General Laboratory Equipment: Innovation Showcase

Customer Success Manager

Each year, manufacturers and distributors flesh out many innovations for the laboratory, ranging from simple accessories to large, more complex instrumentation. American Laboratory® has long been at the forefront in reporting on innovative products shown at Pittcon® for markets such as mass spectrometry and separation science. In addition to these annual reviews, the following snippets provide a brief outline of other products featured at Pittcon 2011.

TOC analyzers

Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (Columbia, MD) introduced the new TOC-L Series of analyzers for total organic carbon (TOC) testing. The analyzer utilizes a 680 °C combustion catalytic oxidation method for a wide sample range from 4 μg/L to 30,000 mg/L. TOC detection is important for monitoring the implications of its effects on health, pharmaceuticals, and the environment.

XRF analyzer

Thermo Fisher Scientific (Waltham, MA) launched the new Thermo Scientific Niton FXL field X-ray analyzer, an easy-to-use, portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer that provides lab-quality performance outside of the laboratory and low-level detection of up to 40 standard analytical elements of a given sample on the field.

Raman analyzer

The next-generation Thermo Scientific TruScan RM is the lightest, fastest, handheld analyzer for raw material inspection that provides rapid identification of a broad range of compounds, including those that were considered too slow for Raman analysis; it is consistent with USP and EP regulations.

Time-of-flight detectors

Gen2 UltraFast™ time-of-flight detectors from PHOTONIS USA, Inc. (Sturbridge, MA) are equipped with PHOTONIS’s patented MountingPad™ microchannel plates to reduce anode spacing, and use TruFlite™ MCP flatness technology for a significant reduction in time jitter.

Moisture analyzers

The new HALO family of trace moisture analyzers from Tiger Optics (Warrington, PA) allows users to measure moisture and other trace species in most inert, corrosive, and toxic gases with just one device.

Thermal desorption instrument

Markes International (Llantrisant, U.K.) previewed a new thermal desorption instrument. The CIA Advantage™ is said to offer a more technologically advanced approach to achieving U.S. EPA method TO-15 for volatile organic compound (VOC) analysis.

Particle analysis systems

NanoSight (Salisbury, U.K.) debuted the Zeta Potential Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (Z-NTA) measurement system. This system provides simultaneous particle-by-particle data collection for multiparameter nanoparticle characterization in liquids down to 10 nm for observation of size, composition, fluorescence, and count.

The Multisizer™ 4 COULTER COUNTER®, a particle sizing and counting analyzer from Beckman Coulter Inc. (Brea, CA), provides size distributions in number, volume, and surface area in one measurement, with an overall sizing range of 0.4 μm to 1600 μm.

Pore size analysis system

The new Porometer 3G from Quantachrome Instruments (Boynton Beach, FL) is a state-of-the-art capillary flow porometer for measuring through-pore sizes of filters and membranes via liquid expulsion.

Supercritical fluid extraction system

Supercritical Fluid Technologies (SFT) (Newark, DE) introduced a new benchtop supercritical fluid extractor (SFE), the model SFT-110. Completely redesigned, the SFT-110 allows for very precise flow control for demanding applications.

Microscopy image analysis systems

ASPEX Corp. (Delmont, PA) launched the OmegaMax™, an integrated systems approach to scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray (SEM/EDX) technology for detection, identification, quantification, and characterization of entire samples automatically.

Jeol USA Inc. (Peabody, MA) introduced the InTouch Scope™, an analytical, low-vacuum SEM featuring integrated energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) with silicon drift detector (SDD) technology with an intuitive multitouch screen interface.

The TrueSurface Microscopy Raman spectrometer from WITec GmbH (Ulm, Germany) enables confocal Raman imaging guided by surface topography. The system topographically maps the surface to provide an image revealing chemical properties at the surface of a sample.

Carl Zeiss (Oberkochen, Germany) exhibited the EVO® HD, a scanning electron microscope with a high brightness source and improved resolution that includes a 30% increase in resolution at 30 kV and 1 nA.

The new FlowCAM Front-Fill Illumination ™ particle imaging and analysis system was introduced by Fluid Imaging Technologies (Yarmouth, ME). It automatically takes high-resolution, digital images of particles and organisms in a fluid and measures each one based on a variety of parameters in real time to differentiate and classify them for analysis.

FEI Company (Hillsboro, OR) demonstrated the Quanta™ 50 Series SEM. This system is designed to enable viewing of any range of samples in their natural state, including those that are insulating, wet, dirty, or dynamically changing.

Liquid handling systems

The PDS-100 from Fluid Metering Inc. (Syosset, NY) is a programmable dispensing system that uses precision stepper motors. With a range from 500 nL per dispense to 2 L/min continuous flow, this unit uses a light-emitting diode (LED) readout to display menu-driven programming, as well as membrane switches for navigating through the programming steps.

The Dispensette TA from BrandTech Scientific Inc. (Essex, CT) is suitable for precise-volume dispensing of high-purity acids, bases, and hydrogen peroxide in the low-ppb range or even low-ppt range.

The Eppendorf Xplorer electronic pipet from Eppendorf North America (Hauppauge, NY) was specially designed for high professional standards to provide optimal support for users, with a new, intuitive operating concept; ergonomic handling; and proven Eppendorf quality.

Titrators

The new SI Analytics TitroLine titrators from ITT Analytics (Woburn, MA) combine accuracy and ease-of-use to create solutions that offer flexibility and reliability for content analysis in various samples.

HANNA Instruments (Woonsocket, RI) featured the existing Volumetric Karl Fisher Titrator HI 903. This ultrahigh-precision titrant delivery system optically regulates magnetic stirring, dynamic dosing, and background drift.

METTLER TOLEDO (Columbus, OH) introduced the new G20 Compact Titrator, which was designed for basic analytical chemistry applications and is equipped with the unique One Click™ user interface.

Differential scanning calorimeter

The Flash DSC 1 from METTLER TOLEDO is a flash differential scanning calorimeter that provides thermal analysis sampling from –4000 to 40,000 °C/sec between a wide temperature range of –95 ºC and 450 ºC in one measurement.

Microwave digestion system

The new UltraWAVE from Milestone Inc. (Shelton, CT) transforms microwave digestion using single-reaction chamber (SRC) digestion of different sample types simultaneously and with more power, all in a smaller benchtop instrument.