You have been given a piece of metal oxide coated metal alloy plate used in advanced aerospace applications and been asked to produce an experimental plan for its analysis that involves answering the following questions:

1. How can you best measure the elemental composition of the oxide coating and identify the presence of inorganic impurities? Explain your reasoning and any potential problems with using the method. Briefly describe the basic theory underpinning the method(s) you selected and how the instrument operates.

[15 marks]

2. During the manufacture of the oxide coating, it is suspected that there is some residual water present. How could you quantify the amount of water present in the coating? Briefly explain the information that the method would provide.?

[5 marks]

3. For characterizing the thermal stability of the oxide coating what type of thermal analysis measurements might you make, and why? What kind of data could be obtained from the technique you suggest?