Intertek expands particle size distribution testing to meet Industry’s growing interest in nanotechnology

14 Oct 2014

Allentown, USA - Intertek (LSE: ITRK), – Intertek, a leading quality solutions provider to industries worldwide is expanding their dry powder particle analysis capabilities.

Many industries including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, textiles and paints and coatings, are showing a growing interest in the application of nanomaterials in product design.  ‘Nano’ describes materials whose individual particle size is between 1 and 1,000 nanometers. This small size often results in unique optical, electronic, or mechanical properties...  Accurate determination of particle size is critical for both safety and process development assessments. Expanding on existing expertise in nano-particle safety assessment , Intertek can now offer dry feeder particle size testing capability, enabling direct determination of particle size in the 10nm-3mm range using laser light scattering. .

“Our continued investment in analytical problem-solving tools allows our scientists to address our client’s growing interest in exploring the application of nanotechnology and particle size characteristics in innovative product development” said Dr. Paula McDaniel, Business Development Director at Intertek Life Sciences.

Conventional particle size approaches which rely on dispersion in a liquid are not always applicable, and this new system provides an efficient alternative. Particle size is a critical characteristic for additives used in polymeric, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, food and coating applications as it directly influences physical properties such as powder flowability. This can impact processing, blending, and product performance criteria such as dissolution. An accurate raw material size distribution determination is critical for quality control and safety handling assessment

This expansion augments existing particle size and nanotechnology expertise, including tools such as dynamic light scattering (for low nm size particles), zeta potential (particle dispersion stability), surface area determination and particle elemental/chemical identification (SEM-EDS, FTIR, Raman) which are delivered from Intertek’s global laboratory network.


Joel Pekay
Country Marketing Director
Intertek
Telephone: +1 312 906 7716
Email: joel.pekay@intertek.com


About Intertek
Intertek is a leading quality solutions provider to industries worldwide. From auditing and inspection, to testing, training, advisory, quality assurance and certification, Intertek adds value for its customers by helping improve the quality and safety of their products, assets and processes. With a network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 36,000 people in more than 100 countries, Intertek supports companies’ success in the global marketplace, by helping customers to meet end users’ expectations for safety, sustainability, performance, integrity and desirability in virtually any market worldwide. Visit www.intertek.com.