Aug 24 2006
Viscotek, the leader in multiple detector characterisation of polymers, proteins and nanoparticulate materials, has received a large multi-instrument order from the prestigious, new Centre for Materials Discovery (CMD) at the University of Liverpool (UK).
The Centre for Materials Discovery (CMD) was formed to facilitate and support the adoption of High Throughput (HT) Technologies and Methodologies within both academic organisations and businesses on Merseyside and the surrounding Northwest region. Working with the considerable innovation potential within the regional academic community and Businesses within the North West, the CMD team will identify, nurture and perform through to completion identifiable R&D projects that will help select novel advanced polymeric materials for commercial exploitation helping to create economic wealth and employment within the region.
Widely acknowledged as 'the technique' for characterising the structure, size and molecular weight of polymeric materials, advanced GPC and Light Scattering detectors were key analytical tools for the Centre of Materials Discovery to have in its laboratories. Having exhaustively evaluated all the leading instruments in the GPC Light Scattering and Dynamic Light Scattering fields the Centre for Materials Discovery elected to purchase two complete Triple Detector Array (TDA™) GPC systems, further GPC equipment and a Model 802 DLS instrument from Viscotek.
Simon Longden (CMD Business Development Manager) commented "To offer cutting-edge polymer characterisation services to our customers necessitated that we chose the best performing GPC systems currently available". "The Viscotek TDA™ systems came out top - both in terms of hardware performance (sensitivity, accuracy, ease-of-use) and also software performance". He added "We were particularly impressed by the high-throughput use of the instrumentation and liked the security of investing in proven technology, widely used in academia and industry".
Paul Clarke (Managing Director, Viscotek Europe) stated "We are delighted to have been selected by the Centre for Materials Discovery at the end of a competitive evaluation". "In a single experiment, our unique triple detector technologies allow you to obtain absolute molecular weight, molecular size, intrinsic viscosity, conformation, structure, branching, aggregation and copolymer composition". "Our continuing investment in support personnel and in developing new innovative GPC/SEC instrumentation, detectors and software has allowed us to achieve strong year-on-year growth in Europe".