Instruments
Vibratory mixer mills
The vibratory mixer mills (Retsch MM400, FTS 1000, VWR Starbeater) provide powerful grinding by impact and friction, designed for dry, wet and cryogenic milling. With a selection of milling jars and media available, the vibratory mills are versatile instruments compatible with a wide range of materials. The Retsch Cryomill is specifically designed for controlled cryogenic milling at -196°C, ideal for thermally sensitive and elastic substances.
Planetary mills
Planetary mills offer an alternative method of grinding, implementing shear force rather than impact. The high centrifugal forces result in high pulverisation energy, ideal for mixing materials of different rheology. Compared with vibratory mills, planetary mills offer greater scale up capabilities.
Dynamic Vapor Sorption – DVS Resolution Surface Measurement Systems
The DVS Resolution instrument measures real-time mass change in response to vapour adsorption and desorption. Sorption experiments can be conducted in aqueous or organic environments, or a combination of the two. The DVS Resolution is equipped with a Raman probe, allowing for in-situ monitoring.
PXRD – Aeris benchtop
The Panalytical Aeris benchtop powder X-ray diffractometer is capable of fast and accurate measurements of high-quality data. Equipped with a Cu source and a PIXcel1D detector, the instrument can measure in either transmission or Bragg-Brentano geometry between a range of 3° < 2θ ≤ 142°. Samples can be prepared using welled, zero background or capillary holders allowing measurement of ambient and air sensitive samples. The Aeris can also be equipped with a BTS 500 module for variable temperature measurements.
IR – PerkinElmer Spectrum Two FT-IR
The Spectrum Two™ FT-IR with UATR attachment is a versatile instrument designed for the analysis of a wide range of materials. With the UATR attachment, opaque solids, liquids and powders can be measured across a wavenumber range of 450-4000 cm⁻¹.
TGA/DSC - SDT 650
The SDT 650 is a combined DSC and TGA instrument capable of reaching temperatures up to 1500 °C with a heating rate of 0.1 to 100 °C/min. Samples can be measured using either aluminium or alumina pans, under an air or nitrogen atmosphere.
FlackTek Speedmixer
The FlackTeck bladeless mixers based on dual antisymmetric centripetal (DAC) motion provide an opportunity for rapid blending, mixing and chemical synthesis with trace solvents. The Birmingham Centre for Mechanochemistry & Mechanical Processing offers access to three laboratory-scale benchtop mixers, as well as 1 kg capacity FlackTek system.
Resonant Acoustic Mixers
LabRAM II
Resonant acoustic mixing is a novel mechanochemical method that permits chemical transformations on milligram, as well as multi-gram scales, without introducing major changes in equipment design. RAM is a mixer that works through resonant vibration to produce a fast motion which can be translated into intensive local mixing zones, allowing homogeneous mixing of solid-solid, solid-liquid and liquid-liquid materials. See RAM facility section for more information.
OmniRAM
The Resodyn OmniRAM system, a part of the UK RAM Facility for Sustainable Chemical Manufacturing, is a world-unique capability, currently the only publicly accessible system for testing and developing RAM processes at the pilot scale. With the capacity of up to 15 kg of materials (acceleration-dependent), and supported by staff with unique experience in developing and monitoring of RAM-based processes, OmniRAM offers a simple entry into scaling-up of RAM-based blending and mechanochemical reactivity, without bulk solvent, and is supported by a wide range of process tracking and materials characterisation capabilities embedded with the UK RAM Facility service.