FREE shipping to on qualifying orders when you spend or more. All prices ex. VAT.

Glove Box


The Ossila Laboratory Glove Box

A glove box (or glovebox) is a piece of laboratory equipment that creates a stable, sealed environment for handling hazardous materials, chemicals, or samples that react readily with air. Samples can be transferred into the glove box via the glove box antechamber, and glove box gloves can be used to manipulate the contents of the glove box.

There are two main types of laboratory glove box, isolation glove boxes (or inert atmosphere glove boxes) and containment glove boxes. Isolation glove boxes protect sensitive materials from the outside environment, while containment glove boxes protect the user from infectious samples or radioactive materials.

Inert atmosphere isolation glove boxes create an environment that is completely isolated from the external atmosphere by filling the main chamber with an inert gas, usually nitrogen or argon. This is known as purging. Once the glove box has displaced all the air in the system with the inert gas, the main chamber is sealed, and the glove box maintains an overpressure to ensure that no gasses leak into the system. This type of glove box is sometimes referred to as an argon or nitrogen glove box.

Glove boxes like the Ossila Laboratory Glove Box are a straight-forward and affordable way to create an atmosphere void of H2O and O2. They are useful for any process that might be affected by normal atmospheric conditions, particularly in chemistry and materials science. Common applications include chemical synthesis, thin film device fabrication, and the handling, preparing, or storing air and moisture sensitive materials. Perovskite materials are particularly sensitive to the presence of moisture in the atmosphere.

Browse Glove Boxes and Glove Box Components


Laboratory Glove Box

Laboratory Glove Box

Ultra-low leak rate (ISO Class II) inert atmosphere laboratory glove box. Low price and economical to use, even over extended periods of time. The Ossila Glove Box is equipped with built in monitoring software, multiple feedthroughs, an antechamber with independent sensor boards, and more. Small enough to fit on any lab bench for a low oxygen and moisture environment.

Price $10,625 ex. VAT
Glove Box Gloves

Glove Box Gloves

Replacement 32” glove box gloves for the Ossila Glove Box (or any other with a 9” port diameter). Constructed from butyl rubber and suitable for use with a range of chemicals. Glove box gloves are susceptible to damage under normal usage and should be replaced as soon as they develop a hole to maintain the integrity of the internal atmosphere. Sold as a pair.

Price $525 ex. VAT
Oxygen Sensor

Oxygen Sensor

Replacement 4-pin oxygen sensor for the Ossila Glove Box. Accurate and easy to fit. Oxygen sensors use a photoluminescent material and therefore need to be replaced every 1-2 years. You may need to replace your oxygen sensor sooner if working with organic solvents (we recommend minimising exposure to the vapours by keeping solution bottles closed) or high temperatures.

Price $250 ex. VAT
Glove Box Nitrile O-Rings

Glove Box Nitrile O-Rings

Spare or replacement glove port and antechamber door O-rings for the Ossila Glove Box. Sold in packs of four and two respectively to allow for a full replacement of the relevant O-rings. Prolong the life of your O-rings by checking them regularly and wiping them down to remove any dust and replace when they lose elasticity or crack from repeated usage or age.

From $14 ex. VAT

Inert Atmosphere Processing


Inert is just another word for chemically inactive, so an inert atmosphere is a contained environment filled with a gas that won’t react with sensitive chemicals. Inert atmosphere glove boxes are useful for a wide range of experiments across several different fields, including materials science, chemistry, biological research, and pharmaceuticals.

Nitrogen, argon or helium are generally used to create inert environments as they are very stable elements. Nitrogen is the most common choice for inert processing, as it is the cheapest choice. However, nitrogen environments can have issues with static which can make powder processing difficult. For some biological applications, H2 and CO2 can also be used to create an inert environment.

Broadly speaking, any application that involves samples that have any degree of sensitivity to water or oxygen would benefit from being performed inside a laboratory glove box. In some cases, you may find that working in an inert atmosphere is essential for the success of your experiment. In particular, it is important that you use a glove box when:

  • Working with or storing materials that oxidise, hydrolyse, or degrade when exposed to air
  • Working with hygroscopic materials that start to absorb water (and clump) as soon as they are exposed to ambient conditions
  • Working with pyrophoroic chemicals, such as alkali metals, metal hydrides and alkyl metal hydrides, which react violently with air or with moisture and must therefore be used under controlled, inert conditions
  • Working with emergent technologies that can suffer degradation if exposed to ambient conditions, such as modern material combinations used in 3rd generation photovoltaics or lithium-ion battery technology

Applications


The Ossila Laboratory Glove Box can create and maintain an inert atmosphere within the main chamber, isolating the environment where you handle samples or materials from the conditions elsewhere in the lab and making it perfect for any experiment that requires isolation from oxygen or water.

