Instrumax (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. has recently won a tender award for its independently developed charged aerosol detector (CAD) in the fifth batch of the 2026 special equipment procurement project of the National Institutes for Drug Control (NIDC), China.
Project: National Institutes for Drug Control 2026 Special Equipment Procurement Project (Fifth Batch)
Project number: XHTC-HW-2026-0829
The award marks an important step for Instrumax CAD in national-level pharmaceutical testing and research, further demonstrating the value of China-developed charged aerosol detection technology in pharmaceutical analysis.
Charged Aerosol Detection: A Universal Detection Technique for Liquid Chromatography
A charged aerosol detector (CAD) is a modern universal detector for liquid chromatography.
CAD nebulizes the liquid chromatography mobile phase to form an aerosol. Solvent evaporation produces dry analyte particles, which are then electrically charged. The analytes are detected by measuring the resulting charge.
Unlike UV detectors, which rely primarily on a compound’s ultraviolet absorption, CAD can detect many compounds that have little or no UV absorption, making it an important universal detection option for liquid chromatography.
CAD can be used in drug development, pharmaceutical quality research, impurity analysis, excipient analysis, and the analysis of complex samples.
Advancing CAD Development and Manufacturing in China
Instrumax began developing charged aerosol detector technology in 2020.
Drawing on the team’s many years of experience in developing and applying chromatography detectors, Instrumax has continued to advance the core processes of CAD. Its technology covers aerosol generation and selection, nitrogen gas charging, temperature control, charge detection, signal acquisition, and digital connectivity with liquid chromatography systems.
Throughout product development, Instrumax has focused on sensitivity, repeatability, linear range, stability, and compatibility across liquid chromatography systems, refining its products and application solutions through practical use.
Instrumax now offers a range of CAD products and continues to develop digital connectivity with mainstream liquid chromatography systems, providing complete LC–CAD analytical solutions.
Supporting Pharmaceutical Analysis and Quality Research
Drug development and quality research involve many types of compounds. Some lack strong UV absorption, while others require a detection approach different from UV detection.
In these situations, CAD provides an additional detection option for liquid chromatography.
With its universal detection characteristics, CAD can analyze a variety of nonvolatile or semivolatile compounds, offering potential in drug development, impurity research, excipient analysis, and quality control.
The award in NIDC’s special equipment procurement project will further expand the practical use of CAD technology developed in China for pharmaceutical analysis.
From Independent Development to Professional Laboratory Applications
Since beginning CAD research and development in 2020, Instrumax has progressed from product commercialization to selection for procurement by specialized pharmaceutical testing and research institutions, while remaining focused on CAD technology and applications.
This award in the fifth batch of NIDC’s 2026 special equipment procurement project marks another important milestone for Instrumax CAD.
Instrumax will continue advancing CAD technology and application research, improving performance, system compatibility, and application capabilities to provide China-developed liquid chromatography detection solutions for drug development, pharmaceutical quality research, testing, and life science research.
Instrumax Charged Aerosol Detectors
The eyes that venture into the unknown