TA Instruments Blog

From fast-charging phones to long-distance electric vehicles, battery innovations are continuously improving various aspects of daily life. However, battery research is beholden to one critical factor: safety.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are a cutting-edge class of biopharmaceuticals transforming oncology treatment with increased specificity and efficacy. Their impact is only growing, as 14 ADCs have received global market approval to date and hundreds more are in development.

In rheology, the Deborah number (De) carries a timeless message: everything flows — if you wait long enough. Named after the prophetess Deborah, it stands out as a rare feminine presence in the language of rheology, and a poetic one. The number reminds us that what appears solid and unchanging may, over long enough timescales, soften, yield, and flow.

From foldable smartphones to wearable health monitors, the electronics industry is demanding materials that are not only conductive but also flexible, durable, and thermally stable. Designers and manufacturers are challenged to optimize processing and ensure finished products can withstand operating conditions without failure – and doing so requires multiple types of thermal analysis.

Valentine’s Day is usually about hearts, flowers, and sweet messages, but this year, we found romance somewhere unexpected: inside a rheometer. With two iconic chocolates as our leading characters, milk chocolate and milk chocolate wrapped in a white crème embrace, we discovered that chocolate has a lot to teach us about love, chemistry, and how relationships behave under heat, pressure, and time.

While many instruments can measure DMA type properties (phase, tan delta, etc), many are not performing ‘real’ DMA experiments. On the surface, Dynamic Mechanical Analysis seems straightforward: apply periodic stress/strain and measure the sample’s mechanical response including the phase relationship, revealing characteristics like stiffness (storage modulus) and damping (loss modulus).

Developing high-performance materials for demanding applications requires predicting their behavior over a wide range of time scales. Rheology and DMA are powerful tools to understand and predict viscoelastic behavior, including how materials will respond to sudden forces or years of continuous use.

As lithium-ion batteries evolve to meet demands for increased energy density, safety, and form factor versatility, one component remains central to their capacity and reliability: the separator.

In collaboration with Neil Cunningham, Founder of The Centre for Industrial Rheology, we’re excited to share his expert perspective on the evolving role of rheology in formulation science.

Heat shrink tubing appears simple at first glance: wrap it around your wires, apply a heat gun, and voila – perfectly insulated wires every time. But these tubes are more complex than they seem.