One of the goals of the young Swiss Chemical Society (youngSCS) is to offer its members the opportunity to explore companies related to the field of chemistry. In line with this mission, on 7th of March 2025, youngSCS members visited the site of Anton Paar TriTec, located in Corcelles. Anton Paar is a leading company renowned for its precision laboratory instruments.
After a welcome breakfast, the day started with an engaging presentation of the company by Dr. Amir Zaim, Sales Team Leader at Anton Paar. He highlighted the company’s extensive portfolio, emphasizing its long-standing commitment to precision and innovation. We also learned that a key aspect of Anton Paar’s unique business model is its ownership by the charitable Santner Foundation, ensuring a focus on long-term sustainability. Additionally, the company has an integrated supply chain, minimizing dependency on external suppliers and ensuring high quality control.
Ms. Issa Thévenaz then guided our group through the production area and laboratories, offering a closer look at Anton Paar’s advanced testing instruments. The tour featured:
- Tribology Testing: Using tribometers to evaluate friction, wear, and lubrication performance through linear, circular, and oscillatory motion.
- Calotest: A precise technique for determining coating thickness.
- Nanoindentation Testing: Measuring elastic recovery, hardness, and creep behavior, including bioindentors for biomedical materials such as contact lenses or prostheses.
- Scratch Testing: Characterizing scratch resistance and coating adhesion, demonstrated through a live experiment.
To ensure maximum accuracy, both the laboratory and instruments were equipped with an anti-vibration system.
The visit continued with an interactive session led by Dr. Amir Zaim, Nicolas Ogez-Paul, and David Burnand where participants had the opportunity to see various analytical instruments used in material characterization and quality control. The session covered techniques such as CO₂ measurement and oxidation stability testing, as well as FTIR spectroscopy. Different methods for size particle analysis were also introduced, including Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) for nano and microscale measurements, laser diffraction for particle size distribution in both liquid dispersions and dry powders, and Dynamic Image Analysis for assessing particle shape and size.
The tour concluded with a demonstration by David Burnand on a rheometer, illustrating the ability to analyze the mechanical behavior of complex fluids. Using a gel sample, he demonstrated how rheological measurements provide valuable information on material properties, such as viscosity and elasticity.
Acknowledgments
The visit to Anton Paar TriTec provided a valuable opportunity for YoungSCS members to explore both the company and its state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation.
Thus, we would like to thank Anton Paar TriTec and its representatives for making this visit possible. In particular, Doïna Gachet for organizing the visit, Dr. Amir Zaim for the company presentation, Ms. Issa Thévenaz for the Anton Paar TriTec company tour, and Nicolas Ogez-Paul and David Burnand for the lab tour with hands-on experiments and software demonstrations.
Antoine Etourneau, Maximilian Horn
17.03.2024