Freeslate Announces Enhancement to its Metal Impregnation System for Catalyst Synthesis
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (PRWEB) July 31, 2013 -- Freeslate, Inc., the leading provider of high throughput research solutions, today announced updates to its Metal Impregnation System (MIPS), part of its Core Module 3 (CM3) configurable automation system for preparing, processing, and testing chemically complex samples and mixtures.
Refining and chemical conversion rely on heterogeneous catalysts, chemically complex formulations with complex structures, and mechanisms of action. The parameter space needed to optimize such catalyst systems is quite large, and traditional methods of synthesis and testing are manual, slow, and inefficient.
The Freeslate CM3 MIPS allows researchers to synthesize hundreds of supported catalysts per week, producing high quality materials for screening in either high throughput reactors or scaling up to larger scale individual reactors. This enables the rapid discovery and optimization of new heterogeneous catalysts.
The recent enhancements to the system allow much larger amounts to be run – up to 10 times as much catalyst as before. This provides the system with tremendous flexibility operating at volumes from 100’s µL to 10 mL, supporting a wide range of potential research activities. CM3 MIPS is capable of synthesizing very homogenous catalysts on a wide range of supports at a large scale because of its one-of-a-kind vertical agitation mechanism, which effectively fluidizes even challenging catalyst supports, such as extremely small particles.
“Freeslate has collaborated with industry-leading chemical and energy companies for more than a decade to develop automated, high-throughput technologies for synthesizing and testing catalytic materials,” said John S. Senaldi, President and CEO of Freeslate. “Updating our MIPS to enable larger volumes for catalyst synthesis demonstrates our continued investment in this important market segment and application area for the company.”
The Freeslate CM3 MIPS features automated support dosing, precursor solution preparation, and pH measurement. Its high intensity shaker provides good fluidization of solid particles during impregnation to produce highly uniform materials. Reagent amounts are calculated automatically based on the desired scale and percent loading of each component. All aspects of the recipe including order of addition, solvent, temperature, mixing time, and speed are specified independently for each component in the array-based library design. Screening results with ratios and compositions created using MIPS are easily correlated using Freeslate’s LEA (Lab Execution and Analysis) software, a comprehensive solution for experiment design, execution, and data capture and analysis.
The system can be used to synthesize a variety of catalysts including hydroprocessing, refining, biomass, sugar conversion, and hydrogenation catalysts on a broad range of supports including inorganic oxides, carbons, powdered, shaped supports, and extrudates using aqueous and organic solutions.
About Freeslate
Freeslate is a privately held company that provides products and related services for high throughput research. Based on its proprietary laboratory automation platforms, high throughput pressure reactors, and integrated Lab Execution and Analysis (LEA) software suite, the company enables dramatic gains in its customers’ productivity and innovation by delivering seamlessly integrated automation solutions. Freeslate leverages its scientific expertise through its team of Ph.D. scientists, engineers, and software developers with directly relevant experience in the industries it serves. Collaborating with customers for more than a decade, the business has provided high throughput research solutions for the pharmaceutical, chemical, and energy industries. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with direct sales and service in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.freeslate.com.
Mikelle Thatcher, Freeslate, Inc., http://www.freeslate.com, +1 (408) 773-4081, [email protected]
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