The clean lab space is approximately 400 square feet, with a HEPA-filtered, positively-pressured air supply, 55 air changes per hour, and a redundant exhaust fan configuration. Three five-foot, polypropylene, ULPA-filtered laminar-flow, exhausted hoods are used for sample digestion, drying, and ion exchange chromatography. A seven-foot hood is used for in-house distillation of nitric and hydrochloric acids, acid titration, and acid-cleaning of all Teflon. The hoods are complemented by polypropylene cabinetry, Mettler-Toledo XP205DR and XS4002S balances with LabX software support, an ULPA-filtered drying box for clean plastics, and Teflon-coated graphite block hot plates with programmable Eurotherm controllers.
The Clean Lab
The clean lab allows for the sample preparation and digestion of materials for ICPMS analysis. The Metal Isotopes Laboratory offers in-house acid distillation, high purity Milli-Q water, and digestion materials in order to prepare samples for analysis with very low levels of contamination. Samples can be prepared by the MIL and are digested on a per-sample fee structure.
Lab occupants enjoy full-length windows with a view of the northwest campus and sunsets.
The "Semi-clean Area"
Just outside the clean lab is a 200 square foot "semi–clean" area with a five-foot fume hood, bench space, cabinetry, shelving, balances, and a very large and deep sink. Graduate student office space is immediately outside the lab facility.
SIRF Stable Isotope Research Facility
Metal concentration and isotope ratio analyses are conducted on an Agilent 7700 quadrupole ICP-MS and a Nu Plasma II multiple-collector ICP-MS instrument, both installed in 2012, in newly renovated space on the ground floor of MSB-II.
