Mettler Toledo has introduced the Quantos liquid dosing module, which the company claims will change the way standards and samples are prepared in analytical laboratories.
When preparing a solution through traditional methods, the amount of substance to be dosed is determined by the required concentration and the available volumetric glassware.
Quantos instead weighs the amount of substance, which can be only a few milligrams, and automatically adds solvent to accomplish the correct concentration.
The user, rather than the glassware, decides on the amount of substance.
Substance and solvent can directly be dispensed into the target vial, instead of a volumetric flask, thus simplifying the solution preparation process.
Automation makes the process error resistant, reducing out-of-specification results.
According to Mettler Toledo, preparing samples and standards in analytical labs for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis is a time consuming, repetitive and error-prone task.
When preparing solutions for HPLC, the amount of substance is defined by the glassware and target concentration.
The tolerance on the concentration defines how exact that amount must be dosed.
For example, preparing a concentration of 1:1000 to within +/-10 per cent requires dosing between 90 and 110mg into a 100ml volumetric flask.
This can be a challenge, especially when the substance is a paste that is hard to dose.
Quantos instead weighs the amount of substance and automatically adds solvent to accomplish the correct concentration.
There is no need to dose substance to a defined value, as the over/under weight of the solid is compensated for, by adjusting the solvent addition to reach the exact concentration.
Mettler Toledo claims that advancements in preparing solutions make it possible to realise significant cost savings, as the required amount of solution for today's analytical methods is very low.
For example, typical HPLC instruments need 10-20ul of solution per injection.
Greater than 99 per cent of prepared solutions are typically disposed of without being used.
When using Quantos, the amount of substance is no longer determined by volumetric flasks but by the minimum weight of the balance - inferring that savings of greater than 90 per cent of substance and solvent can be realised.
Substance and solvent can now be dispensed directly into the target vessel with unprecedented speed and accuracy, eliminating the associated expense of glassware management and wasted stock solutions.
Out-of-specification results in an analytical laboratory require significant resources and time to resolve.
According to Mettler Toledo, automating the solution preparation process, using Quantos gravimetric dispensing technology, will reduce the potential sources of error and thereby reduce the risk of out-of-specification results.
