Particle Characterisation Facility

The Mastersizer measures the distribution of different sized particles within a sample using the technique of laser diffraction.

It does this by measuring the intensity of light scattered as a laser beam passes through a dispersed particulate sample. This data is then analyzed to calculate the size of the particles that created the scattering pattern.

The Mastersizer 2000 can measure particles sizes in the range 0.02-2000 µm with an accuracy of better than 1% and a reproducibility of better than 1% variation.

The Hydro 2000MU is a large volume manual wet sample dispersion unit designed for use with containers up to a volume of 1L. It is fitted with a variable pump, stirrer and sonication to allow bias-free sampling of dense materials

The unit uses a liquid dispersant - aqueous or solvent based - to disperse the sample and suspend the particles within the dispersant.

The Malvern Nano ZS Zetasizer allows for the measurement of molecular size, molecular weight, particle size and zeta potential. It can be used for particle sizing of particles with sizes between 0.3 nm-10 um.

These laboratories also support a wide range of complimentary equipment that are used to support liquid sample analysis. These include:

• Shimadzu TOC Shimadzu TOC-L CPH and TNM-L with ASI-L
• Horiba Duetta spectrofluorometer
• Varian Cary Eclipse Fluorescence Spectrometer
• Jenway 6850 UV/VIS spectrometer
• Perkin Elmer Lambda 465 UV-VIS
• Skalar Continuous flow analyser