Commercial Training
Commercial Work
The LCN and Bruker Corporation offer the first and only certified training for AFM users. This training aims to develop competence and expertise amongst the AFM user community and provides a guarantee of the level of expertise of certified users. The training will take place over 3 days with a maximum of 3 people and can be tailored according to the clients eventual requirements. Typically this will include lectures by the LCN AFM experts and a Bruker representative, instrument training and extensive hands on experience with operating a number of AFM instruments.
Please contact Richard Thorogate for further information
The LCN also offer to perform in-house AFM sample analysis. Please contact Richard Thorogate to discuss this in the first instance with a description of the sample/s, numbers and imaging conditions required. If the work is suitable for AFM, we will provide you with a quote and a realistic time scale to complete the work (imaging and processing). This will depend on how busy the AFM operator is and how busy the equipment is. Please note, on some of our instruments we typically have a 4 week waiting time.
Commercial Clients Past and Present
| Hexcel | Hexcel is a leading producer of carbon fibre reinforcements and resin systems, and the world leader in honeycomb manufacturing for the commercial aerospace industry. The Dimension 3100 in Tapping Mode was used to determine the dispersion of rubber nanoparticles within cured hot-melt epoxy resin samples. |
| M2M Pharmaceuticals Ltd. | M2M Pharma specialise in amorphous content determination of dry powder inhaler (DPI) products. It is challenging to produce stable DPI products without a deep understanding of the physical properties of milled and un-milled samples, their behaviour and control over their processing. The Multimode 8 was used in PeakForce Tapping Mode in liquid to compare the shape and size distribution of iron-carbohydrate complexes. |
| Fabric Nano | Fabric Nano design artificial cells optimised for chemical reaction speed, purity, and adaptability. The artificial cells have two main components; DNA structures (resembling fabric) and cellular enzymes co-located on the fabric which can be modified. These artificial cells can produce small quantities of new target molecules and be substituted into existing workflows to eliminate production capacity bottlenecks and reduce costs. The Multimode 8 is used in PeakForce Tapping Mode in liquid to analyse these artificial cells and localisation of the cellular enzymes. |
| Syngenta AG | Syngenta is a global company that produces agrochemicals, seeds and conducts genomic research with the aim to improve the sustainability, quality and safety of agriculture using world class science and innovative crop solution. The Dimension 3100 in Tapping Mode and the Multimode 8 in PeakForce Tapping QNM was used to measure microcapsule wall strength, characterise the surfaces of heterogeneous catalysts and analyse seed coatings. |
| PA Consulting | PA Consulting is a management consultancy that specialises in strategy, technology and innovation. It has clients in both the private and public sector, ranging from start-ups to national governments. The Dimension Icon was used to measure the topography and mechanics of several biomaterials using PeakForce Tapping Mode and Force Volume. |
| Ceram (now Lucideon) | Lucideon provides materials development, technologies, consultancy and testing and analysis to a diverse range of industries; principally healthcare, construction, ceramics, aerospace, nuclear and power generation. The Dimension 3100 was used in Tapping Mode to characterise a ‘glassy’ matrix for inorganic controlled drug release. |
| Waveoptics | WaveOptics is the leading designer and manufacturer of diffractive waveguides for Augmented Reality (AR) devices. The technology platform features waveguides that are ultra-lightweight and offer a wide range of fields of view. The Dimension Icon using PeakForce Tapping Mode is used to check waveguide fabrication. |
| Angle Europe | Angle develops products for use in rare cell diagnostics that enable early, accurate identification of an individual’s condition for the prevention, treatment, and monitoring of disease. The CellHesion 200 AFM was used in Force Mapping Mode to measure mechanical properties of cancerous cell lines. |
| Nanovery | Nanovery is a developer of nanorobots to diagnose cancer rapidly. Recent advances have enabled early detection of cancers with just a blood sample, but this can still take 2 weeks. Nanorobots can be added to suspect blood samples and if they capture a cancer biomarker they light up, allowing point-of-care testing. Nanorobotic sensors were imaged on the Multimode 8 using PeakForce Tapping Mode in liquid. |
| Medimmune/Astra Zeneca | Medimmume was a subsidiary of Astra Zeneca before early 2019 before using the branding and name of Astra Zeneca since. Medimmun was primarily involved in drug treatment for respiratory infections.The Multimode 8 and Dimension FastScan were used in PeakForce Tapping Mode in liquid to image structural changes of cation channels in the presence of certain agonists. |