Key Features and Benefits:

Common Applications:

Common tests performed:

This process is repeated at given pressure intervals until the maximum preselected pressure is reached. Then the pressure can be decreased to provide a desorption isotherm. Each of the resulting equilibrium points [volume adsorbed and equilibrium pressure] is plotted to provide an isotherm.

HPVA II Benefits

Specification

Physical

• Height 88.9 cm (35 in.)
• Width 50.8 cm (20 in.)
• Depth 50.8 cm (20 in.)
• Weight 27.2 kg (60 lbs.)

Electrical

• Voltage 100 – 240 VAC.
• Frequency 50 – 60 Hz.

Knowledge of chemical reactivity and material properties, particularly with respect to exposure under different conditions (air, moisture, etc.) needs to be gathered.

Micromeritics’ ASAP 2050 Xtended Pressure Sorption Analyzer is designed to address these and many other elevated-pressure sorption needs. The instrument combines many of the capabilities of Micromeritics’ popular ASAP 2020 with additional features that allow the user to obtain data in an extended-pressure environment.

Standard ASAP Features

• Two independent vacuum systems allowing simultaneous automated preparation of two samples and analysis of another
• Two-station intelligent degas system for fully automated degassing with precisely controlled heating profiles
• A highly flexible and interactive reporting system that includes an extremely versatile graphic user interface allowing custom presentation of results

ASAP 2050 Hardware Advantages

The ASAP 2050 uses two independent vacuum systems, one for sample analysis and one for sample preparation. This allows preparation and analysis to proceed concurrently without the inherent delay found in single vacuum system analyzers that must share a pump. Moreover, independent systems completely eliminate the possibility of cross-contamination between the degas and analysis manifolds.

A two-station intelligent degas system provides fully automated degassing with controlled heating time profiles. Temperatures at each degas port, and the rate of temperature change, can be set and monitored individually. The temperature can be controlled from a few degrees above ambient to 450 ºC. A sample may be added to or removed from a degas port without disturbing the treatment of the other sample. The degas treatment information is saved as part of the sample file, included in analysis reports, and can be conveniently copied and reused for other samples to ensure repeatability and reproducibility.

Stainless-steel, temperature-monitored analysis manifolds are designed for optimal internal volumes and superior vacuum performance. These optimized manifolds, in combination with temperature monitoring, ensure highly accurate measurements of sorbed gas volumes. Analysis manifolds are capable of operating from vacuum to 10 atmospheres. This allows a rapid collection of isotherms.

An optional chiller Dewar and recirculating bath allow the ASAP 2050 to be operated indefinitely. The instrument also supports the use of a standard Dewar with cryogen that will provide at least 50 hours of unattended analysis without refilling the Dewar. Micromeritics’ patented Isothermal Jackets can be used to assure a constant thermal profile along the full length of both the sample and saturation pressure (P0) tubes throughout extended analyses.

ASAP 2050 Stainless-Steel Sample tube

Straight-walled, stainless-steel sample tubes enable extended pressure analyses and are capable of safe operation up to 150 psia (10 atmospheres).

The ASAP 2050 features a single high-quality, stable, low-noise transducer system for all measurements. This eliminates the possibility of progressive offset and drift between separate transducers covering the same range.

ASAP Reference Materials

Lanthanum Penta-Nickel (LaNi5)

is a well-known alloy that readily forms hydrides. This reference material is recommended for use with the ASAP 2050 to demonstrate the formation and characterization of hydrides. This material is ideally suited for use with the pressure composition isotherm report.

Silica-Alumina

is a typical porous, high surface area reference material. The surface area of the silica-alumina typically exceeds 200 m2/g and the pore size is a nominal 100 Å. This material is recommended for users who analyze amorphous materials with surface area ranging from 10 to greater than 300 m2/g for both non-porous and porous materials in the 40 – 3000 Å range. Silica-alumina is suitable for use with BET, t-plot, and BJH pore size reports.

Carbon Black

Standard Reference Blacks are available from 20 to greater than 100 m2/g and are stable, well-characterized materials. They are recommended for all users but may be especially suited for researchers in the carbon, tire, and filler industries. Carbon black reference materials are suitable for use with BET and STSA reports.

