TS No. 8: Physical Testing Service – Surface and Interfacial Tension

Surface and interfacial tension is a force that keeps a fluid together at the air/ fluid and fluid/oil interface respectively (Figure 1). It is the intermolecular force of attraction between adjacent molecules, expressed in force per unit width as dynes centimetre-1 (dynes cm-1) or milliNewtons metre (mN m-1). Water, at ambient temperature, has a high surface […]

TS No. 7: Physical Testing Service – Optical Microscope

Optical microscopy is one of the techniques which involve the use of polarized light to detect liquid crystalline structure (Figure 1). A polarizing microscope equipped with a heating stage permits visual observation of the phase transformations, from micelles phase through liquid crystal phase (Figure 2). The transformation could be as a result of the change of temperature […]

TS No. 6: Physical Testing Service – Particle Size Analysis

Most of the products which we encountered daily are homogeneous mixtures of chemical species dispersed at a molecular level. Some of these particles are so small that they are invisible to our naked eyes. For example, a microemulsion solution appears to be clear and colourless. Some of the examples of dispersion of particles, which we […]

TS No. 5: Physical Testing Service – Rheology

Pantha rei” as the Greek philosopher said everything flows. We live in a world whereby everything flows in a matter of time. To describe these flows, we have come up with a variety of terms such as flowing, gushing slipping, dripping, running, squirting, oozing, seeping, etc. and we can immediately associate each word with the motion […]