Our Labs

Our custom laboratory is equipped with some of the world’s most advanced analytical equipment. The lab was designed not only for the rigorous testing that every batch of finished product must go through before being released to the public, but to explore and continue to understand the expanding world of colloidal science.

Our laboratory’s primary purpose is to ensure the purity, uniformity, and performance of our products, but it is also utilized to analyze competitor products. Since 1999, our lab has conducted in-depth analyses on hundreds of competing brands from the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe (amassing the largest Comparative Library in the world).

Our equipment includes:

• Phillips CM 12 Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). Our TEM has been critical in both product development and ongoing quality assurance of the hydrosols we produce. This high-powered microscope uses an Electron beam instead of light, and enables us to examine fine detail – even as small as a single column of atoms, which is thousands of times smaller than the smallest resolvable object in a light microscope. Our scientists have been expertly trained on TEM use, as well as the specialized field of metal Particle characterization, and particles can be examined at up to 5,100,000 times magnification! Attached to our TEM is an AMT XR50 5 Megapixel CCD Digital Camera, which drastically simplifies the traditional plate micrographs that require special processing.
• Perkin Elmer PinAAcle ™ 900F Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The AAS is widely accepted for precise determinations of silver, copper and gold concentrations, as well as other metals. The PinAAcle is engineered with an array of technological advances, offering a variety of configurations and capabilities. It features cutting-edge fiber optics to maximize light throughput for improved detection limits, as well as an eight-lamp mount (allowing quick analyses of various metals), and automated flame and burner assembly optimization for enhanced productivity.
• Beckman Coulter DelsaMax Pro. This Particle analyzer measures the size and zeta potential of nanoparticles with groundbreaking speed and high precision, utilizing two independent detection systems that operate in parallel. Precise measurement of the size, structure and charge of particles can be provided ranging from 0.4 nm to 10,000 nm in diameter in as little as one second, the fastest Particle analysis available. An Avalanche photodiode detector provides size measurements, and 31 independent photodetectors measure zeta potential, dramatically reducing analysis time and increasing accuracy. This powerful Particle Analyzer is an exciting addition to our laboratory, as it provides more quantified Particle data than the Electron microscope, with less operator time. The investment helps ensure uniformity of our Particle size and charge from batch to batch, and also verify whether competitor products are honest in their Particle size claims.
• Beckman DU 530 UV-Vis (Visible Ultra Violet) Spectrophotometer. A compact, powerful modular UV-Vis Scanning Spectrophotometer with full on-board software. This simple but powerful tool is used in a wide variety of applications and analyses, including purity and identity.
• Phoenix 8000 UV-Persulfate TOC Analyzer. This method of TOC analysis achieves outstanding accuracy, precision and long-term calibration stability, with a high capacity robotic XYZ auto-sampler. The Phoenix is perfect for applications requiring high sensitivity such as drinking, pharmaceutical grade, Clean-in-Place, Water-for-Injection, ground, surface, semiconductor grade, steam power and ultra-pure water, with sensitivity down to parts-per-trillion.
• HP 4500 ICP Mass Spectrometer. Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) is capable of detecting metals and several non-metals at concentrations in the parts-per-trillion. This highly specialized technology is only used in the most advanced laboratories, and measures below what are considered contaminant levels. Its new type of optics system results in a very low random background and high sensitivity making analysis down to the sub-nanogram-per-liter level feasible. [coming soon]
• We have two custom-designed 8-stage water filtration systems that provide continuous USP23 and USP24 pharmaceutical-grade purified water meeting standards applicable to Water For Injection [WFI]. These are maintained and serviced exclusively by an industry-leading company in water technology.
• A wide variety of other standard and specialized equipment includes a complete installation for microbiology, pH and conductivity meters; ion selective electrodes; viscometers; analytical scales and balances; spectrometers; centrifuges; hot plates; incubators; water baths; pumps; power supplies; and more.

Additionally, our production equipment includes fully custom manufacturing systems and automated filling equipment, employing some of the most advanced bottling technologies.

All of the equipment in the Analytical and Production Laboratories is installed with the necessary operating and performance qualification procedures, and are calibrated regularly by an ISO-certified third party to ensure they meet all variance requirements. Daily calibration of analytical equipment is also performed using NIST-traceable calibrating solutions.

No other company has invested this much in the process of ensuring product purity and uniformity, or in securing and maintaining complex equipment and machinery, such as the TEM and Particle analyzer. Going further, our laboratory is also fitted with HEPA filtration systems, dedicated compressed air and gas systems, seamless floors and special lighting. Our care to detail extends to every aspect of our operation.

With a commitment to strict manufacturing standards, NSF International has certified our facility as fully compliant with current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), confirming our high operating standards through independent verification of our quality system, processes, procedures and documentation.