Surface and Interface Engineering

Surfaces and interfacial properties control the performance of all materials.  Research in this area is focused on surface analysis of surfaces in a wide variety of applications:

  • Medicine (biomaterials, biosensors, gene chips)
  • Electronics
  • Fuel cells and advanced energy research
  • Composites and coatings
  • Catalysis
  • Geology and minerals
  • Forestry and paper products
  • Environmental science and technology

Facilities

A regional facility, Surface Interface Ontario, housed within the Department, provides core experimental capabilities in imaging time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). 

Consulting

Contamination Studies
tracking sources of contamination
Determination of isotopic composition
Product quality testing
Testing of mechanical failure (adhesion failure)
Corrosion testing
Environmental catalyst performance evaluation.