The Cryocooler is a sample-holding accessory to this company’s gas-sorption analyzer, which is used to measure surface area and pore size of industrially useful porous materials and powders, and to investigate sorption capacity of state-of-the-art materials, such as carbons, zeolites, metal-organic frameworks and others. These measurements are typically carried out at cryogenic temperatures using liquefied gases, such as argon and nitrogen. Because the Cryocooler accessory does not use liquefied gases, but instead employs compressed helium as a refrigerant in a manner similar to the way residential air conditioners use fluorocarbons, the instrument is capable of achieving a wider range of temperatures, the company says. The new approach to cooling allows the device to achieve and control temperatures as low as 20K (lower than the 77K and 87K with liquid nitrogen and argon, respectively). The device also controls sample temperatures at any value up to its maximum of 320K (47C). — Quantachrome Instruments, Boynton Beach, Fla.