The Department of Earth Sciences Clean Suite consists of four Class 10,000 (ISO Class 7) metal-free laboratories, each equipped with Class 100 (ISO Class 5) laminar flow/exhaust hoods and fume hoods. The facility is designed for ultra-clean sample preparation and trace metal analysis, where preventing contamination is essential.
Primary Functions
- Facilities for ultra-clean, metal-free preparation of samples for:
- Trace metal concentration analysis
- High-precision trace metal isotope ratio analysis
- Production of ultra-pure mineral acids through sub-boiling distillation
- Production of 18.2 MΩ·cm ultra-pure water for laboratory use
Contamination Control
- The Clean Suite is constructed almost entirely from plastic materials to eliminate metal contamination
- The Suite has its own dedicated air-handling system, which maintains clean air and provides safe ventilation
- A Building Management System (BMS) continuously monitors temperature, humidity and air pressure in each laboratory to maintain clean-room conditions
- Ultra-pure water is produced in-house and contains virtually no dissolved ions, reducing the risk of sample contamination
Laboratory Facilities
- The Suite includes four metal-free laboratories
- Each laboratory is equipped with multiple fume hoods and laminar-flow/exhaust hoods, some fitted with hotplates for acid digestion and elevated-temperature experiments. (>25 °C)
- Two of the laboratories are designed to safely accommodate the use of hydrofluoric acid (HF), with specialist training provided before use
Analytical Applications
The Clean Suite is used for contamination-free preparation of samples for analysis of trace metals and their isotopes, including Cu, Fe, Zn, Sr, Nd, Pb, U, Hf, W, Nb, and Se.
Mass Balance Room
The mass balance room contains two Sartorius balances:
- One balance with 0.01 mg precision for highly accurate weighing of small samples
- One balance with 0.01 g precision for larger measurements
Ultra-Pure Acid Production
The laboratories produce their own ultra-pure acids by sub-boiling distillation. Reagent-grade acids are distilled to remove trace metal contaminants before use in sensitive analytical procedures. The Clean Suite prepares both nitric acid (HNO3) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) in this manner. This in-house purification ensures that acids used during sample preparation do not introduce metal contamination that could affect analytical results.
