RK-Spectro Technical Note 40: QFM-400 upgrade for slow reactions studies

Introduction

This Technical Note concerns a QFM-400 upgrade for slow reactions studies. In its standard configuration, the QFM-400 is optimized to work with fast reactions (maximum ageing time = a few seconds) and small volumes. In this scenario, the volume of the delay line is usually around 4µl. In fact, the limiting factor is the duration of a phase, which is limited to 60 seconds. This limitation becomes a problem when one wants to collect larger volumes (100 µl of each samples per shot for example) and to reach long ageing times (up to 1 minute). The aim of this technical note is to explain how tubes can be modified and explain the correct experimental procedure in order to reach these long ageing times.