Because the glove box automatically keeps the internal atmosphere below your set threshold, it is suitable for use over an extended period of time. In addition, the low cost and ease of use allows the system to be set up as a dedicated environment for specific experiments which reduces the chances of cross contamination with other users of your lab space.

Glove boxes are an essential piece of equipment if you are handling, preparing or studying air-sensitive samples in scientific research; there are a wide range of different fields and applications that require glove boxes.

Chemical Synthesis

The automated atmosphere control process built into the Ossila Glove Box ensures the utmost safety for both your stored materials and the experiment itself, shielding them from any exposure. The ability to access services such as power, vacuum lines, and cooling feedthroughs via the use of standard connectors means you can explore a wide variety of synthesis routes.

Organic Electronics

You can use equipment such as spin coaters, with or without a syringe pump, within glove boxes to deposit thin film structures without exposing them to air. With the antechamber, transferring samples to other systems for testing or the processing of other layers is simple, without having to expose the main processing chamber to air. Examples of electronics fabricated in a glove box include organic light emitting diodes, organic lasers and other semiconductor devices.

Ossila Spin Coater in Glove Box
Depositing a thin film in the Ossila Glove Box using the Ossila Spin Coater

Additive Manufacturing

The Ossila Glove Box provides the low-cost solution to integrating an inert environment into your 3D printing process. By housing your printer inside the chamber, it is simple to move parts manufactured inside the glove box outside ready for testing or shipping. In addition, you can leave materials inside the system without having them exposed to air. Move new spools or resin containers into the glove box through the antechamber to keep the internal atmosphere inert.

Materials Handling and Storage

Using a glove box means that you can store materials permanently without risk of exposure to water or oxygen. By incorporating microbalances inside the glove box, it is also possible to decant small quantities of materials for use without having to expose stocks of materials to atmosphere. You can also use the glove box to seal materials under nitrogen or argon for safe transport.

Characterisation of Air Sensitive Materials

The Ossila Glove Box has ample space inside the main chamber to conduct a number of simple characterisation and testing experiments. Just from the Ossila testing range, the Solar Simulator, the Solar Cell Testing Set Up, the LED Measurement System and the Optical Spectrometer could all be set up inside the glove box. This means you can characterise air sensitive samples and electronics without exposing them to ambient conditions and without encapsulation.

Battery Technology

Manufacture devices in a moisture free environment by using an inert atmosphere glove box. The incorporation of standard feedthroughs allows you to use data and power feedthroughs so that you can interface with equipment to measure your devices. This gives you complete control and the ability to eliminate moisture from your experiment.

Photovoltaics / Solar Cell Research

Glove boxes are often used to in solar cell research such as for organic photovoltaics or perovskite solar cells. Fabrication of thin film perovskite devices in atmosphere often leads to incorrect morphology or incomplete conversion and results in devices that do not work. By using an inert atmosphere glove box, you can optimize parameters in your fabrication routine in a consistent environment. This eliminates the uncertainty that atmospheric conditions and protects air sensitive layers in your device from degradation until they can be suitable encapsulated.

Perovskite solar cells made in an Ossila Laboratory Glove Box compared to those made in a 0.1 ppm glove box and in air

Nanotechnology

If you are working with or synthesising nanoparticles, nanowires, and other nanoscale materials, using a glove box will prevent contamination or oxidation of their samples during synthesis, manipulation, or characterization which will enable you to consistently make high quality materials. Due to the scale of nanotechnology, these materials are extremely surface dependent, making them all the more vulnerable to contamination. This makes careful control of synthesis environment extremely important.

Catalysis and Chemical Engineering

You can use a glove box to manipulate catalysts, reactive intermediates, and other sensitive materials used in catalytic reactions, which often require moisture- and oxygen-free conditions. There is adequate space in the Ossila Laboratory Glove Box to set up the hot-plates and glassware needed conduct simple reactions, and air sensitive materials can be brought into the glove box easily using the antechamber.

