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Isotope Chemistry Preparation Plate

Equipments for the preparation of samples intended to be analyzed at the Isotope-Chemistry pole.

The SILVATECH platform provides the necessary equipment for the preparation of samples intended to be analyzed at the Isotope-Chemistry hub through a complete preparation bench. The platform staff can welcome you and train you in the use of these techniques based on standard operating procedures established as part of their quality approach.

Available equipment:

  • Grinding: 3 vibro-grinders and 3 rotary ring grinders, 1 orbital mixer and 1 vibrating sieve, 3 drying ovens distributed in 2 natural abundance grinding cells and 1 enriched grinding cell.
  • Micro-weighing: 4 microbalances, 2 analytical balances, and 1 precision balance, 2 ovens distributed in 2 weighing cells (natural abundance and enriched)
  • Cryoextraction: 2 cryogenic distillation lines, 2 ovens in 2 cryoextraction cells (natural and enriched abundance)
  • Gas sampling: 3 portable gas sampling devices
  • Biochemical extraction: 1 rotary evaporator, a multi-position evaporator (6 or 12), 1 lyophilizer, 1 benchtop centrifuge, 1 automatic diluter, 1 ultrapure water station

What's the point?

  • Grinding: These equipment allow for the grinding and homogenization of dried solid samples (plants, soils, etc.) in order to obtain a representative fraction with a powder fineness of less than 200 µm for analysis. The mixer is used to homogenize powders of different densities and granulometries, and the vibrating sieve is used to determine the granulometry of ground and dried solid samples (plants, soils, etc.). The particles are separated and distributed according to their size using a set of sieves with diameters ranging from 50 to 500 µm.
  • Micropesée: These devices allow for the micro-weighing of micro-quantities (µg) of plant or soil samples in natural abundance or enriched in tin or silver capsules, before isotopic or elemental analyses. More generally, these balances are used for the preparation of samples and reagents necessary for biochemical extractions.
  • Cryoextraction: The cryogenic distillation extraction lines under static vacuum are dedicated to extracting and condensing the water present in the sample (plants, soils) into a collection tube. The water is evaporated by heating the sample in a water bath (65°C), then its condensation is made possible by a mixture of ethanol/liquid nitrogen (-50/-70 °C). The liquid sample is then intended for isotopic analysis of water (δD or δ18O).
  • Biochemical extraction: the rotary evaporator is designed to quickly concentrate several small samples using centrifugal force, vacuum, and heat. Up to 132 samples can be processed at once. The sample size varies from a few microliters up to 25 milliliters. The multi-position evaporator is a 6-position parallel evaporator that ensures the simultaneous evaporation of 6 x 150 ml or 12 x 30 ml of sample. This technique allows for solvent evaporation and vacuum condensation with a horizontal orbital movement to generate a vortex swirl in each sample tube. Distillation is generally carried out under vacuum to increase efficiency and reduce the boiling point to prevent sample decomposition. Finally, the freeze dryer allows for the freeze-drying of solid samples. Liquid samples can also be freeze-dried thanks to a specific upper part designed for this type of sample.

What themes/applications?

Dynamics of metabolites and allocation of C/N reserves, modeling of biogeochemical cycles (soil-tree-atmosphere continuum), quantification of wood extractables, water use efficiency and accessibility to soil water reserves, dynamics of nutrients and pollutants, functioning of trophic networks.

Contact:

See also

Sample preparation recommendation
Technical Note_Grinding SAM

By: CM Publication date: 13 January 2022 Modification date: 26 March 2025