CHARACTERIZATION OF COLLOIDAL DISPERSIONS
Scientific Supervisor: Jordi Esquena Moret / Carlos Rodriguez Abreu
Colloidal Dispersions Characterization Service provides equipment focused on the characterization of structured liquids (micelles, vesicles or liposomes, liquid crystals, microemulsions, nano-emulsions, etc.) and solid dispersions (organic, inorganic or hybrid). It offers service and technical assistance to research groups and industry especially of chemical, pharmaceutical and food areas.
The characterization includes the determination of size, morphology, phase transition, rheology and surface and interfacial properties.
Colloidal Dispersions Characterization Service belongs to the ICTS (National Scientific and Technological Infrastructure MAP) NANBIOSIS, infrastructure of production and characterization of materials, biomaterials and biomedical systems.
MANAGEMENT RECOGNITION OF SERVICE OF CHARACTERIZATION OF COLLOIDAL DISPERSIONS
Service of Characterization of Colloidal Dispersions from the IQAC-CSIC have since October 2021 a Quality Management System in accordance with the UNE-EN ISO 9001:2015 certified by AENOR with the reference ER-051/2021.
Jordi Esquena
Scientific Supervisor
jordi.esquena@iqac.csic.es
Carlos Rodríguez
Scientific Supervisor
carlos.rodriguez@iqac.csic.es
Susana Vílchez
Technical Supervisor
susana.vilchez@iqac.csic.es
Jonathan Miras
Specialist Technician
jonathan.miras@iqac.csic.es
Photon correlation spectrometer (3DDLS, LS Instruments)
Photon correlation spectrometer to determine particle size distribution, form factor, diffusion coefficient, aggregation number and molecular weight. It performs dynamic (DLS) and static light scattering between 20 and 140 from 0.15 nm to 5 µm.
3DDLS Spectrometer
Size distribution of a mixed micelle and vesicle dispersion by dynamic light scattering
Rheology (Rheometer, AR-G2, T.A. Instruments)
Rheological properties determination of fluids and soft materials by flow and deformation steady state measurements (viscosity, shear thinning, shear thickening) and dynamic (elastic and viscous moduli, relaxation time, gelation time, etc.).
Stress controlled rheometer with magnetic bearings which allows measuring torques down 0.003 mN.m. It is possible to measure between -10ºC i 200ºC. Several geometries are available such as concentric cylinders, cone-plate and plate-plate and also cross hatched plates to measure gels samples.
Variation of elastic (G’) and viscous (G’’) moduli, as a function of frequency, for a viscoelastic fluid that follows Maxwell behaviour.
Light diffraction (Mastersizer 2000, Malvern Instrument)
Instrument that measures by means of laser diffraction the size and size distribution of emulsions, suspensions and powders from 0.2 to 2000 µm. It is equipped with a liquid dispersion unit (Hydro 2000G) and a solid dispersion unit (Scirocco).
Electrophoretic mobility and zeta potential (ZetaSizer Nano-Z, Malvern Instruments)
Electrophoretic mobility measurements and zeta potential determinations of aqueous and non-aqueous dispersions with temperature controlled 0°C – 90°C +/-0.1).
Viscosimetry (Viscometer Brookfield RVDVII+P, Brookfield)
Viscometer to measure viscosity from 25mPa·s to 64MmPa·s. It is equipped with the Small Sample Adaptor SSA accessory for small volume samples (7-13.5mL).
Turbidimetry (Turbiscan Lab, Formulaction)
Instrument that enables a fast identification of destabilization mechanisms (creaming, flocculation, sedimentation, coalescence, etc.) of emulsions, suspensions and foams.
Hyperspectral Microscopy (Microscopi CytoViva V10E, Cytoviva Inc.)
Image analysis of nanometric objects (nanoparticles, nanoemulsions) and spectral mapping.
Optical microscopy (Olympus BX51TRF-6, Olympus)
Optical microscope that can work with transmitted or reflected light. Different observation methods can be used such as bright field, phase contrast, differential interference contrast (DIC), polarized light and fluorescence.
Scanning electron microscopy (Hitachi TM-1000, Hitachi)
Tabletop scanning electron microscope to characterize solid samples. Resolution of 100 nm.
Density (Densímetre DMA 4500 M, Anton Paar)
Instrument that measures density from 0 g/cm3 to 3 g/cm3 at controlled temperature from 0 to 100ºC.
Tensiometry (Tensiometer KSV700, Attension)
Tensiometer to determine surface and interface tension, critical micelle concentration, contact angle and wettability of powders.
Interface tension (Spinning DropTensiometer SITE 04, Krüss)
Determination of interface tension (up to 10-5 mN.m-1) in biphasic colloidal systems liquid-liquid and liquid-gas.
Ultrasound probe (Sonoplus HD3200, Bandelin)
The instrument enables emulsification, dispersion and/or solubilisation of solid agglomerates in liquids, acceleration of chemical reactions, etc.
Porosity (Autosorb IQ, Quantachrome)
By nitrogen adsorption/desorption it is possible to determine different parameters of porous samples: specific surface, mesopores Distribution, size and total pore volume and percentage of porosity of samples.
High speed centrifuge (Avanti J30-I, Beckman Coulter)
Centrifuge that allows the samples to be centrifuged at speeds up to 25000 rpm (74200 g) in a temperature range from -20ºC to 40ºC. Different rotors are available:
JA-25.15: maximum centrifuge force=74200 g, maximum speed=25000 rpm, capacity for 24 tubes of 15ml.
JA-16.250: maximum centrifuge force =38500 g, maximum speed =16000 rpm, capacity for 6 bottles of 250 ml.
JA-10: maximum centrifuge force =17700 g, maximum speed =10000rpm, capacity for 6 bottles of 500 ml.
