Malvern Reveals New Advances in Interfacial Measurement Techniques

At upcoming events in the colloids conference calendar, physicists from Malvern instruments will reveal new advances in the measurement of interfacial interactions that directly support the control of industrial product performance. The advances center on the measurement of zeta potential, a parameter that quantifies the attractive/repulsive forces between particles, or between a particle and a surface. The resulting data can be used to inform product development in industries including cosmetics, agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Malvern’s topic at the 5th International Colloids Conference (Amsterdam, Netherlands, 21st – 24th June) will be ‘Experimental progress in high conductivity electrophoresis using the Diffusion Barrier method’. This work demonstrates how the diffusion barrier method can be used to successfully measure zeta potential in concentrated, highly conductive systems, while at the same time reducing sample requirements. Practical applications include assessment of the likelihood of settling in brackish water for environmental studies, and of the stability of pharmaceutical suspensions under physiologically relevant conditions.

‘Surface Zeta Potential of high value and fragile surfaces’ will be additionally presented at the 47th Conference of the German Colloid Society (Mainz, Germany, 24th – 29th May). This study shows how electro-osmotic flow-mapping enables the measurement of surface zeta potential at low pressures with just a 5mm x 4mm sample. This makes the technique far more suitable than traditional alternatives for measuring small, high cost, fragile, soft or even porous surfaces. Experimental data measured using the Zetasizer Nano are presented for porcine skin, an important human skin analogue for the medicine and the cosmetic industries.