Headspace vials and closures

Applications of headspace vials

Headspace vials are used for, among other things:

• Analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in water, soil and air
• Determination of residual solvents in pharmaceutical products
• Blood alcohol analysis in forensic and clinical research
• Flavour and fragrance analysis in food and beverages
• Analysis of residual monomers in packaging materials

Compatibility overview

All Brown headspace vials are produced with the exact dimensions and neck geometry required by the autosampler concerned, including the beveled top that guarantees leak control at high temperature on Perkin-Elmer systems.

Clear and amber versions available. Amber headspace vials offer UV protection for light-sensitive samples.

Magnetic screw-top headspace vials: no crimping needed

For autosamplers that work with a robot magnet, Brown offers magnetic screw-top headspace vials (10 and 20 ml). These vials are closed with a magnetic steel screw cap that is picked up by the autosampler arm, without the need for a crimper. Available in clear and amber, with several septum variants.

Compatible with: CTC Combi PAL, Agilent, Alpha MOS, Antek, Bruker, Dionex, Gerstel, Perkin-Elmer, Shimadzu, Tekmar-Dohrman, Thermo Scientific and Varian.

Crimp seals for headspace vials

The right crimp seals are essential for headspace vials. Brown supplies 20 mm aluminium crimp seals in several septum variants:

• Butyl/PTFE: standard, max 140°C
• Silicone/PTFE: for higher temperatures, max 200°C
• Pressure relief crimp seals: special version with break lines that open at 3 bar overpressure; a safety solution for analyses at high temperature and pressure

Clear or amber: when do you choose which version?

Choose amber headspace vials when your samples are sensitive to UV light, such as certain pharmaceutical compounds, pesticides or dye-containing matrices. For most routine applications, clear headspace vials are sufficient.

For the CTC Combi PAL, Bi-Metal® magnetic crimp seals are available: aluminium outside for easy crimping, tin inner part so the robot magnet can pick up the seal. Available in 5 colours and with an 8 mm hole for SPME applications.