ASAP 2050 XP Software Features and Reports

The easy-to-use ASAP 2050 software utilizes a Windows interface that includes Wizards and applications to help plan, launch, and control the analysis. You can collect, organize, archive and reduce raw data, and store standardized sample information and analysis conditions for easy access during later applications. Finished reports may be generated to screen, paper, or data transfer channels. Features include cut-and-paste graphics, scalable-and-editable graphs, and customizable reports.

Additional capabilities include:

• Degas temperature profiles and treatment time data are integrated with the sample file for future reference and verification of SOP compliance.
• The Instrument Schematic screen displays the instrument’s current operating status, including the real-time isotherm, and allows the operator to assume manual control of the instrument if desired.
• One computer can control two Micromeritics ASAP analyzers of the same or different model making efficient use of valuable lab space. Other types of Micromeritics instruments can also be connected.
• Up to nine graphs can be overlaid for easy comparison of different samples or for comparison of different data reduction techniques applied to the same sample.
• Exportable data tables provide for merging and comparing data from other sources in a unified single spreadsheet file.
• Three modes of gas dosing routines provide effective choices to ensure maximum speed with full accuracy for samples with widely differing isotherm shapes.
• The patented Smart Dosing routine actually learns about the sample’s potential to adsorb gas and adjusts the adsorptive doses accordingly. This helps prevent over-dosing the sample and obscuring porosity information.

The ASAP 2050 model includes:

• Repetitive Isotherm Cycling
• DFT (Density Functional Theory)
• Single- and Multipoint BET (Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller) surface area
• Langmuir surface area
• Temkin and Freundlich isotherm analyses
• Pore volume and pore area distributions in the mesopore and macropore ranges by the BJH (Barrett, Joyner, and Halenda) method using a variety of thickness equations including user-defined, standard isotherm
• Pore volume and total pore volume in a user-defined pore size range
• F-Ratio plots that illustrate the difference between theoretical and experimental isotherm data
• Heat of Adsorption

ASAP2050 XP Technique Overview

The basics of the analytical technique are simple; a sample contained in an evacuated sample tube is cooled (typically) to cryogenic temperature, then is exposed to analysis gas at a series of precisely con-trolled pressures. With each incremental pressure increase, the number of gas molecules adsorbed on the surface increases. The pressure at which adsorption equilibrium occurs is measured and the universal gas law is applied to determine the quantity of gas adsorbed.

• Programmable, two-station degas system allows physisorption sample preparation while running a chemisorption analysis
• Twelve gas inlets allow multiple probe gases to be investigated maximizing efficiency and range of applications
• Dedicated exhaust port for external detector connections
• High-temperature 1100 °C furnace rapidly ramps to temperature and provides excellent, stable temperature and control with quick cool downs In situ chemisorption sample reparation and activation provide a fully automated method that does not require user intervention
• In situ chemisorption sample preparation and activation provide a fully automated method that does not require user intervention
• Design permits quick and easy transition from chemisorption to physisorption analysis

Typical ASAP 2020 Plus Applications

Pharmaceuticals:

• Surface area and porosity play major roles in the purification, processing, blending, tableting, and packaging of pharmaceutical products as well as their useful shelf life, dissolution rate, and bio-availability.

Ceramics:

• Surface area and porosity affect the curing and bonding of greenware and influence strength, texture, appearance, and density of finished goods. The surface area of glazes and glass frits affects shrinkage, crazing, and crawling.

Adsorbents:

• Knowledge of surface area, total pore volume, and pore size distribution is important for quality control of industrial adsorbents and in the development of separation processes. Surface area and porosity characteristics affect the selectivity of an adsorbent.

Activated Carbons:

• Surface area and porosity must be optimized within narrow ranges to accomplish gasoline vapor recovery in automobiles, solvent recovery in painting operations, or pollution controls in wastewater management.

Carbon Black:

• The wear lifetime, traction, and performance of tires are related to the surface area of carbon blacks used in their production.

Fuel Cells:

• Fuel cell electrodes require high surface area with controlled porosity to produce optimum power density.

Catalysts:

• The active surface area and pore structure of catalysts influence production rates. Limiting the pore size allows only molecules of desired sizes to enter and exit, creating a selective catalyst that will produce primarily the desired product.

