Reference Materials

Product Bulletin Number 24

Reference Materials

Confirmation of performance is desirable from time to time for every analytical instrument. The need for validation can arise from a change of operators, a peculiar result, an unfamiliar material, or simply from equipment wear and tear. Micromeritics products, with a few exceptions, do not require calibration per se; they derive results from well-established laws utilizing detection of basic parameters such as time, temperature, pressure, mass, and the like. Micromeritics instruments, nevertheless, are no exception to the desirability for periodic performance evaluation, because detectors, like everything else, age, drift, and occasionally fail.

An effective means for detecting operational mistakes or erroneous applications and for assuring consistent, reproducible results is to retain a quantity of one or more appropriate materials with known, well-characterized properties which can be used to test instrument performance. The reference materials subsequently listed by primary property are offered by Micromeritics for this corroborative purpose. Each has been carefully selected to be representative of the parameter, or parameters, for which it is recommended, to be non-hazardous, and to have an extended shelf life.

The lot of material from which each reference portion was extracted has been repeatedly analyzed. This has been done on a number of instruments, by different operators, and, in some cases, even using different techniques. We do not claim our reference materials to be standards. The extensive, blind testing utilizing independent laboratories which would enable us to make such a statement has not been undertaken. We are confident, nevertheless, and so assert, that an instrument giving the result, or results, within the limits specified with each reference material is operating satisfactorily.

When you order a reference material, you will receive with it information on how best to prepare it for analysis (for example, how to disperse it in a liquid, degas time and temperature, and the like), recommended quantity for a test as appropriate for the instrument in question, and other essential data (for example, density, starting diameter, flow path, etc.). Material properties are tabulated along with their limits of accuracy. As appropriate, a typical property trace such as a size distribution, an adsorption and desorption isotherm, or an intrusion and extrusion curve is included.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

PARTICLE SIZE

Glass (15g) - Mass Median Diameter ~ 1.7 um

P/N 004-16814-00

Garnet (15g) - Mass Median Diameter ~ 2.5 um

P/N 004-16810-00

Garnet (15g) - Mass Median Diameter ~ 11.6 um

P/N 004-16811-00

SURFACE AREA AND POROSIMETRY

Alumina (15g) - Specific Surface Area ~ 0.46 m2/g

P/N 004-16816-00

Garnet (15g) - Specific Surface Area ~ 3.0 m2/g

P/N 004-16817-00

Glass (10g) - Specific Surface Area ~ 5.3 m2/g

P/N 004-16818-00

Kaolinite (10g) - Specific Surface Area ~ 16.1 m2/g

P/N 004-16819-00

Carbon (5g) - Specific Surface Area ~ 111 m2/g

P/N 004-16820-00

Silica-Alumina (10g) - Specific Surface Area ~ 215 m2/g; Pore Volume ~ 0.06 cm3/g; Average Pore Diameter ~115 Å

P/N 004-16821-00

MERCURY POROSIMETRY

Silica-Alumina (15g) - Average Pore Diameter ~ 0.0073 um; Pore Volume ~ 0.56 cm3/g

P/N 004-16822-00

ZETA POTENTIAL

Kaolinite (120g) - Mean Zeta Potential ~ 60 mV

P/N 004-16824-00

CHEMISORPTION

Alumina (5g) - Active Metallic Dispersion ~ 39.9%

P/N 004-16825-00

TPR Copper Oxide (5g) - Reduction Maximum at Temperature ~ 300 deg C

P/N 004-16828-00

MICROPORE

Molecular Sieve (5g) - Argon ~ 5.5 Å; Carbon Dioxide ~ 12.0 Å

P/N 004-16826-00

The sample you receive may not have precisely the property listed in the table because we must replenish our supply from time to time. When this occurs, we repeat fully a new evaluation before accepting the new material as a reference. Micromeritics reserves the right to change reference materials as availability dictates, adding new materials and deleting others when necessary.