Micromeritics TriStar II Plus Surface Area Analyser

TriStar II Plus, a Micromeritics Technology, is a an automated, three-station, surface area and porosity analyser that delivers excellent repeatability and speed of analysis.

Manufacturer	Micromeritics
Product Series	TriStar, a Micromeritics Technology
Measurement principle	Physisorption
Application	Surface Area & Porosity
Pressure measurement range	0 to 950 mmHg (Resolution 0.05 mmHg, Accuracy 0.1%)
Specific Surface Area	From 0.01 m²/g, Nitrogen, 0.001 m²/g, Krypton
Pore Volume	From 4 × 10-6 cm³/g
Dewar Duration	Up to 40 hours

TriStar II Plus, a Micromeritics Technology, provides fully automated surface area and porosity measurements on solid materials by using the technique of gas adsorption. This easy-to-operate, tabletop instrument is designed to analyse up to three samples simultaneously for optimum throughput. The instrument features a Krypton option, allowing measurements in the very low surface area range, as low as 0.001 m2/g. Its speed and accuracy make it an ideal instrument for a wide variety of applications that include pharmaceuticals, catalysts, carbon, cosmetics, paints, pigments, geoscience, fuel cells, high-tech ceramics and much more.

The unique stainless steel analysis manifold is corrosive resistant and designed for highly-accurate gas management while the dewar design provides more than 40 hours of continuous temperature control. Intuitive MicroActive software gives the user the ability to interactively evaluate isotherm data and reduces the time required to obtain surface area and porosity results. Powerful Python scripting language allows users to develop extensions to the standard report library.

High Throughput, Small Footprint

Three BET surface area measurements can be performed in less than 20 minutes. Three analysis ports can operate simultaneously and independently of one another and up to 4 TriStars can be operated with one computer.

Low Surface Area measurement

Surface areas as low as 0.01 m2/g can be measured with the standard nitrogen system. A krypton option can extend surface area measurements to as low as 0.001 m2/g. A dedicated Po port is standard, allowing the measurement of saturation pressure on a continuous basis.

Maximum flexibility and speed

Incremental or fixed dosing routines prevent overshooting pressure points while minimising analysis time. A 2.75-liter Dewar and extended length sample tubes allow complete adsorption and desorption isotherms to be collected without operator intervention.

Intuitive and powerful Windows based software

The most powerful features of this software are found in its expanded range of data reduction and reporting. SPC reports, new isotherm and thickness models, isosteric heat of adsorption, and integrated DFT models are all included.

Pharmaceuticals

Surface area and porosity play major roles in the purification, processing, blending, tableting, and packaging of pharmaceutical products as well as their useful shelf life, dissolution rate, and bioavailability.

Ceramics

Surface area and porosity affect the curing and bonding of greenware and influence strength, texture, appearance, and density of finished goods. The surface area of glazes and glass frits affects shrinkage, crazing, and crawling.

Adsorbents

Knowledge of surface area, total pore volume, and pore size distribution is important for quality control of industrial adsorbents and in the development of separation processes. Surface area and porosity characteristics affect the selectivity of an adsorbent.

Activated Carbons

Surface area and porosity must be optimised within narrow ranges to accomplish gasoline vapour recovery in automobiles, solvent recovery in painting operations, or pollution controls in wastewater management.

Carbon Black

The wear lifetime, traction and performance of tires are related to the surface area of carbon blacks used in their production.

Catalyst

The active surface area and pore structure of catalysts influence production rates. Limiting the pore size allows only molecules of desired sizes to enter and exit, creating a selective catalyst that will produce primarily the desired product.

Paints and Coatings

The surface area of a pigment or filler influences the gloss, texture, color, color saturation, brightness, solids content, and film adhesion properties. The porosity of a print media coating is important in offset printing where it affects blistering, ink receptivity, and ink holdout.

Projectile Propellant

The burn rate of propellants is a function of surface area. Too high a rate can be dangerous; too low a rate can cause malfunction and inaccuracy.

Medical Implants

Controlling the porosity of artificial bone allows it to imitate real bone that the body will accept and allow tissue to be grown around it.

Electronics

By selecting high surface area material with carefully designed pore networks, manufacturers of supercapacitors can minimize the use of costly raw materials while providing more exposed surface area for storage of charge.