Paints and Coatings:

• The surface area of a pigment or filler influences the gloss, texture, color, color saturation, brightness,solids content, and film adhesion properties. The porosity of a print media coating is important in offset printing where it affects blistering, ink receptivity, and ink holdout.

Projectile Propellant:

• The burn rate of propellants is a function of surface area too high a rate can be dangerous; too low a rate can cause malfunction and inaccuracy.

Medical Implants:

• Controlling the porosity of artificial bone allows it to imitate real bone that the body will accept and allow tissue to be grown around it.

Electronics:

• By selecting high surface area material with carefully designed pore networks, manufacturers of super-capacitors can minimize the use of costly raw materials while providing more exposed surface area for storage of charge.

Cosmetics:

• Surface area is often used by cosmetic manufacturers as a predictor of particle size when agglomeration tendencies of the fine powders make analysis with a particle-sizing instrument difficult.

Aerospace:

• Surface area and porosity of heat shields and insulating materials affect weight and function.

Geoscience:

• Porosity is important in groundwater hydrology and petroleum exploration because it relates to the quantity of fluid that a structure can contain as well as how much effort will be required to extract it.

Nanotubes:

• Nanotube surface area and microporosity are used to predict the capacity of a material to store hydrogen.

More Applications:

• Adhesives
• Alloys
• Abrasives
• Carbonates
• Cements
• Clays
• Detergents
• Fibers
• Films
• Fertilizers
• Filters
• Glass
• Food Additives
• Graphite
• Minerals
• Paper
• Polishing Compounds
• Polymers
• Resins
• Soils and Sediments

MicroActive for ASAP2020 Plus

Interactive Data Reduction Software:

• Micromeritics’ innovative MicroActiv software allows you to interactively evaluate isotherm data. You can easily include or exclude data, fitting the desired range of experimentally acquired data points using interactive, movable calculation bars. The isotherm can be viewed real-time on either a linear or logarithmic scale, available to you under each calculation model.

MicroActive reports for ASAP 2020 Plus Physisorption:

• Isotherm
• BET Surface Area
• Langmuir Surface Area
• t-Plot
• Alpha-S Method
• BJH Adsorption and Desorption
• Dollimore-Heal Adsorption and Desorption
• Temkin and Freundlich
• Horvath-Kawazoe
• MP-Method
• DFT Pore Size and Surface Energy
• Dubinin-Radushkevich
• Dubinin-Astakhov
• User Defined Reports

MicroActive for ASAP 2020 Plus Chemisorption:

MicroActive provides you with direct access and manipulation of chemical adsorption isotherm data. Unified Analysis Conditions for physical and chemical analyses allows you to rapidly develop new methods with a common interface.

Reported Data Include:

• Active Metal Surface Area
• Average Crystallite Size
• Irreversible and Reversible Sorption
• Monolayer Capacity
• Active Metal Dispersion

Data Reduction Features:

• Interaction with adsorption data is direct. By simply moving the calculation bars, the user is immediately updated with new textual properties.
• One-click access to important parameters.
• Interactive data manipulation minimizes the use of dialog boxes and tunneling of dialogs to specify calculation parameters.
• Improved ability to overlay files (up to 25) including mercury intrusion data with a file add-and-subtract feature and data from competitive instruments.
• User-selectable data ranges through the graphic interface allow direct modeling for BET, t-Plot, Langmuir, DFT interpretation, and much more. The MicroActive suite provides an extensive selection of NLDFT models for calculating pore size distributions.
• Report Options editor allows the user to define reports with on-screen previews. Each report has the ability to possess one summary, tabular, and graphical information pane.
• Powerful Python programming language allows you to develop extensions to the standard report available within the ASAP 2020 Plus MicroActive application.

Partnership and Support Network:

• Expertise in application assistance is only a phone call away. Every Micromeritics instrument is backed by a dedicated, knowledgeable staff of experts.
• Responsive worldwide service and technical support provides the needed security and peace of mind for you, our customers, ensuring that your sample and product development pathways continue to progress.
• Referenced in an extensive number of peer-reviewed articles in prestigious journals, your ASAP 2020 will link you to a large and growing community of users.

Optional Cryostat:

• A single-stage cryogenic refrigerator that operates on the Gifford-McMahon refrigeration cycle. It uses helium gas from a helium compressor(s) to offer a wide range of analytical temperatures with milli Kelvin levels of stability.