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Nanopowder Analysis and Processing

Cutting-edge expertise for tailor-made solution

Nanopowders are opening up a wide range of opportunities for research and industry. Leveraging a new understanding and mastery of the properties of matter at the nanometric scale, they hold great promise for multiple fields: health, energy, communication, automotive, aerospace… All sectors are concerned, both traditional and high-tech.

SDTech provides a comprehensive and differentiating range of services to all those involved in the nanotechnology sector, across all fields of activity. Whether you produce nanopowders by synthesis or grinding, or use nanopowders in your products, SDTech is able to characterise your dry or suspended nanopowders and obtain stable nanosuspensions from your micron- or nanoscale powders.

Our team is endowed with extensive scientific and technological knowledge enabling us to deliver comprehensive solutions to complex nanopowder-related challenges.

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Nano Grinding and Custom Processing

Nano Grinding and Nano Dispersion

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Nano Grinding and Nano Dispersion

Via practical application of nanopowder theories and a scientific, multi-sector approach, SDTech engineers analyse your specifications and propose solutions tailored to your requirements.

Equipped with a Netzsch LabStar laboratory agitator bead mill, SDTech provides ultra-fine wet grinding at the nanometric scale: nano grinding.

This instrument, made available to clients, consists of a grinding chamber partially filled with microbeads (up to 90%). The suspension to be ground is fed into the chamber and the bead-suspension mixture is set in motion by an agitator. When the beads come into contact with the particles in the suspension, size reduction occurs through various mechanical stresses.

In order to meet customer requirements and process a wide range of products, the company has acquired:

Two types of grinding chamber with an agitator and a steel or ceramic lining (eliminating the risk of metallic contamination).
Beads of various sizes and densities to adjust the particle size distribution at the mill outlet.

For temperature-sensitive products, intensive cooling is implemented during grinding via the double jacket of the grinding chamber and the feed tank.

This equipment can process batches ranging from 1.5 to 6L. High flow rates can be achieved even for viscous products with high solid concentrations.

To disperse agglomerated nanoparticles or nano-sheets, SDTech uses low-energy mills to avoid degrading the nature of the solids being processed.

Suspension Preparation

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Suspension Preparation

Via practical application of powder suspension theories, SDTech engineers analyse your specifications and propose tailor-made solutions.

Powder suspension preparation involves 3 phases:

Wetting of the powder with liquid: the solid/air and solid/solid interfaces are then replaced by solid/liquid interfaces.
Dispersion of the powder: agglomerates are broken up via mechanical energy.
Stabilisation: results from particle-to-particle repulsion and prevents flocculation or re-agglomeration.

To carry out the dispersion phase, SDTech has a range of high-performance IKA mechanical dispersion equipment.

For batch processing, the company has a high-shear Ultra-Turrax laboratory disperser.

For continuous in-line processing by single pass or recirculation, the Magic Lab system is ideal and can be scaled up to industrial level.

Several modules are interchangeable depending on the products to be processed:

UTL module: Ultra-Turrax-type, high-shear in-line dispersion.
MK module: wet disperser-mill using a colloid mill operating on the rotor-stator principle.
MKO module: wet disperser-mill using a cone mill for processing abrasive products.

Nanoparticle Analysis and Characterisation

Particle Size Analysis

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Particle Size Analysis

As a specialist in nanopowder characterisation, SDTech has a dedicated laboratory and high-precision equipment which it continues to expand. This investment enables the company to propose a wide range of analyses, particularly in the field of particle size and size distribution measurement.

Particle size analysis by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS)

In addition to particle size analysis by Static Light Scattering (SLS) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), SDTech can provide particle size analysis by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) to measure a wide range of sizes.

For this purpose, the company has a Malvern Zetasizer Nano ZS, an instrument for measuring the size and zeta potential of nanoparticles.

