White Paper. Different sieving methods for a variety of applications
The determination and knowledge of the particle size distribution is an essential part of the quality control process for industrial products. Easy handling, low investment cost and high accuracy make sieve analysis one of the most frequently used procedures for measuring the particle size. This white paper gives an overview of the different sieving techniques and describes the necessary steps to ensure reliable results.
White Paper: Cryogenic Preparation of Sample Materials
A solid sample material should always be sufficiently prepared by size reduction and homogenization before it is subjected to chemical or physical analysis. Care should be taken that the analysis sample fully represents the original material and that the sample preparation process is carried out reproducibly. Most sample materials can be reduced to the required analytical fineness at room temperature by choosing a mill with a suitable size reduction principle (impact, pressure, friction, shearing, cutting).
White Paper: Important Aspects of Sample Preparation of Biological Materials
Biological samples exist in all shapes and sizes: hard bones, tough and fibrous plants, tough and viscous sputum, soft muscles, tumor or liver tissue. Not to mention the millions of cells such as yeast, bacteria or algae, which have to be disrupted for applications such as DNA or RNA isolation or protein extraction. Retsch offers a range of mills and grinders for easy and reproducible pulverization of solid sample materials some of which are also suitable for cell disruption and homogenization of biological sample materials.
White Paper: Ultrafine Grinding with Laboratory Ball Mills
How are nano particles produced? The “Bottom-Up” method synthesizes particles from atoms or molecules. The “Top-Down” method involves reducing the size of larger particles to nanoscale, for example with laboratory mills. Nano particles are produced by colloidal grinding which involves dispersion of the particles in liquid to neutralize the surface charges. Factors such as energy input and size reduction principle make ball mills the best choice for the production of nanoparticles.
Particle size analysis and particle size distribution are important criteria for the quality control of bulk materials. In a running production process, the results of a quality check must be available quickly to allow for immediate adjustment of the production parameters. Depending on the expected particle size and sample volume, different sieving methods and sieving machines are suitable for analysis. The method used for particle size analysis is primarily determined by the fineness of the material to be sieved. For dry sieving of samples with particle sizes below 40 microns, air jet sieving is the method of choice.
Contamination-free cutting of raw materials for the food and medical industries with the new SM 300 foodGrade
Raw materials for the food or pharma industry often require a size reduction process to minimize the particle size (tea, herbs, spices). The materials can be ready for consumption, like tea, or they are used for a second processing step, like extraction of valuable
ingredients.
A current example is CBD oil extraction from ground cannabis plants. For both – direct use or process step prior to extraction, the specific requirements of the food and medical industries must be considered when choosing a suitable size reduction tool. Aspects like smooth
surfaces, easy cleaning, and available materials like stainless steel 316L to ensure contamination-free processing should be taken into account. Retsch has launched the new Cutting Mill SM 300 foodGrade for this type of applications and small-scale production of herbs and spices.
Cryogenic disruption of yeast cells according to the Rout Protocol
The Michael Rout Lab at the Rockefeller University in New York, NY, initially contacted RETSCH Inc. in 2006 to discuss the possibility of using the Planetary Ball Mill to cryogenically grind yeast cell pellets. The aim of their experiment was to explore the construct of Nuclear Pore Complexes located on the cell walls of yeast cells. The decision to use a Planetary Ball Mill for this application was mainly based on the fact that it produces very small particle sizes which were considered an important prerequisite for more in-depth analysis of the yeast cells.
Homogenization of tough biological secretions or tissue pieces
Sometimes the preparation and homogenization of biological samples can be as tough as the material itself. The widely used 2 ml single-use Eppendorf tubes are often not large enough to accommodate the whole sample volume; hence, the sample needs to be divided and reunited after the homogenization process which means an additional time-consuming working step in the lab routine. While it is true that usually larger sized grinding jars, e. g. of stainless steel, are available which accommodate the complete sample volume, these have the drawback of requiring cleaning after use.
Mixer Mill MM 400: Upgrade of a True Multipurpose Mill
With the Mixer Mill MM 400 RETSCH has developed a true multipurpose mill which covers a huge range of applications, including classic mixing and homogenization but also more complex tasks like cell disruption via bead beating or mechanochemical processes.
The ease of use of mixer mills in general, combined with a wealth of accessories make the MM 400 the perfect choice for quick, safe and reproducible processing of small sample volumes.
Prosthetic joint infections: New method allows for diagnostics of up to 8 samples with high documentation rate
One of the major risks of a joint replacement is prosthetic joint infection (PIJ), a bacterial infection at the interface of implant, tissue, and bone. In 2010, A.-L. Roux et al. published an article titled „Diagnosis of prosthetic joint infection by beadmill processing of a periprosthetic specimen.“ It describes a new diagnosis method of involved microbes, with an impressive documentation rate of more than 83% and, at the same time, a very low contamination rate of 8.7%. The method involves washing the microbes off the tissue samples in a RETSCH Mixer Mill within 210 seconds.
The following situation is typical for many production plants: After a routine quality check, the production process is stopped or an already produced batch is suspended, because the analysis results were not within the relevant critical values. But does the tested product really deviate from the specifications? It is often not the product itself which causes irregular analysis results but a lack of understanding of the steps which come before the analysis.
Reproducible Sample Homogenization of Cannabis and Related Products
The concentrations of cannabinoids and terpenoids are the main points of interest in the quality control of cannabis and related products. To ensure reliable analytical results, the sample preparation process for cannabis needs to be adaptable to the considerable complexity of the various plant matrices.
Grinding up to 32 g cannabis flower buds with minimum sample loss in 2 min: The Mixer Mill MM 400 can be used for a very quick homogenization method for Cannabis samples in disposable tubes. Up to eight samples can be processed at the same time. The sample loss is minimized, and the extraction results show less standard deviation than those of manually ground samples in a classic grinder.
Sample Preparation with the High Energy Ball Mill Emax- Time Advantage in Pharmaceutical Research
The development of drugs with poorly soluble to insoluble active ingredients is a big challenge for the pharmaceutical industry. The bioavailability of orally taken active ingredients, which means to what extent and in which period of time the substance is ingested by the body and is available at the place of action, strongly depends on the percentage dissolved in the gastrointestinal tract. One way to improve the solubility and thus the bioavailability of active ingredients is the pulverization of these substances.
Sieving of agglomerating powders with the air jet sieving machine AS 200 jet
Air jet sieving is usually the method of choice for dry sieving of materials with particle sizes below 40 microns. However, it is also a faster alternative to vibratory sieving of materials of up to 250 microns.
Small-scale Production and Quality Control of Cannabis and Related Products
In the rapidly expanding world of cannabis legalization and consumption, ensuring the highest standards of quality control is paramount for safeguarding public health and safety. As cannabis products become increasingly available to a growing global market,
comprehensive quality control measures are indispensable to guarantee consistent potency, purity, and safety. In this article, we explore the role of laboratory mills in quality control and small scale production of cannabis and related products.
Planetary ball mills meet and exceed all requirements for fast and reproducible grinding to analytical fineness. They are used for the most demanding tasks in the laboratory, from routine sample processing to colloidal grinding and advanced materials development.
With the new PM 300 RETSCH has developed a powerful tool which offers high sample throughput combined with ease-of-use.
The detection of illegal drugs and pharmaceuticals plays a role in various fields, for example in forensic science, road traffic accidents, in competitive sports or at the workplace. Hair has the great advantage of storing the substances for a long period, which means that detection is still possible several months after consumption of the drug. In addition to the detection of drugs, hair samples are also used for DNA analysis as well as for the analysis of heavy metals and minerals.