Benchtop Scanning Electron Microscope

Tender description

The Marine Institute is looking to purchase a benchtop Scanning Electron Microscope instrument. The instrument will be used for a number of purposes, but will primarily be used to carry out work on biological samples (micro-algae) and also on materials found in marine environments including micro-plastics. The instrument must be versatile, to be able to cover both non-biological particulate matter and taxonomic identification from biological tissues. The biological tissues we work with are microalgae found in water samples. We are looking for a very high resolution to be able to see the details necessary for identification of these micro-algal species, high magnification both on display and photo, a good range of accelerating voltages and pressure ranges. This high resolution, magnification and accelerating voltages are a key element of this tender as we must be able to differentiate very tiny details at the nano-meter level and without this type of resolution, the instrument would not meet the Institute’s requirements. A full technical description is available in the attached Invitation to Tender document.