About Kibron

Kibron Inc. develops and manufactures proprietary as well as customer specified surface chemistry equipment and screening technology to overcome today's challenges in chemical industry. Since its founding, 1994, Kibron has focused on innovation, user benefits and dependable service.

Kibron’s innovations are bringing major returns for our clients in widely diverse chemical industries. Optimization of surfactant based formulations in detergents, cosmetics, petrochemicals, agrochemicals and inks, and general surface chemistry studies can now be accomplished easily and cost-efficiently, bringing better and more competitive products to the market faster and at reduced cost.

As a result of thorough R&D, dedication, and our state of the art proprietary technology, Kibron now stands as the unchallenged technology leader in the measurement of surface tension of liquids with unique products offering high throughput, automated maintenance, portability, and operation with microliter-scale sample volumes.

Major global corporations rely on Kibron: technology, knowledge and people – and so can you.

Kibron benefits

Kibron benefits

The Kibron core technology is applied in all Kibron products. The technique brings the following key benefits into surface chemistry:

• sensitivity and precision (microbalance resolution better than 0.2 micrograms)
• need for very small sample volumes only (minimally 45 microliters)
• high measurement speed (96 measurements minimally in 3 minutes)
• ease of use and flexibility
• The resolution of the Kibron microbalance is better than 0.2 micrograms enabling real-time observations of even minor and rapid changes in surface pressure, without the need for signal integration. You really see real time data!

The Kibron microbalance is insensitive to vibrations, allowing experiments to be made practically everywhere (no need for a vibration isolation table).

The Kibron microbalance allows also for the use of very thin probes, without sacrificing sensitivity. The small size of the measuring probes allows consequently for the use of small sample volumes, beneficial for industries using expensive materials or samples of limited availability. Small sample volumes mean also better sample mixing and thermostation, when required.

In the fully automated Kibron Delta-8 a multichannel sensor measures eight samples simultaneously, only 50 microliters each, deposited in a cuvette of the standard 96-well plate format. The measurement of all 96 samples takes 3-10 min, yielding unprecedented productivity and new possibilities to physicochemical profiling and high throughput screening of critical micelle concentrations, for instance. The measurement is completed by fully automated analysis of the recorded data by CMCeeker, our unique, truly powerful tool for your laboratory. Kibron - automated all the way from the measurement to the comprehensive, informative report on your screen, with all data securely stored in the dedicated database.

Kibron technology brings also benefits to single channel measurements. With the portable Kibron AquaPi tensiometer one measurement takes less than 30 seconds and requires only a 3 ml sample.

Most precise measurement of surface tension/pressure

All Kibron instruments use the best, most sensitive and most precise method for the measurement of surface tension: a combination of the DuNuoy-Padday et al. ‘Maximum Pull Force Technique’ and Kibron's proprietary sensor, a unique ultrasensitive microbalance. This technique is unmatched in its performance and yields accuracy far better than obtained using filter paper or platinum Wilhelmy plates or duNuoy ring, which are used in the tensiometers and Langmuir-troughs made by our competitors.

With the aim of being able to provide the users of Kibron equipment the most precise determination of surface tension/pressure, we developed a new microbalance, with a resolution of better than 0.2 micrograms. This sensitivity was then combined with the "Maximum Pull Force" principle. In this technique a probe is first immersed into the interface and then slowly pulled out, while recording the weight of the meniscus (liquid adhering to the probe). At some point the probe detaches from the interface and this is the force used to calculate surface tension.

Importantly, because of the specific geometry of the Kibron's DyneProbes, unlike for both the Wilhelmy plate and duNuoy ring method, there is no error due to buoyancy and thus no need for any correction. Further, the easiest way to calibrate the instrument is to use a liquid with a known surface tension.

The results speak for themselves. In the following the accuracy and precision of the Kibron sensor is demonstrated by the data for solvents with a broad range of known surfaces tensions, measuring each solvent five consecutive times and analyzing the results by common statistical means (see below). A comparison of the mean surface tension values and the literature values reveals an excellent agreement.

A line has been fitted to the above data (figure below), giving a correlation coefficient of 0,999 and demonstrating the excellent accuracy of the Kibron sensor throughout this surface tension range.

Company History

Company History – Kibron Inc.

Kibron Inc. was established in 1994 by some of the leading pioneers in the field of surface science, headed by Prof., Dr. Paavo K.J. Kinnunen reputed for contributions and innovations in scientific instrumentation. Dr. Kinnunen was the founder of KSV Instruments Ltd. (the "K"), where he designed the first generation of Langmuir- and Langmuir-Blodgett troughs, hundreds of instruments now in use all over the world. Dr. Kinnunen divested himself from KSV Instruments Ltd. in 1988 to develop the next generation of surface chemistry equipment, manufactured and marketed by Kibron Inc. since 1994.

Conventionally, the measurement of surface tension is only possible in well equipped laboratories and requires trained personnel: the measurements are technically demanding and slow to perform. Kibron has changed all this, it has modernized surface tension measurement to allow its use in applications ranging from industrial, automated high throughput screening to portable, battery operated equipment for environmental monitoring, with high reliability, precision, and sensitivity. Kibron products, from Delta-8 to AquaPi, stand out unique: in performance, reliability and user-friendliness. We make robust and reliable industrial tools. Kibron is your partner of choice.

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