This is achieved by combining 3 different techniques:

Dynamic Light Scattering to measure the size of particles and molecules.
Laser Doppler Electrophoresis to measure zeta potential.
Static Light Scattering to determine the molar mass of proteins and polymers.

The Zetasizer Nano ZS can measure sizes from 0.3 nm to 10 µm (hydrodynamic diameter). For this type of analysis, the company guarantees precision and responsiveness (24 to 48-hour turnaround).

Zeta Potential Measurement

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Zeta Potential Measurement

Zeta potential represents the electrical charge that a particle acquires from the surrounding ion cloud when in suspension or solution. It is an important indicator regarding the intensity of electrostatic repulsion or attraction between particles. Its measurement therefore provides information on the causes of dispersion, aggregation or flocculation.

To assist its clients in characterising such phenomena, SDTech uses the Malvern Zetasizer Nano ZS.

This instrument measures zeta potential measurement using Laser Doppler Electrophoresis. The electric field applied to the cell containing the suspension sets the particles or colloids in motion according to their charge. The zeta potential is then calculated by measuring their displacement velocity (or electrophoretic mobility).

SDTech can provide zeta potential measurements based on the pH of the medium, its salt, surfactant or electrolyte concentration, and by varying the nature of additives. The isoelectric point (IEP), the pH at which zeta potential is zero, causing particle aggregation or flocculation, can also be determined.

Identifying such data enables:

Optimisation of formulation stability.
Control of flocculation phenomena.
Control of the physicochemical characteristics of raw materials and finished products (in terms of quality and toxicity).

Stability Measurement

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Stability Measurement

Stabilising a suspension stabilisation is key to controlling the long-term performance of a formula.

As experts in the physicochemical characterisation of suspensions, SDTech is equipped with a Formulaction Turbiscan LAB.

This instrument makes it possible to identify and monitor destabilisation phenomena in complex systems:

Particle (or droplet) migration: creaming and sedimentation.
Particle (or droplet) size variation: flocculation and coalescence.

The dispersion to be analysed is placed in a cylindrical glass measurement cell. The Turbiscan LAB operates in “scan” mode: the optical reading head, comprising a light source and two optical sensors at 180° and 45° relative to the incident beam, scans the sample throughout the entire height of the measuring cell and collects transmission and backscattering data every 40 μm. Measurements are taken over time at a given storage temperature.

Changes in the percentage of transmission or backscattering over time at different heights of the measurement cell make it possible to:

Identify the type(s) of destabilisation present in the sample.
Measure sedimentation or clarification kinetics.
Compare the stability of formulations more quickly than with a conventional storage test.

Morphological Analysis

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Morphological Analysis

Morphological characterisation encompasses various analytical methods for evaluating the three-dimensional shape of particles. These analyses are essential for manufacturers in many sectors, as they provide a detailed understanding of powder properties, facilitate control of manufacturing processes, and help anticipate performance or avoid potential failures in finished products. At SDTech we can provide expertise in this field.

Electron Microscopy Analysis

In addition to morphological analysis performed using the Malvern Morphologi G3, SDTech can perform electron microscopy analyses by SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) or TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy).

SEM produces 3-dimensional surface images of objects with very high resolution, in the nanometre range. The image is obtained by scanning an electron beam across the sample surface. The sample re-emits other electrons and X-rays that can be collected by detectors. Secondary electron analysis reveals the sample’s topography, backscattered electron analysis provides chemical contrast, while X-ray analysis determines chemical composition.
TEM pushes the limits even further. The image, with a resolution reaching 0.08 nanometres, is obtained using an electron beam transmitted through a very thin sample.

Both microscopy techniques provide valuable information about object shape. Indeed, the definition of a nanomaterial takes into account all the dimensions of a particle. Thus, fibres or needles with widths in the nanometre range are considered nanomaterials.

Electron microscopy also makes it possible to detect primary entities of nanometric size, grouped into very stable structures consisting of aggregates or agglomerates.