CERES Clean Station

Efficient and environmentally friendly

During Cryo-EM sample preparation, amorphous ice may form on/in the sample due to humidity in the atmosphere. Low humidity rooms are installed in some institutes to solve this problem. However, these rooms typically only reach 20% humidity at best and are not environmentally friendly due to the high energy consumption. Additionally, the energy costs associated with operating rooms with low humidity are significant.

The “CERES Clean Station” tool consists of a neutral gas glove box under nitrogen and precise control to ensure a water environment below 100 ppm during your sample preparation procedure. Everything is controlled automatically at the touch of a button.

Easy to use

The liquid nitrogen cooled preparation table provides a safe and user-friendly sample preparation platform. The preparation table consists of three modules specially designed for:

• C-clipping (AutoGrid preparation)
• AutoGrid-shuttle assembly
• Loading into the dedicated Autoloader cassette So whether you are performing single particle analysis or Cryo-ET, the “CERES Clean Station” is your ideal partner for sample preparation without ice contamination. Position the appropriate module in front of you using the sliding rails to work with ease. Place tools on the heated rack when not in use to keep them ice-free.

Transparent and contamination-free transfer

When you have prepared your AutoGrid-shuttle and are ready to transfer it to your Cryo-FIB / SEM for imaging or for the preparation of your coverslips, load the shuttle into the “CERES Vitri-Lock” via the interface without exposing the shuttle to the atmosphere and keep your samples uncontaminated.

After loading the autoloader cassette with the Auto-Grilles into the clean station, place the cassette in the NanoCab to transfer it out of the clean station via the loading airlock.

System specifications