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) we can analyse the structure of materials on length scales from several micrometres down to the atomic scale. We can image both soft materials like gels, emulsions, food or polymers, and hard materials like metals or concrete.

TEM is well suited as a complementary method to large-scale research infrastructure techniques, as it can be used to analyse specimens with high resolution in a conventional lab environment.

Specimen preparation
Since TEM requires thin specimens with a thickness of around 100 nm, specimen preparation is as important as the actual analysis. That is why we have equipment and competence for advanced specimen preparation of water- and fat-containing samples. Those include freeze fracturing, mica sandwich technique, plunge freezing, plastic embedding at -90°C or room temperature, and thin-slicing.

JEOL JEM-2100Plus
This TEM can be used for imaging of almost all types of materials but is optimised for soft materials and good image quality on low-contrast specimens. The high voltage can be varied between 80 and 200 kV, depending on the beam sensitivity of the specimen and requirements for resolution and contrast. At 200 kV the microscope reaches a resolution of 0.14 nanometre. Even scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) can be performed with a resolution of 1 nanometre.

Beam-sensitive specimens
The microscope is equipped with a TVIPS TemCam-XF416ES CMOS camera. This camera delivers high-resolution images with low levels of noise, high contrast and high framerates, and is therefore optimally suited for soft materials and beam-sensitive specimens.  The software is designed for imaging with low electron dose, so that the beam is only on the specimen while an image is taken. ​

3D imaging
Specimens can be analysed in three dimensions using tomography. The specimen is rotated between ± 70 degrees and the images are reconstructed using an advanced software to obtain a 3D model of the structure.

Cryo TEM
Water-containing samples, e.g., diluted solutions of nanoparticles, liposomes, fibres or micelles, can be vitrified (frozen) in liquid ethane and analysed using a dedicated cryo TEM specimen holder at around -180 °C. Even 3D tomography can be performed at cryogenic temperature.

Crystal structure
With electron diffraction the crystal structure of a sample or the degree of crystallinity in a heterogeneous sample can be probed locally. The crystal structure can even be used to manipulate the image contrast through bright-field- and dark-field imaging.

Measurement data (image sequences) and a report (Powerpoint) containing an analysis of the results. Of course, we adapt the delivery based on your requests and needs.

Delivery time depends on the scope of the analysis and booking status of the instrument.

Gain an insight into what consumers think when they evaluate your products; see what the consumers see.

Perhaps you have a new prototype product that you are about to launch but need to know if the consumers will like it or not, and if not what needs to change? Or maybe you want to find out what consumers are doing when they are interacting with products, it is useful to see what they see.

The best way to find out is to ask the consumers themselves. At RISE we have the competence to carry out consumer testing of products, be it food and beverages, or other things that are used by people in everyday lives.

By having this information, it will help decide whether you need to go back to the drawing board to make any required changes in your products, or it is ready to be launched.

We have various methods available at RISE to test consumers on your products:

Your products can be tested on how much consumers like them. This can be done when you would like to compare between for instance different formulations or against competitor products. Linked to this, we have the capability to test if any particular characteristic of your product is optimal. An example can be seen in food products, which can be advantageously tested from a sensory perspective through taste, aroma, and texture.

There are various methods that can measure preference available for use and RISE has the expertise to select the one that fits your questions the best.

Testing can be conducted in our sensory booth facilities or at the comfort of the consumers home to get the most suitable data for your needs. Especially for home use tests, we can assist with investigating how consumers use food products for example to gain behavioural understandings beyond preferences.

We can measure gazing behaviour and physical behaviour with the eyetracker to monitor how consumers are looking at products either in the laboratory or even in situ such as a supermarket. We also have the ability to monitor their behaviour at the point of interacting with products and couple this to questionnaires for further insights.

To understand how consumer preferences and behaviors have developed over time, RISE can help you gain customer insights through customised assignments and tests focused on specific markets or product categories.

Delivery of the results will be in a report format with an overview of the tested products as well as a longer report describing the method and the results. A report in the form of a presentation is also available as an option.

In a planned assignment it takes 4 weeks before the measure is conducted and analyzed. 

ASTM MNL63-EB/Feb. 2009 - Penalty analysis or mean drop analysis

ASTM MNL63-EB/Feb. 2009 - Structure and use of just-about-right scales

Gain understanding of how the perception of your products/samples change with time during consumption/usage.

The perception of food and beverages (and other non-food related products) change with time during consumption (usage). Sometimes such dynamic changes are what makes the products unique. By understanding how perception changes temporally the design of your products can be adjusted to how would like it to be. Several methods are available at RISE that would allow us to measure this for you.

Below is a list of methods which we can use with our sensory panel:

Time intensity: a classic method where the changes in the intensity of a specific attribute can be monitored with time with high resolution.

Progressive profiling: another method that is lower resolution compared to time intensity, but can measure perceived intensities of multiple attributes.

Temporal dominance of sensations (TDS): a method that can track at which time point is a particular sensory attribute dominant. Therefore it selects dominant attributes one at a time depending on how the sensory characteristics change.

A written report with a description of methods and results. A report in the form of a presentation is also available as an option.

In a planned assignment it takes 3-4 weeks before the measure is conducted and analyzed.

fPDF is a measure of biodiversity. PDF stands for Potentially Disappeared Fraction and describes the potential species loss caused by human land use, compared to a reference situation. Since the PDF results per kilogram of food will be very small (often raised to the power of negative 15), we express the results as femto-PDF (fPDF).

Background information

A description of how the database was built - which methods were used, assumptions made and description of the indata - can be found in the methodology report.

Coaching

Do you want to get started with biodiversity calculations? We offer coaching on an hourly basis, you can e.g. get help with the practical aspects of the database, how you can use and interpret the results, or more in-depth knowledge of biodiversity, agriculture and food. Contact us and we can tell you more!