It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about life-saving medications, innovative electronic ink, or new long-lasting lipsticks, they all have one thing in common: everything started out in a lab somewhere. Before any company puts a factory on the drawing boards and starts making tons and tons of products, they first need to come up with a perfect recipe for how to create that product through experimentation. Known as Research & Development (R&D), this is an extremely important aspect of product creation because the only way to create a successfully produced product is by first formulating the appropriate ingredients in either a small controlled laboratory environment (or with small amounts of material). If you're having trouble getting the formula for a small batch (or the beaker) to work properly, then there's no way you'd be able to replicate it at the larger scale.

Regardless of what you ultimately want to produce through R&D, creating a successful sample-style product will require the utilization of specific and correct types of equipment. The types of equipment that would be required for either an experimental lab or a fully functioning R&D facility to achieve a product will be explained.

Tank is Where it All Starts

Before you can begin to grind your product, you need to combine your ingredients to achieve your desired product. Typically, your first mixture should contain a liquid combined with dry powders.

To do this correctly, you cannot simply grab any old bucket and mix everything together in it.

This means that the very first step in this process is selecting the correct manufacturer of your Agitator tanks.

For the laboratory environment, you should look for an Agitator tank manufacturer that provides you with the same function as the large-scale commercial production tanks but on a smaller scale.

A manufacturer that understands the unique requirements of chemistry is ideal. Ask yourself, Does my mixture become heated as it is agitated? If so, you may want to choose a jacketed tank to accommodate this issue; Will my mixture have exposure to acid-base combinations? If yes, you will need to use the highest quality stainless steel available to avoid corrosion.

In addition, a quality manufacturer will make sure that the vessel you are purchasing from them is safe, sanitary, and is designed to provide the optimal movement of your ingredient mixture until it reaches the grinding phase.

The Laboratory Wet Grinding System: The Power is in the Wet Grind

Once you have made your "pre-mix," it is time to begin the process of breaking down your particles. If you only want to create a pre-mix and mix different materials together, then a classic stirrer will do just fine; however, if you want to create a more stable and potent or a smoother particle structure, you will want to consider a Laboratory Wet Grinding System.

A Laboratory Wet Grinding System functions much like a simulator for creating the same environment as that of a large scale industrial factory. Laboratory Wet Grinding System are typically very versatile, allowing for control of speed, temperature, and flow rate; once researchers know what they produced and how they produced it, they can replicate the results on a much larger scale, instead of guessing what conditions resulted in those perfect results.

Getting Smaller: The Nano Bead Mill

Sometimes "small" is still too large. In certain industries such as pharmaceuticals and nanotechnology, there is a need for smaller particles than can be produced with standard grinding. These smaller particles are referred to as "nano-sized" particles.

In order to achieve the smallest possible particle size, the use of a Nano Bead Mill is needed.

The Nano Bead Mill is the laboratory's "heavy hitter." Utilizing a chamber containing very small beads to grind down the sample material, the Nano Bead Milling Machine utilizes a rapidly rotating shaft, which generates a tremendous amount of energy to the beads, crushing the particles.

The media is the term for the grinding beads that go inside the mill and actually do the grinding work. So the press has the power, but it's the beads that actually do the work. So what's that all about?

The choice of media is just like choosing the equipment itself, equally important. For many applications, Stainless Steel Media is generally considered the best option.

Why Stainless? Because it's heavy and durable. The heavier bead will impart more force onto the particle when it impacts, just like throwing a baseball versus a ping pong ball. Plus, quality stainless steel media will not chip or flake easily. No one wants to introduce contamination into their high-value lab samples due to broken media. Stainless provides a clean, consistent grind, which means you can trust the results.

Summary

The correct tools are essential for innovation. Sourcing a tank from a reputable Agitator tank manufacturer, using the highest-quality laboratory wet grinding systems, and having a Nano bead mill with durable Stainless Steel Grinding Media will put your laboratory on a successful path.

By perfectly controlling the small-scale experimentation process, major successes in the marketplace will follow.