Company type | Private Limited Company |
---|---|
Industry | Instrumentation |
Founded | Malvern, Worcestershire, United Kingdom 1971 |
Headquarters | |
Key people | Mark Fleiner, President [1] |
Revenue | GBP 448.2 million (2019) |
Number of employees | Globally: 2,400 |
Parent | Spectris |
Website | www |
Footnotes /references |
Malvern Panalytical is a Spectris plc company. [6] The company is a manufacturer and supplier of laboratory analytical instruments. [7] [8] It has been influential in the development of the Malvern Correlator, [9] and it remains notable for its work in the advancement of particle sizing technology. [10] The company produces technology for materials analysis and principal instruments designed to measure the size, shape and charge of particles. [11] Additional areas of development include equipment for rheology measurements, [3] [12] chemical imaging [13] and chromatography. [14] In 2017, they merged with PANalytical to form Malvern Panalytical Ltd. [15]
Malvern Instruments Ltd. was incorporated in 1971. [14] In 1977, Malvern Instruments was recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering, jointly with the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE), for developing the Malvern Correlator. [6] [16] It also received the MacRobert Award for Outstanding Technical Innovation (1977), [6] the Queen's Award for Technological Achievement (1977), [17] the Queen's Award for Export Achievement (1981), [17] and the Queen's Award for Export & Technology (1988). [17]
In 1992, Burnfield acquired Malvern Instruments from Cray Electronics Holdings, [18] and, in 1996, there was the acquisition of A3 Water Solutions GmbH, a Stuttgart-based specialist in the design, marketing, and manufacturing of air and liquid particle counters. [19] In 1997, Malvern was also acquired by the Fairey Aviation Company, and Insitec Inc from Burnfield PLC. [20]
The holding company changed its name to Spectris plc in 2001. [4] In 2003, they acquired Bohlin Instruments Ltd, a Gloucestershire-based manufacturer of rheology and viscosity instruments. [21] They also acquired Spectral Dimensions Inc, a manufacturer of infrared chemical imaging instruments, in 2006. [11] Malvern received the 2006 Queen's Award for International Trade. [22]
Viscotek Corp, manufacturer of chromatographic and laboratory equipment and supplies, was acquired in 2008, [10] as well as Reologica Instruments AB, a Lund-based manufacturer of rheology and viscometry instrumentation, in 2010. [3] Malvern received the 2010 Queen's Award for Innovation. [22] The company was also listed as a 2010 winner of the annual Queen's Awards for Enterprise for its work measuring particles in fluids. [2] [23] [24]
In 2013, they acquired NanoSight, a Wiltshire-based manufacturer of nanoparticle characterization instruments, [5] and, in 2014, the Northampton-based manufacturer of Thermodynamic analysis instruments, MicroCal Instruments, was acquired from GE Lifesciences. [25]
In 2017, they merged with PANalytical to form Malvern Panalytical Ltd. [15] That same year, Malvern Panalytical released their X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer Epsilon, which was specifically designed for small spot analysis. [26] In 2018, Malvern Panalytical unveiled Empyrean, the first fully automated multipurpose x-ray diffractometer; [27] Claisse LeDoser-12, an Automatic Dispensing Balance; Morphologi Range, a new morphologically-directed raman spectroscopy system, and Epsilon 4, a benchtop x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. [28]
Malvern Panalytical launched a new partnership with SCOTT Technology Ltd., a supplier of sample preparation equipment, in 2020. [29] Their contract included engineering a fully automated robotic analytical system, incorporating fusion bead sample preparation, implementing X-ray spectrometry instrumentation, and developing thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) equipment. [29] The company also joined partnership with Concept Life Sciences that year. [30] Netzsch acquired Malvern Panalytical’s rheometer product lines in February 2020. [31] In this acquisition, Malvern Panalytical extended Netzsch’s product portfolio by providing Kinexus rotational rheometers and Rosand capillary rheometers. [31] In September 2020, Malvern Panalytical received the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) type approval, as a “full-protection” X-ray instrument, for its Aeris range of benchtop XRD diffractometers. [32]
Malvern Instruments began with a focus on particle sizing. [5] As it grew, this focus changed toward developing a "broad portfolio of analytical solutions". [5] In 2014, the company's CTO expressed the company's focus as "We want to solve analytical bottlenecks". [5]
In order to maintain agility and currency in product development, the company built an isolated internal division, the Bioscience Development Initiative based in Columbia, Maryland, which has an entrepreneurial character and freedom from corporate management constraints; the unit aims to rapidly develop technologies in partnership with scientists and engineers from the pharmaceutical and other industries and academia. [5] This unit focuses on the biopharmaceutical sector, specifically formulation of drug products. [5]
PANalytical originally began in 1948 as a branch of Philips under the name of Philips Analytical, which developed XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) and XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) equipment. [33] [34] [35] In 2002, Philips Analytical was officially renamed to PANalytical after Spectris’ acquisition of this x-ray analytical branch. [34] Malvern later merged with PANalytical to become Malvern Panalytical Ltd. in 2017. [15]
As part of the materials analysis sector, Malvern Panalytical derives most of its revenue through sales of a range of particle and material characterisation instruments. [4] These systems have applications across many industries including: pharmaceuticals, life sciences, metallurgy, mining, semiconductors, polymer science, protein science and food production. [7] [36] [37]
Full products include:
Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view objects and areas of objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye. There are three well-known branches of microscopy: optical, electron, and scanning probe microscopy, along with the emerging field of X-ray microscopy.