Environmental Research

Often environmental samples, such as metal complexes in soils or water samples, require controlled atmospheres to avoid sample degradation. For this, you can employ glove boxes to handle, store and study these samples while maintaining their integrity.

Glove Box Support


What is a Glove Box?

How to Choose a Laboratory Glove Box

When buying a glove box, it's important that you choose the most suitable system for your specific lab and experiments. The first question that you should be asking yourself when looking for a glove box is what do I need?

Read more...
Glove Box installation

Glove Box Installation

The Ossila Glove Box is designed to be easy to install and maintain, and is suitable for most laboratories. Its small footprint and quick set up also means that it is relatively portable and can be conveniently transferred between labs as required.

Read more...

Positive Pressure vs. Negative Pressure Glove Boxes

Gloveboxes can be held at positive or negative pressure. Negative pressure glove boxes are used as contamination glove boxes. These are kept below atmospheric pressure so if there any leaks in the system, air from the external environment will be pulled into the glove box. This will ensure that nothing escapes from the system into the outside environment, which will protect the users encountering from hazardous materials or solvents.

Isolation gloveboxes kept at a slight positive pressure, so if there are any leaks, inert gas will be expelled out into the laboratory. This will prevent oxygen/moisture seeping in and is used to protect sensitive materials from oxygen.

In both cases, the glove box chamber should only a few mbar above or below atmospheric pressure, and pressure should be carefully monitored while operational. It is important that your glove box has appropriate pressure safety precautions, such as the pressure release valve on the Ossila glove box, which will act to decrease internal pressure if needed and prevent any accidents.

Learn more...
Inert Gases

Inert Gases

Inert gases are gases which are chemically inactive, so will not undergo chemical reactions with many materials. Inert gases are used for many purposes in a wide range of industries - for example in welding, chemical processing, and as filler gases in light sources.

Read more...
Argon vs Nitrogen for Glove Box

Argon vs Nitrogen for Glove Box

Argon and nitrogen are both unreactive gases which can be used to create an inert environment within a glove box. Both gases will efficiently displace air within a confined space, are easy to store and will not react with most materials. Therefore, both N2 and Ar can create a glove box environment with very low moisture and oxygen levels.

Read more...
Glove Box installation

Glove Box Maintenance And Troubleshooting

The Ossila Glove Box (or glovebox) uses automatic purging and programmable leak tests making it easy to maintain an inert environment. However, there are a number of steps that you as the glove box user can take to ensure that the inert atmosphere remains intact.

Read more...
Glove Box Standard Operating Procedure

Glove Box Standard Operating Procedure

Working safely within an inert atmosphere glove box requires the care and co-operation of everyone who uses it. For this reason, we recommend outlining a standard operating procedure for your laboratory.

Read more...
Glove Box Leaks

Glove Box Leaks

Inert atmosphere glove boxes run at an overpressure, so if the leak is small, the glove box may still be able to maintain the integrity of the internal atmosphere. However, during this time, the glove box will use a much larger amount of inert gas than normal as the overpressure in the glove box will result in a flow of gas from the inside of the system to the outside.

Read more...
Replace glove box gloves

How to Replace Glove Box Gloves

Glove box gloves must be flexible and relatively thin to allow movement within the main chamber. This will be the most vulnerable exposure point to air and moisture as small holes can easily occur here.

Read more...
Glove Box Design

Glove Box Design

Scientific glove boxes create a sealed environment for work that involves hazardous materials or samples that react with air. The main chamber of such a glove box is generally filled with an inert gas, usually Nitrogen.

Read more...
Glove Box Perovskite Solar Cell Case Study

Glove Box Perovskite Solar Cell Case Study

The highest performing perovskite solar cells were all made in glove boxes. Working in an inert environment gives the best device performances as components within the materials are vulnerable to moisture and oxygen in the atmosphere.

Read more...
How to Make a Perovskites Solar Cells in A Glove Box

How to Make a Perovskites Solar Cells in A Glove Box

This video is a guide on how to make perovskite films when processed inside a nitrogen filled glove box. The resultant devices achieve efficiencies greater than 19% PCE.

Read more...
Return to the top