Analytical instrument manufacturer provides solid endorsement of the value of these microbalance heads in its range of instruments for surface chemistry and materials science
Hiden Isochema, a subsidiary company of Hiden Analytical, is a world leader in the design and manufacture of analytical instruments for research, development and production applications in surface chemistry and materials science.
The company's advanced technologies are used for a wide range of critical studies including gas-surface interactions, vapour sorption, multi-component sorption, dynamic moisture sorption, reaction TGA-MS, materials analysis, surface science, and diffusivity, permeation and breakthrough.
Several of the Hiden Isochema's products, such as the IGAsorp (for moisture sorption), IGAsorp-CT (climatic tester), IGA-001 (gas-solid interaction), IGA-002 (vapour sorption) and IGA-003 (flowing TG/MS), rely on precise measurements of mass changes.
This in itself is a highly specialised area so, rather than developing its own microbalance heads, Hiden Isochema utilises products from CI Electronics.
Over the last ten years, Hiden Isochema has purchased hundreds of CI microbalance heads and built them into instruments for export around the world.
The heads have proven to be stable, repeatable, reliable and remarkably robust considering their 0.1microgram sensitivity.
Mike Benham, managing director of Hiden Isochema, states: "I first used a CI microbalance head when I was doing post-doctoral research at Birmingham University in the 1980s - and the original IGA product was a spin-off from this research.
"That's not to say that I have only ever used CI microbalance heads, I have used others, but the CI units are definitely superior for the majority of our applications".
He explains: "One of the main advantages of the CI heads is their resistance to the environments in which they operate.
"Their uptake of gases and vapours is extremely low, which gives them excellent corrosion resistance and chemical compatibility across the wide range of species with which our instruments are used.
"Linked to this is the high reliability that the CI microbalance heads exhibit".
Hiden Isochema's instruments are used for the most demanding applications in quality assurance testing as well as research and development.
Industries served include pharmaceuticals, foods, packaging, desiccants, textiles, cosmetics and electronic components.
Benham concludes: "I genuinely believe that the CI microbalance heads are better than the alternatives for our analytical instruments, which is why we have used so many of them over such a long period; the CI microbalance heads give us a distinct advantage over our competitors.
"Moreover, CI Electronics has been a very good supplier, always maintaining very high standards in terms of technical support, build quality, on-time deliveries and customer service."
