NFM consortium's goal is to become a leading platform for building a technological infrastructure in the field of nano materials, enabling the Israeli chemical industry to improve and develop products
Malvern Instruments has become the primary supplier of systems for nanoparticle characterisation to a consortium of 13 commercial companies and 12 academic research groups in Israel - Nano Functional Materials (NFM).
The NFM consortium is supported by Israel's Magnet programme (Office of the chief scientist in the ministry of trade and employment, Israel) led by Ilan Peled.
Fernando de la Vega, the consortium chairman, said: "The consortium is successfully developing new ways to fabricate and use nanoparticles in industrial processes and products and is now completing its third year of activity".
To date, twenty Malvern Zetasizer Nano systems have been purchased by members of the NFM consortium for a variety of applications.
The Zetasizer Nano is said to be the most widely used system for the measurement of particle size, stability characterisation using zeta potential, and molecular weight, both for routine measurements and those at the leading edge of materials research.
These materials range from particle dispersions to emulsions and molecules in solution.
The unique technology in the Zetasizer Nano provides the sensitivity required for the measurement of highly dilute proteins and polymers, as well as the ability to measure inks, pigments and emulsions at high concentrations.
It enables particle size measurement over the range 0.6-6000nm, molecular weight measurement from 1x10^3 to 2x10^7 Daltons and the zeta potential of particles from 5nm to 10um.
Commenting on the use of the Zetasizer Nano systems, Eynat Matzner, NFM consortium manager, said: "The NFM consortium is developing nano structured functional materials, where nano particles are dispersed in a solid or liquid media.
"Measuring not just the prime particle size, but also the dispersion and agglomeration of particles in the matrix, is crucial for development.
"When measuring in liquid media, the Zetasizer is a very valuable tool".
The NFM consortium's goal is to become a leading platform for building a technological infrastructure in the field of nano materials, enabling the Israeli chemical industry to improve existing products, develop new products and penetrate into new markets.
The consortium promotes cooperation and information sharing among large established industrial companies, fast growing technology start-ups and academic research groups as a key for the development of new capabilities crucial for future markets.
NFM combines the efforts and expertise of different disciplines to shorten the time for commercialisation of innovative products based on the unique features of nanoscale materials.
The Magnet programme is intended to provide a competitive position for Israel's industry with regard to state of the art technologies of worldwide interest.
The new technologies are to be developed in a cooperative venture between the industry and leading academic scientific research in the area and they will provide the basis for new high-tech products and processes.
Malvern Instruments is a supplier of analytical solutions for particle characterisation and rheological applications.
Advanced technologies are combined with robust mechanical designs and comprehensive software to provide systems that measure material characterisation data (size distribution, particle shape, zeta potential, molecular weight) and bulk material properties.
On-line, at-line and off-line solutions are provided to meet QA/QC, control and development applications across a diverse range of industries.
An extensive support service facilitates the optimal design and exploitation of any given system.
