Project: Ultra Small Angle Light Scattering Instrument
Physical characterization of the size, shape and structure of materials is important to a vast and varied set of industries and research areas including biotechnology, food science, renewable energy, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals to name a few. One prominent group of methodologies for determining such physical properties are scattering techniques. These involve the illumination of a sample with radiation, the measurement of the scattered radiation at various angles from the incident beam, and the calculation of sample properties from the time-integrated scattered intensity vs. angle profile. The radiation typically takes the form of x-rays, neutrons or light where the wavelength of the radiation and the angular range of scattering detection determines the size ranges that can be measured in the sample. Visible light is the most convenient source since lasers and optical detectors are compact and readily available, and consequently light scattering systems are widely used in both industry and academic research. _x000D_Light scattering tools can be classified by the angular range of detection. One common group of instruments known as small angle light scattering (SALS) tools are typically set up for particle size measurement in the range of 1 – 100 µm. Despite having enjoyed market success, these systems have one major weakness; inaccurate user input of the presumed shape and material refractive index can result in dramatic deviations of the calculated size. A possible solution is to complement the ‘static’ time-integrated measurement with the analysis of temporal fluctuations of scattered light arising from the thermal motion of the suspended particles. This Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) measurement yields additional information about particle size. Combining the complementary information obtained from static and dynamic measurements drastically reduces errors due to inaccurate refractive index estimation, allows for shape discrimination, and hence enables robust size estimations. _x000D_While existing DLS implementations use single-point measurements that leverage mature technologies for sensitive high-speed detection, optical constraints mandate that area detectors be employed for SALS. Only recently have advances in camera sensitivity and frame rate made feasible the application of DLS to SALS. Furthermore, several refined optical configurations have recently been developed to realize ultra-low angle light scattering (USALS) setups. USALS extends the measurement range to even larger length scales in the mm regime. _x000D_The implementation of DLS in a USALS system has the primary benefit of providing robust physical characterization over a wide range of length scales. However, it also opens up the possibility to access temporally-resolved structural information on large length scales which is of high interest among soft matter and complex fluid researchers investigating phenomena such as phase separation, dynamic arrest, gelation, and glass transitions. _x000D_In a first step towards a product featuring these technologies, LSI successfully developed a USALS laboratory prototype within the European Soft Matter Infrastructure project (ESMI, www.esmi-fp7.net). Following a very positive response from the scientific community, we now intend to develop a marketable product based on this prototype which we strongly believe will be a highly attractive commercial instrument for academic and industrial research. Furthermore, it will enhance the competitiveness of the European scientific instrumentation industry and accelerate progress in soft matter, complex fluid and colloidal research in which Europe is the leading player. In order to bring the instrument from its current stage to a market ready product, significant development work must be conducted to obtain a reliable, robust, high-performance and user-friendly system that can be produced efficiently and flexibly. _x000D_To ensure the success of all aforementioned goals, it is essential that LSI collaborates closely with others having the necessary expertise and experiences lying beyond its core competencies. To this end, a strategically assembled project consortium has been formed with two other parties in addition to one subcontractor. Cobolt is a leader in the development and manufacture of flexible-wavelength single-mode solid-state lasers. Their laser design and manufacturing expertise will allow Cobolt to lead the development effort aimed at the miniaturization, performance improvement, and feature enhancement of the laser illumination module of the USALS commercial prototype. Genthner is a lean manufacturing expert with strong competencies in mechanical prototyping and series manufacturing for industries including medical devices and diagnostic instrumentation. Genthner will use their expertise, experience and tools to guide the commercial prototype design such that it is optimized for flexible production in a highly optimized shared lean manufacturing environment. _x000D_
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Acronym
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USALS
(Reference Number: 8643)
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Duration
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03/03/2014 - 30/11/2015
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Project Topic
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Based on a USALS prototype which resulted from the European project "ESMI" and received very encouraging response from the scientific community we will develop a market ready instrument with unique properties for academic and industrial research.
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Network
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Eurostars
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Call
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Eurostars Cut-Off 10
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Project partner