Cosmetics

Surface area is often used by cosmetic manufacturers as a predictor of particle size when agglomeration tendencies of the fine powders make analysis with a particle-sizing instrument difficult.

Aerospace

Surface area and porosity of heat shields and insulating materials affect weight and function.

Geoscience

Porosity is important in groundwater hydrology and petroleum exploration because it relates to the quantity of fluid that a structure can contain as well as how much effort will be required to extract it.

Nanotubes

Nanotube surface area and microporosity are used to predict the capacity of a material to store hydrogen.

Fuel Cells

Fuel cell electrodes require high surface area with controlled porosity to produce optimum power density.

FlowPrep 060 applies both heat and a stream of inert gas to the sample for removal of adsorbed contaminants from the surface and pores. With six degassing stations, this sample preparation unit lets you choose the temperature, gas, and flow rate.

VacPrep 061 offers two methods for removing adsorbed contaminants. In addition to flowing gas, this sample preparation unit provides vacuum to prepare samples by heating and evacuation.

SmartPrep 065 applies a stream of flowing gas over the sample at elevated temperatures to remove adsorbed contaminants. Temperature, ramp rates, and soak times of each sample are individually controlled on the six degas- sing stations by a computer.

Smart VacPrep 067 is an advanced six-port system that utilizes vacuum to prepare samples by heating and evacuation. Each of the ports may be operated independently. Samples may be added or removed from degas ports without disturbing the treatment of other samples undergoing preparation. Degassing automatically terminates when the samples have completed all programmed steps.

How does a surface area analyser work?

The TriStar II Plus, a Micromeritics Technology, is a physisorption analyser that determines surface area and pore characteristics by measuring the adsorption and desorption of gases (typically nitrogen) onto the sample surface at varying pressures. BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) theory is applied to calculate the surface area from the resulting isotherm.

What is the BET instrument used for?

The TriStar II Plus BET instrument is used to measure the surface area and pore characteristics of materials such as catalysts, carbon materials, ceramics, batteries, and pharmaceuticals using gas adsorption analysis.

What is BET surface area analysis?

BET surface area analysis uses the adsorption of nitrogen (or other gases) onto a material to calculate its total surface area. The TriStar II Plus measures surface areas from 0.01 m²/g (nitrogen) or 0.001 m²/g (krypton) and can complete three BET measurements in under 20 minutes.

How does gas sorption work?

Gas sorption involves adsorbing gases such as nitrogen, argon, or CO₂ onto a sample at varying pressures. The TriStar II Plus measures the quantity adsorbed at each pressure to build an isotherm, from which surface area and pore properties are calculated using BET, t-Plot, Langmuir, DFT, or NLDFT models.

What sample preparation is required for BET analysis?

Sample preparation for the TriStar II Plus is performed externally using Micromeritics preparation systems such as the FlowPrep 060, VacPrep, or Smart VacPrep, which provide six independent preparation stations per unit.

Can TriStar measure pore size distribution?

Yes. The TriStar II Plus measures pore volume from 4 x 10^-6 cm³/g and uses NLDFT modelling to deliver full pore size distributions by combining nitrogen and CO₂ isotherms. It supports BET, t-Plot, Langmuir, DFT, and NLDFT analysis methods.

What gases are used in physisorption analysis?

The TriStar II Plus uses nitrogen and argon as standard adsorbate gases. Krypton is optionally available for enhanced sensitivity. CO₂, butane, methane, and other light hydrocarbons are also supported.

How many samples can TriStar analyze simultaneously?

The TriStar II Plus has three independent analysis ports and can analyse three samples simultaneously, completing three BET measurements in under 20 minutes.

What industries use BET surface area analysis?

BET surface area analysis is used in catalysis, carbon materials, ceramics, battery research, pharmaceuticals, and general materials science research.

How accurate is the TriStar II Plus?

The TriStar II Plus achieves pressure measurement accuracy of +/-0.1% of full scale, manifold temperature stability of +/-0.25 degrees C, and a P/P0 resolution of less than 10^-4.

Can I have a demonstration or free trial of the TriStar II Plus?

Yes, if a system is available. Contact us for a booking. We can arrange a personalised demo and test your samples within our lab facility in Sydney. Onsite free trials are also available. Contact us or complete a request a demo form to get started.

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TriStar II Plus Surface Area Analyser, Micromeritics technology

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