I work frequently with materials sensitive to oxygen and moisture, within a glove box. However, there are frequently times I want to move these samples from the glove box to a scanning electron microscope (SEM) or other device without exposing them to air. I can easily use some small module (eg tupperware) which can be sealed manually in the glove box to allow me to safety transfer my samples to another glove box. But, if I want to see it in a SEM or another device, I must have another way to transfer it without exposure. These samples can be very very small, 1 inch in size or less.
I could easily build a small box or module for transferring my samples, and seal that box by hand in the glove box. However, I need a mechanism I can use to unseal the module once it has been placed inside of another device, where it is inaccessible by hand. If I could find a small valve that could be opened automatically, that would be suitable for example.
Can anyone suggest such a mechanism for breaking a sealed environment automatically?