(For the rest of you: Todd is asking about the technique of preparing air-sensitive samples in a glove box, putting them on Kapton tape, sealing them in plastic bags, and transporting them to the beamline, shooting right through the bags.)

It's hard for me to imagine adsorbed oxygen on the Kapton being more significant than the other sources of stray oxygen that can be present in a glove box. After all, the Kapton's in there too. And I don't think it's going to be more significant than the oxygen that diffuses through the plastic bags during transport.

The thinner the Kapton tape, the better, as that will minimize the absorption due to the tape. It used to be hard to find 1 mil Kapton tape with adhesive, but now it's easy. Hephaestus will give you the absorption of Kapton, so you can judge how big an effect it will be at the energies at which you'll work.

On Aug 4, 2009, at 2:39 PM, Monson, Todd wrote:

Scott,

Thanks. Is it pretty reasonable to assume that the kapton tape that you put your samples on doesn’t have any adsorbed oxygen that could affect your samples? Do you do anything to clean the kapton? Where are some good places to buy the kapton (and do you need to purchase rather thin kapton tape for doing XAFS)?

Thanks again,

Todd

From: Scott Calvin
Sent: August 04, 2009 11:34 AM
To: Monson, Todd
Cc: Scott Calvin
Subject: Re: mossbauer

Hi Todd,

Regular zip-loc bags work just fine. For heat sealers I've used everything from a heat sealer manufactured for the purpose to a little propane torch--even a cigarette lighter should work. Putting one sealed bag inside another, if the energy you're working at allows it, seems to work quite well.

--Scott

On Aug 4, 2009, at 1:15 PM, Monson, Todd wrote:

Scott,

I had another question – what kind of plastic bags and heat sealers do you use for sealing up your air-sensitive XAFS samples? And where could I buy them?

Thanks,

Todd