An optical spectrometer is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify materials. The variable measured is most often the irradiance of the light but could also, for instance, be the polarization state. The independent variable is usually the wavelength of the light or a closely derived physical quantity, such as the corresponding wavenumber or the photon energy, in units of measurement such as centimeters, reciprocal centimeters, or electron volts, respectively.
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is the emission of characteristic "secondary" X-rays from a material that has been excited by being bombarded with high-energy X-rays or gamma rays. The phenomenon is widely used for elemental analysis and chemical analysis, particularly in the investigation of metals, glass, ceramics and building materials, and for research in geochemistry, forensic science, archaeology and art objects such as paintings.
X-ray spectroscopy is a general term for several spectroscopic techniques for characterization of materials by using x-ray radiation.
Confocal microscopy, most frequently confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) or laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM), is an optical imaging technique for increasing optical resolution and contrast of a micrograph by means of using a spatial pinhole to block out-of-focus light in image formation. Capturing multiple two-dimensional images at different depths in a sample enables the reconstruction of three-dimensional structures within an object. This technique is used extensively in the scientific and industrial communities and typical applications are in life sciences, semiconductor inspection and materials science.
An electron microprobe (EMP), also known as an electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) or electron micro probe analyzer (EMPA), is an analytical tool used to non-destructively determine the chemical composition of small volumes of solid materials. It works similarly to a scanning electron microscope: the sample is bombarded with an electron beam, emitting x-rays at wavelengths characteristic to the elements being analyzed. This enables the abundances of elements present within small sample volumes to be determined, when a conventional accelerating voltage of 15-20 kV is used. The concentrations of elements from lithium to plutonium may be measured at levels as low as 100 parts per million (ppm), material dependent, although with care, levels below 10 ppm are possible. The ability to quantify lithium by EPMA became a reality in 2008.
A diffractometer is a measuring instrument for analyzing the structure of a material from the scattering pattern produced when a beam of radiation or particles interacts with it.
Powder diffraction is a scientific technique using X-ray, neutron, or electron diffraction on powder or microcrystalline samples for structural characterization of materials. An instrument dedicated to performing such powder measurements is called a powder diffractometer.
Chemical imaging is the analytical capability to create a visual image of components distribution from simultaneous measurement of spectra and spatial, time information. Hyperspectral imaging measures contiguous spectral bands, as opposed to multispectral imaging which measures spaced spectral bands.
Bruker Corporation is an American manufacturer of scientific instruments for molecular and materials research, as well as for industrial and applied analysis. It is headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, and is the publicly traded parent company of Bruker Scientific Instruments and Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies (BEST) divisions.
Spectris plc is a supplier of precision instrumentation and controls. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Iron-55 (55Fe) is a radioactive isotope of iron with a nucleus containing 26 protons and 29 neutrons. It decays by electron capture to manganese-55 and this process has a half-life of 2.737 years. The emitted X-rays can be used as an X-ray source for various scientific analysis methods, such as X-ray diffraction. Iron-55 is also a source for Auger electrons, which are produced during the decay.
Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is a small-angle scattering technique by which nanoscale density differences in a sample can be quantified. This means that it can determine nanoparticle size distributions, resolve the size and shape of (monodisperse) macromolecules, determine pore sizes, characteristic distances of partially ordered materials, and much more. This is achieved by analyzing the elastic scattering behaviour of X-rays when travelling through the material, recording their scattering at small angles. It belongs to the family of small-angle scattering (SAS) techniques along with small-angle neutron scattering, and is typically done using hard X-rays with a wavelength of 0.07 – 0.2 nm. Depending on the angular range in which a clear scattering signal can be recorded, SAXS is capable of delivering structural information of dimensions between 1 and 100 nm, and of repeat distances in partially ordered systems of up to 150 nm. USAXS can resolve even larger dimensions, as the smaller the recorded angle, the larger the object dimensions that are probed.
Rigaku Corporation is an international manufacturer and distributor of scientific, analytical and industrial instrumentation specializing in X-ray related technologies, including X-ray crystallography, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray reflectivity, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), automation, cryogenics and X-ray optics.
Particle size analysis, particle size measurement, or simply particle sizing, is the collective name of the technical procedures, or laboratory techniques which determines the size range, and/or the average, or mean size of the particles in a powder or liquid sample.
Instrumental analysis is a field of analytical chemistry that investigates analytes using scientific instruments.
The computed tomography imaging spectrometer (CTIS) is a snapshot imaging spectrometer which can produce in fine the three-dimensional hyperspectral datacube of a scene.
NanoSight Ltd is a company that designs and manufactures instruments for the scientific analysis of nanoparticles that are between approximately ten nanometers (nm) and one micron (μm) in diameter. The company was founded in 2003 by Bob Carr and John Knowles to further develop a technique Bob Carr had invented to visualize nanoparticles suspended in liquid. The company has since developed the technique of Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA), and they produce a series of instruments to count, size and visualize nanoparticles in liquid suspension using this patented technology.
Hybrid pixel detectors are a type of ionizing radiation detector consisting of an array of diodes based on semiconductor technology and their associated electronics. The term “hybrid” stems from the fact that the two main elements from which these devices are built, the semiconductor sensor and the readout chip, are manufactured independently and later electrically coupled by means of a bump-bonding process. Ionizing particles are detected as they produce electron-hole pairs through their interaction with the sensor element, usually made of doped silicon or cadmium telluride. The readout ASIC is segmented into pixels containing the necessary electronics to amplify and measure the electrical signals induced by the incoming particles in the sensor layer.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Retrieved 12 June 2010