Our platforms

OPTIMISED & INDUSTRY-READY SOLUTIONS

For all your specific needs

At FLAMAC, we have different platforms at our disposal to fulfill our mission and to provide you, our partner, with the most state-of-the-art capabilities to perform high-throughput research.

Get to know our different platforms:

1. Automated synthesis platform
2. High-throughput formulation platform
3. Automated stability platform
4. High-throughput screening and characterisation platform

Automated synthesis platforms

At FLAMAC, several automated platforms have been specifically designed to perform high-throughput synthesis. These platforms combine robotics and parallel reactors from 1 mL up to 250 mL to allow the screening of reactants and process conditions. All reactors parameters such as temperature, pressure, mixing are finely controlled and can be varied on demands. Reactant dosage, pre-mix preparation and additions are performed with robotic precision. The fully automated platforms provide unique synthesis reproducibility due to strict respect of dosing rates and timings.

Example of applications:

Nanoparticle synthesis

Using one of our synthesis platforms, nanoparticles can be produced. In fact, we are able to reach batch synthesis with a capacity up to 10 g/day. The advantage of using parallel reactors over simply increasing the reaction volume is that drastic changes of intrinsic synthesis parameters (such as heating up speed, stirring…) are avoided. These parameters are crucial for the final product. Moreover, since it does not require significant changes of the available synthesis protocols, it holds a significant advantage over continuous flow synthesis procedures. Via this setup it is now possible to synthesise tailor-made nanoparticles at a reasonable scale to allow a first set of experiments to assess the potential of the nanoparticles in functional coatings. The unique feature of the configuration is that it allows to focus on both high-throughput screening of the reactants and process conditions and volume synthesis objectives with the same equipment.

Capsule synthesis

Thanks to our know-how in robotics, FLAMAC combined the capabilities of two robots and a custom made reactor to perform the automated synthesis of micro-capsules. The platform is speeding up the overall process by factor 4 compared to standard manual operation, and upscaling the capsule slurry volume up to 150 mL to allow extensive characterisation. On the system, different shell chemistries can be synthesised, such as melamine formaldehyde and polyurea micro-capsules. Furthermore, the screening of biodegradable capsules can also be accelerated by using our unique platform.

The application scope of our synthesis platform is not limited, and many other syntheses or chemical reactions can be automated, such as fermentation, polymer synthesis, flexible foams, etc…

Any questions? Ask us!

High-throughput formulation platform

During the last couple of years, there is notably more academic and industrial interest in the area of high-throughput formulation research. For a number of reasons, formulation research is well suited for the application of high-throughput technologies: typical formulations can easily consist of 10 – 15 active components. The nature and concentration of these components need to be carefully optimised for the target application. Additionally, the processing, application and performance testing of the formulations may each involve many adjustable parameters.

Many formulations have short product cycles, which creates the constant need for innovation and shorter time-to-market. Thanks to FLAMAC’s unique high-throughput set-up, the development phase can be accelerated significantly. We use automated workflows for the development of products either with low or high viscosity. Both powders and liquids can be dosed volumetrically as well as through multichannel pipette technology, including heated liquids. Mixing is carried out by powerful magnetic stirrers, blenders and homogenising dispersers.

Recipients typically vary between 8 and 150 ml, but can be tailored to customer needs. Barcodes containing all processing data are secured on all recipients, e.g. data on actual processing time and dosing.

Any questions? Ask us!

Automated stability platform

In a globalised world, the stability of products is evermore challenging. During the supply chain across the world, products can face temperature variations from -10°C up to 40-50°C and can be subjected to extreme handling, intense shaking, sudden changes of external pressure or highly humid environments. In addition, changing regulations and fast evolving trends require an increased innovation pace in the fields of materials research and chemistry. Based on the results of the EU-project ACEFORM4.0, the stability of products appeared to be the biggest challenge in innovation for all formulation sectors, from oil and gas to the consumer products and food industries. Moreover, the validation of product stability makes for a resource consuming process.

FLAMAC’s automated stability platform allows you, our partner, to reduce stability study costs by factor up to 10 and to accelerate the instability detection time of your products considerably.

The fully autonomous system is composed of two distinct parts communicating through robotic actions. On one side, samples are stored and aged in incubators at the desired temperatures from 0 up to 60°C. On the other side, samples are characterised at predefined frequencies. Sample handling between the incubators and the characterisation area is scheduled through the platform software based on user inputs and performed by two collaborating robots.

The platform is able to age more than 2000 samples simultaneously and to follow the stability evolution of products 24/7. Characterisation techniques include:

rheology
pH
turbidity
digital imaging
UV-Vis/NIR spectroscopy

Additionally, the versatility of the platform allows the implementation of additional characterisation techniques for specific customer needs.

This unique system opens the way to accelerated shelf-life modelling and enables the stability simulation throughout the supply chain.

Any questions? Ask us!

High-throughput screening and characterisation

The screening of material properties and chemical products is an important but often time-consuming step of material research programs. To be able to screen the high number of samples, FLAMAC has collaborated with different suppliers of screening equipment to automate and, where possible, accelerate their instrumentation. This allows external companies to outsource some of their screening experiments in an economically viable way at FLAMAC.

Several automated and semi-automated characterisation systems are available at FLAMAC such as:

Automated X-ray diffraction to determine crystallographic structure, chemical composition and physical properties of materials, powders and thin film.
Automated surface energy measurement system using drop shape analysis to measure contact angle and surface tension of liquids in defined environment (treated surface, liquid/liquid interface, tilted substrate…)
Nano-indentation to test mechanical properties of materials giving information on the scratch resistance, hardness, stiffness and elasticity.
Automated high-throughput rheology to study the flow of matter (liquids, soft solids) under stress and determine viscosity elasticity, stability, shear thickening/shear thinning behaviour and yield point.
Parallel accelerated stability screening with Lumisizer technology

And many others…

The system you need is not listed? For specific campaigns, FLAMAC is also able to rent apparatus on demand through long time collaboration with local suppliers. If needed, we are also able to host characterisation tools from our partner to combine capabilities during the time of the R&D project.

Any questions? Ask us!

Customised automated systems

Starting from scratch or from existing robots, FLAMAC’s expertise can be mobilised to devise, design and create customised automated systems to fulfil your needs related to material development, formulation or characterisation. The complexity range of the customisation is wide, from an automated camera studio for foaming testing to a fully bespoke automated platform dedicated to a specific polymer synthesis.

The unique flexibility on automation we offer, is a key point to unlock the bottle-neck of your R&D processes and characterisation. When required, FLAMAC collaborates with local engineering and automation companies and coordinates the collaboration. In short, we are dedicated to making your project a true success story.

Our platforms

OPTIMISED & INDUSTRY-READY SOLUTIONS

For all your specific needs

Customised automated systems

Ready to make your project a true success story?

News

Certifications

Follow us

A division of SIM

Our platforms

OPTIMISED & INDUSTRY-READY SOLUTIONS​

For all your specific needs​

Customised automated systems

Ready to make your project a true success story?

OPTIMISED & INDUSTRY-READY SOLUTIONS

For all your specific needs