Sonication is a very effective method for the mixing, homogenising, emulsifying, dispersing, disintegration, and degassing of liquids by means of ultrasonic cavitation
The new Hielscher VialTweeter applies sonication technology to vials, such as autosampler vials, storage vials and reagent vials, without the need to open the cap or any water bath.
The VialTweeter replaces the indirect sonication in ultrasonic cleaning baths/tanks, in which the water surrounding the vials takes most of the energy - while the effective power in a 1.5ml vial is as low as 0.01W.
For sonication processes, this is no power at all, says Hielscher - whose high power ultrasonic bath UTR200 gives approx 0.5W per 1.5ml in a vial instead.
The VialTweeter delivers up to 10W to each of the six vials in its high intensity part and up to 5W to the two vials placed in its low intensity part.
These power levels allow for sophisticated sonication processes in short time, similar to direct sonication by a homogeniser.
The VialTweeter can also sonicate a test tube, bottle or beaker of up to 500ml volume attached to its end.
The power can be adjusted by means of the amplitude adjustment at the front panel of the generator.
Once set, the amplitude will be maintained at the adjusted value and will is distributed evenly across the six high intensity vials and the two low intensity vials, respectively.
This gives reproducible sonication effects. The VialTweeter is powered by the ultrasonic processor UIS250L (250W, 24kHz).
This compact and reliable unit is said to be easy to set up and operate.
As the ultrasonic generator is tuned to the frequency of the sonotrode automatically, there is no manual frequency tuning required.
For a good transmission of the ultrasonic vibrations to the individual vials, the vials are pushed gently into the holes of the VialTweeter.
Each hole of the VialTweeter is made to hold vials of the most common sizes, brands and designs.
These incude vials and test tubes of 0.5ml, 1.0ml, 1.5ml or 2.0ml volume, e.g 12x32mm or 15x45mm; vials made by Eppendorf, Sun-SRI, Greenwood or compatible; vials with snap top, crimp top or screw thread finish; vials with/without limited volume inserts; vials with/without closures; conical bottom vials, flat bottom vials, or V-bottom vials; microsampling vials, headspace vials, and sample storage vials; vials made of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polymethylpentene (TPX), polystyrene or PTFE or any other plastic.
At the end of the VialTweeter, a single vessel can be attached for sonication. Vessels such as bottles, test tubes or beakers; up to 500ml volume; of 10mm minimum diameter; made of glass, polypropylene, polystyrene or any other plastic can be used.
Since the VialTweeter vibrates through the vial/vessel wall, the vial can remain closed.
Different from the direct sonication by means of an ultrasonic probe/sonotrode (e.g LS24d5 for UIS250L) that is immersed into the liquid, this eliminates cross contamination of samples.
It reduces the time required per vial/vessel.
The VialTweeter can be cleaned and disinfected easily.
The VialTweeter is made of titanium and is autoclavable while the transducer of the UIS250L is made of stainless steel (IP65, NEMA4).
The generator is connected to the transducer by a 4m connection cable.
The UIS250L with VialTweeter can be operated continuously.
Pulse cycle operation can be selected at the front panel of the ultrasonic generator.
An optionally available PC-interface with software can record the total ultrasonic power and the combined net input power at any Windows-PC and allows for the remote control of all essential parameters, such as sonication time and amplitude.
Alternatively to the VialTweeter, the UIS250L can be equipped with one of the following sonotrodes for direct immersion into liquids: LS24d3 - 3mm tip diameter, length approx 100mm; LS24d5 - 5mm tip diameter, length approx 100mm; LS24d10 - 10mm tip diameter, length approx 100mm.
When equipped with one of above mentioned sonotrodes, the UIS250L can be used as a hand-held or stand-mounted homogeniser.
The exchange between the VialTweeter and the sonotrodes takes approx five minutes.
The VialTweeter as well as the individual sonotrodes can be used in combination with the UIS250L for many applications a vial shaker does not not make possible, such as mixing and blending, homogenisation, emulsifying, dispersing dissolving and making suspensions, disintegration and cell disruption for protein extraction or enzyme release, deagglomeration and particle size reduction to obtain single-dispersed particles, and degassing before analysis.
