CEFAS22-53 Invitation to Tender for provision of a chemical imaging and spectral analysis system

The Marine Litter Team at Cefas require a chemical imaging and spectral analysis system to maintain and enhance Cefas' capability for the fast screening of microplastics in environmental samples down to at least 20 m. The proposed system will include an integrated particle characterisation process including size of the particles as well as polymer type by comparison to a built-in library database.

Chemical Imaging and spectral analysis system requirements:

- have a small footprint as laboratory space is limited. The unit should have a maximum footprint of (W x H x D) of 1000 x 500 x 650 (mm) - be based on Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) combined with scanning optics - be highly automated - not require cooling liquids such as liquid nitrogen, to reduce operating costs - able to image large samples (e.g., 25 mm filters) as well as focusing on specific zones/particles of interest - be able to operate in reflectance and attenuated total reflectance (ATR) mode and should be able to automatically switch between the two modes - support samples on filters applications (e.g., gold, silver or other types of filters) of at least 25 mm diameters - be able to analyse particles down to at least 20 m in size - be provided with a PC with Windows 10 as a minimum and operating software including a full polymer library - include all other related key components such as nitrogen or air compressors

Software requirements:

- offer software with a fast and easy method creation - include additional features including spectra post-processing options - include search libraries for reliable compound identification with the option of creating in-house libraries - allow for easy exports of data (e.g., MS Excel format) including analytical spectra and library matches