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EGA

What Is EGA (Evolved Gas Analysis)?

EGA (Evolved Gas Analysis) is an analytical approach that identifies and tracks gases released from a material as it is heated. EGA is most commonly performed by coupling a thermal technique (typically TGA or a furnace heating program) with a gas-identification detector such as FTIR and/or MS—so you can learn what is coming off, when it comes off, and how much (qualitative or semi-quantitative, project-dependent).

EGA is especially useful for understanding decomposition mechanisms, residual volatiles, outgassing behavior, and thermal stability in polymers, organics, formulated products, and many inorganic systems (project-dependent).

Key advantages

  • Identifies outgassing species vs temperature/time

  • Reveals decomposition steps and likely mechanisms

  • Strong for contamination / residue investigations and process troubleshooting

  • Complements TGA weight-loss data with chemical identity

What EGA Is Used For

EGA is commonly used to:

  • Identify residual solvents, moisture, and low-boiling volatiles

  • Study polymer decomposition and differentiate multi-step degradation

  • Evaluate additives and formulation components (plasticizers, stabilizers, binders—project-dependent)

  • Investigate odor/outgassing in plastics, coatings, adhesives, and packaging (project-dependent)

  • Troubleshoot bubbles, voids, blisters, foaming, or haze caused by gas generation

  • Support process optimization (drying, curing, bake-out, thermal treatment windows)

  • Compare good vs bad lots to determine “what changed?”

Why EGA (vs. TGA Alone)?

TGA tells you how much mass is lost as temperature changes—but not necessarily what caused that loss. EGA adds chemical identity, which helps you:

  • Distinguish water vs solvent vs decomposition products

  • Separate additive loss from backbone breakdown

  • Identify unexpected contaminants or process residues

  • Produce more defensible root-cause conclusions for failures and drift

Common EGA Configurations (Project-Dependent)

  • TGA-FTIR: excellent for many organic functional groups and condensable species; intuitive interpretation for organics.

  • TGA-MS: high sensitivity for low-level gases and lighter species; useful when FTIR bands overlap or when sensitivity is critical.

  • TGA-GC/MS (or thermal desorption GC/MS): best when you need GC separation + MS identification for complex mixtures of evolved species.

We select the most efficient approach based on matrix, target compounds, and temperature range.

Sample Types We Support

EGA is applicable to many materials (project-dependent), including:

  • Polymers & plastics: pellets, films, molded parts

  • Elastomers & foams

  • Adhesives, sealants, and resins

  • Coatings, inks, and cured films

  • Battery and electronic materials: binders, separators, coatings (project-dependent)

  • Powders and composites (handling and safety dependent)

  • Unknown residues/deposits suspected to outgas or decompose on heating

Best practice: include a reference/control sample for comparisons.

Typical Workflows

Outgassing / Residual Volatiles Check

Best for: bake-out issues, odor, bubbles, storage instability

  • Heat program designed around your process window

  • Identify evolved species vs temperature

  • Summarize likely sources: moisture, solvent, monomer, additive, decomposition

Thermal Decomposition Mechanism Study

Best for: material selection, stability benchmarking

  • Correlate weight-loss steps (TGA) with evolved gas identity (EGA)

  • Interpret multi-step breakdown and key temperature thresholds

Comparative Investigation (“What Changed?”)

Best for: supplier change, aging, failures

  • Run the same program on reference vs suspect

  • Highlight new/stronger evolved species and shifted onset temperatures

  • Provide practical conclusions and next-step recommendations

What You Receive

  • EGA results showing evolved species vs temperature/time (spectra and trend plots, scope-dependent)

  • TGA context (mass loss and derivative curves) when coupled

  • Identified species list (confidence notes, project-dependent)

  • A clear summary answering:

    • What is evolving

    • When it evolves

    • How it differs vs reference

    • What it likely implies for your process or failure mode

Sample Submission Guidelines

Please provide

  • Sample description and your goal (outgassing, decomposition, comparison, odor, process troubleshooting)

  • Expected temperature exposure in use/process (drying, curing, reflow, bake-out, etc.)

  • Any suspected volatiles (solvents, monomers, additives) and required detection focus

  • SDS and hazards (especially for unknowns, energetic materials, or powders)

  • Reference/control sample whenever possible

Typical sample amounts

  • Solids: often tens of mg (more is helpful for repeats and confirmatory runs)

  • Films/coatings: several small pieces (clean, representative)

Packaging tips

  • Seal samples promptly to preserve volatiles

  • Avoid contamination (gloves, clean containers)

  • Label reference vs suspect and note storage history

FAQs

Often it can identify functional groups or likely species (especially with MS/GC-MS coupling). Exact identification depends on complexity, overlap, and available reference data (project-dependent).

EGA is commonly qualitative or semi-quantitative. If you need absolute quantitation of a specific volatile, targeted GC or GC-MS methods may be recommended.

Both study volatiles released by heating. EGA (TGA-FTIR/MS) emphasizes continuous gas evolution vs temperature, while TD-GC/MS emphasizes separated compound identification with GC.

Yes—the analyzed portion is heated and consumed/altered during analysis.

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