The uYilo Materials Characterisation Laboratory was established at the Nelson Mandela University in 2000 and was formerly known as Port Elizabeth Technikon Materials Resource Centre.

Its primary function is to support the local lead-acid-battery industry by performing routine analysis on raw materials used in the production of lead-acid batteries.

The laboratory can also perform analysis on samples not typically associated with lead-acid batteries due to the broad application of its testing equipment and diverse skills held by the uYilo staff.

Although not accredited for any particular tests, the uYilo Materials Characterisation Laboratory operates according to the ISO17025 standard under the same quality management system as the Battery Testing Laboratory.

The list of services available across materials characterisation:

X-ray diffraction (material identification)

X-ray fluorescence (elemental composition)

Melt flow indexing (MFI) of thermoplasts

BET surface area analyser