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Published (Version of record)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Published (Version of record)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open
Journal article
Miau, a microbalance autosampler
HardwareX, Vol.10, e00215
10/2021
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Abstract
Powder weighing is an essential but tedious activity in many branches of science. Here I describe a MIcrobalance AUtosampler (miau) that transfers solids in the sub-mg range to a microbalance. Miau is a pick-and-place machine which moves a gripper with dual function: 1) move tin capsules; 2) deliver powder from a container to tin capsules. In our laboratory we routinely use miau to prepare working standards for quality control of elemental and isotopic analyses. In a test, miau produced standards between 0.3 and 1.1 mg, which is a useful range in our laboratory. Failure to produce a weighed standard happened in 5% of the cases. A comparison with manual measurements demonstrated that obtained amounts for automated samples were as accurate and precise as manually prepared ones. Setup for daily use is simple, and the microbalance can be easily used alternately with or without miau. Miau is a low-cost device that can work with microbalances from many manufacturers, and can be readily adopted by many laboratories.
Details
- Title
- Miau, a microbalance autosampler
- Creators
- Matheus C Carvalho - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- HardwareX, Vol.10, e00215
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Identifiers
- 991012948493002368
- Copyright
- © 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
- Academic Unit
- Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry; Faculty of Science and Engineering; School of Environment, Science and Engineering; Environmental Analysis Laboratory
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article