Centrifugal Field-Flow Fractionation Instrument Debuts at Pittcon

Postnova Analytics’ newest instrument, the CF2000, reportedly the first commercial centrifugal field-flow fractionation (FFF) system designed for routine use and providing a real alternative to traditional particle characterisation techniques, was seen for the first time by visitors to the company’s stand at Pittcon 2013.

The CF2000 offers outstanding flexibility, robustness and performance, allowing high-resolution particle separation and sizing simultaneously. It has a broad separation range, from samples of 8 µm up to several microns, making it ideal for nanoparticles but also working up into the microparticle size category too. Samples are injected directly without preparation, no special sample treatment is necessary, allowing the fractionation of complex particulate.

What makes FFF such an appealing technique is not only its breadth of analysis but its operational simplicity. There are two physical forces that make up the FFF system. Firstly, the laminar flow that carries the sample through the separation chamber, and secondly, the separation field applied perpendicular to the channel, against the sample flow controlling the diffusion of the particles or molecules. Driven by a centrifugal field, the CF2000 separates particles by dynamic diffusion on the basis of particle size and density. The CF2000 is controlled by the flexible NovaFFF software, which can drive many devices and incorporates system control, data collection, data evaluation and reporting.

Coupled to detection systems such as multi-angle light scattering (MALS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), different forms of UV detectors, small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) or inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) or other detectors, FFF separation technologies enable the fractionation, characterisation and speciation of large complex polymers, biomacromolecules and nanoparticle species. Such separations often cannot be performed using traditional chromatographic methods, predominantly because of the stationary phase in traditional chromatographic separations. The CF2000 instrument can be easily coupled with existing high-end detection technologies as those mentioned above or the optimised FFF detectors available from Postnova Analytics.

Postnova Analytics, +49 8191 985688 0, rainer.juenger@postnova.com, www.postnova.com.