X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF)

Malvern Panalytical participated in a field experiment PANGAEA-X 2017 organized by ESA for the chemical analysis of water-related minerals in volcanic landscapes. For this exercise, Lanzarote was selected, the island of 1000 volcanoes.
Two transportable analytical devices from Malvern Panalytical, Epsilon 1 and the ASD TerraSpec Halo, were used for quick identification of minerals in rocks and dust particles. Since both devices use X-rays and infrared energies, they are non-destructive and therefore are complementary techniques for chemical analyses.

Together with Jesús Frías, Professor of planetary geochemistry at the Geosciences Institute in Spain, …

Addressing challenges in mining laboratories
Malvern Panalytical’s expertise center in sample preparation in Québec City held the 11th OMA user day on November 7. The main theme of the event was: Addressing challenges in mining laboratories.

What happened?
Twenty-four people coming from 17 organizations from all around Quebec’s province assisted in various educational presentations on technologies such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), laser diffraction, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and sample preparation. Half of the presentations were given by Malvern Panalytical experts. The other half was given by relevant guest speakers coming from universities or …

Today is the US Thanksgiving holiday; it is a day of celebration, giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the past year.
This year, Malvern Panalytical gives thanks for all of our customers, and especially to those customers who have contributed to our various user meetings, webinars, and to our XPress Magazine. We also give thanks to our family of service engineers, for their continued hard work and dedication to completing customer installs during this busy season.
The Thanksgiving holiday is a time for gathering with family and friends – …

Malvern Panalytical had the pleasure in being invited to participate in a seminar dedicated to Advanced Characterisation of Materials at Imperial College London on the 24th October. The seminar was attended by 63 students, researchers and academics in the old Royal School of Mines building.
It was an afternoon event chaired by Dr Andrew Cairns of Imperial College London, with a comprehensive series of presentations focusing on materials characterization by X-ray Diffraction & X-Ray Fluorescence techniques.
The following topics were presented:

Reflectivity
Paul O’Meara (Malvern-Panalytical)

Reciprocal Space Mapping and in situ XRD of ceramic oxide …

On October 2, 2018, we held a seminar entitled “Overcoming Characterization Challenges in Drug Formulation” in the Boston area.  It was a great opportunity to meet with many pharmaceutical scientists in the area and learn about their challenges and concerns.  The presentations addressed a number of topics of interest, from stability of formulations, trace phase and impurity detection, deformulation, root cause analysis, to optimizing small molecule candidate screening.  There were great questions from the audience, so we rounded up several questions and answers here to share.
How does the Mastersizer 3000 see …

Of all the chemical processes in the fine chemical and pharmaceutical industries, cross-coupling reactions are among the most important.  This often involves platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts, which then must be separated from the product to avoid contamination of the product by these regulated elemental impurities (USP<232>), as well as avoiding that these valuable materials enter the waste stream.
Here is where the process chemists step in to save the day, developing methods to scavenge metal catalyst, tailored for effectiveness with each new compound.  This is an iterative process, and metals …

Technology developments have fundamentally changed the way elemental analysis can be performed. In the past elemental analysis techniques, like ICP and floor-standing wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF), were limited to central laboratories. Over the past two decades, the performance of smaller energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analyzers have improved a lot, mainly due to the rapid development in electronics and detector technology. This has enabled benchtop XRF systems, like Malvern Panalytical’s Epsilon range, to perform norm-compliant analysis. It has become possible to bring elemental analysis towards the sample, decreasing feedback …

We recently announced that the company has received a US patent and Australian patent on its new solution for the multi-sensor analysis of complex geologic materials. The patent is centered around the ASD brand of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) solutions, including the TerraSpec® and FieldSpec® instruments, that are part of the Malvern Panalytical family of products. The unique solution was invented to improve the characterization of natural geological materials.
Many different analytical techniques are used to describe mineralogical and metallurgic response of mining ore, and we often see mining companies measuring the same …

Physical characterization of pharmaceutical drugs is an essential part of drug formulation to ensure efficacy, stability, and safety. Malvern Panalytical is pleased to offer two upcoming complimentary seminars in the US for advanced characterization technologies for improving small molecule and biological drug formulation outcomes.
Our seminars will focus on numerous concerns and technologies used in the physical characterization of drug formulations, both small molecule and biomolecule. Topics include:

Recent advances in powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) for pharma
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) – the fast and easy alternative technique for USP 232
Resolve analytical challenges in …

Platinumware is used in sample preparation by fusion for XRF and ICP analysis. Crucibles (used for XRF and ICP analysis) and molds (only used for XRF) are made of 95% Pt and 5% Au.
Why use platinum and gold?
It has been proven that this alloy has a high melting point and can withstand extreme heat. Platinum has a great thermal conductivity and ensures very low contamination of the molten mixture during fusion. The addition of gold has a non-wetting effect. In short, the alloy of these two precious metals allows the …

