Using a 5µL micro-cell in a Cary 60

Question

Hi all, 
 I'm using a 5&micro;L micro cell in my Cary 60 and I'm having different absorbance readings for the same sample. Should I do something different with this micro-cells. I did the same with a 1mL cell and I got the correct absorbance.??

Akram Zaki · Accepted Answer

Hi jsola, 
 Due to smaller volume cell, the aperture size is also reduced. Which means your cell holder alignment needs to be optimized to prevent the light from clipping the sides of the aperture. 
 if you open Align application > Cary tab > check Zero Order box > press OK, the grating will move to &ldquo;0 nm&rdquo; and you can follow the white light patch in the sample compartment. You will find the focus to be in the middle of the cell holder which you can visually confirm with a white paper card for example. Now you can adjust the cell holder from left to right by loosening the thumbscrew which holds it on the cell holder base and using the 2.5 mm hex key delivered with the instrument to turn the adjustment screw on the cell holder. 
 If you want to be sure the light hits the small aperture of your cell, place a white card with crosshairs on exactly the aperture height and width of your cell in the cell holder and align according. Or align dynamically (without visual confirmation of white light) and set the wavelength in Cary tab to 500 nm, insert the microcell and keep an eye on the %T in the left upper corner while aligning: get it as high as possible (average %T without cell should be 4-7% so get it as high as possible in this range). This will also verify if you have a cell with the correct Z-height (vertical height of aperture), which is not adjustable on the instrument (15 or 20 mm).

Using a 5µL micro-cell in a Cary 60

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