The weighing step is of major importance in sample preparation by fusion since it has a direct impact on the analytical results.
Let’s see five best practices to ensure repeatability and productivity while weighing.
REPEATABILITY
Find the right weighing method
There are three weighing methods in sample preparation: sample-to-flux ratio, catch weight and manual weighing. The far best choice is sample-to-flux ratio since it ensures great repeatability and can be performed automatically using LeDoser-12 instrument. With this method, no software correction is required.
Avoid transferring the weighed content into a different container
You should always weigh …

Safe, high-quality food is something that many of us take for granted. Occasionally though, a scandal occurs that shocks the world. Whether it is plastic in chocolate, melamine in milk powder, lead in noodles or lead in water, the consequences can be devastating for the people and businesses involved.
Consequences can be health-related for consumers but also affect the profitability and reputation of the brands of the companies involved. Governments around the world have responded to these liabilities with increased oversight and regulations – for example, the Food Safety Modernization Act …

Lower commodity prices, weaker demand, environmental regulations, lower ore grades, and higher running costs are some of the main challenges that the mining industry has to deal with every day. But now is a good time, while activities are off-peak, to adopt sustainable cost control measures beyond the traditional and generate data that will improve productivity and process stability. Reducing C1 cash costs and increasing revenues can be accomplished with the extensive use of automation and robots in the field and in the laboratory, to gain in productivity and remain …

Outdoor air pollution can have many sources, both anthropogenic (power generation, vehicle emissions, industrial and agricultural emissions, etc.) and natural, for instance, volcanic eruption, wind erosion or wildfires.  A key area of concern is the Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), which can have adverse effects on health, particularly in the particle size ranges under ten microns.  These are further characterized by two designations – PM10 (2.5 – 10 micron) and PM2.5 (<2.5 micron), with PM10 having the ability to penetrate deep into lungs, and PM2.5 able to permeate throughout the body …

The Malvern Panalytical annual Pittsburgh user group is back on May 16-17 at the Pittsburgh Airport Marriott. This is our 27th year bringing the latest information on X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence to industry and academic users in the area, and offers a great opportunity to network with Malvern Panalytical specialists and other attendees, discuss research and share best practices. The meeting runs two days and includes a customer appreciation dinner on the evening in between.
The meeting also features presentations from our industry and academia customers, highlighting the ways these …

Claisse® LeNeo was launched in 2014. It’s a one-position instrument that is used in various types of industries.
Read the following lines to discover why it’s the right instrument to use in universities and colleges’ labs.
Reason 1 – Safety
The safety of students should always be an academic institution’s main concern. Manual fusion is often used in colleges and universities’ laboratories, but it involves the manipulation of hot vessels and is not representative of technologies used in the labor market. By being fully automatic, LeNeo instrument guarantees cold-to-cold operation and avoids the …

Malvern Panalytical sera à Forum Labo Biotech Lyon, Stand A12, (en bas des escalators) les 28 et 29 mars 2018. Forum Labo est le salon des fournisseurs de matériels et services pour le laboratoire.
Venez voir en exclusivité le nouveau granulomètre et analyseur de forme Morphologi 4 ainsi que 3 autres nouveaux instruments inédits !
Vous pourrez découvrir :

Un nouveau rhéomètre avec de nouvelles fonctionnalités,
Des passeurs d’échantillons pour Zetasizer, Nanosight NS300,

Un nouveau spectromètre de fluorescence X Epsilon 4 de la gamme Panalytical.

Toute notre équipe de spécialistes d’application sera présente, prête à répondre à toutes vos questions …

Gelatin is a well-known ingredient in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. It is colorless and flavorless and is used for example as a thickener in many sweets or in capsules. Gelatin is a natural product and can be derived from collagen obtained from e.g. cattle, fish, chicken, and horses. Depending on source and preparation methods (acidic or alkali) many different types of gelatin with varying quality are obtained.
The need for analysis
You might remember a few years ago there was news from China about toxic gelatin capsules containing high concentrations …

After the introduction of the Zetium at Pittcon in March 2015, I look back at the most exciting product launch I have ever been part of with great awe of what we have achieved. I still remember my euphoric mood on my flight back from New Orleans. Not because of amenities on board or the limited leg room, no, it was about what had happened in the past months in the running up to the launch of our latest product, the Zetium XRF spectrometer.
Now you must know. I have been …

Malvern Panalytical will be in Minnesota, United States at the SME Annual Conference & Expo from February 25-28th!
SME is the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. This event gathers together the mining and mineral community, comprised of engineers, geologists, metallurgists, educators, students and researchers. The society advances the worldwide mining and underground construction community through information exchange and professional development.

ASD TerraSpec® Halo
We invite you to come discover the product lines of Malvern Panalytical and what we can do for your mining and mineral needs. Find the following instruments in our …