Cellulose Extraction Thimbles — Soxhlet Extraction Thimbles

Primary uses

• Holds a weighed sample inside a solvent extraction apparatus while solvent passes through it
• Retains the solid matrix so only the extracted fraction reaches the receiving flask
• Withstands repeated solvent cycling for the duration of the extraction

Applications

• Crude fat and oil determination in food and feed laboratories
• Soxhlet and automated solvent extraction procedures
• Extractables determination in polymer and materials testing
• Environmental sample extraction workflows

Advantages

• Holds the sample matrix intact through repeated solvent cycles so only the extracted fraction is weighed
• Available in the standard diameters and heights that Soxhlet and automated extraction units are built around
• Simple, well-understood consumable that keeps a classical method reproducible between operators

Limitations to consider

• Fines escaping the thimble bias the result upward, and the effect is easy to miss without a blank
• Cellulose is not suitable for every solvent or temperature, and heavier duty applications may require a different construction
• Thimble dimensions are apparatus-specific; a thimble that is nearly the right height will not seat correctly
• Every numeric property — assay, purity, residual content, pore size, retention behaviour, ash content, extractables, thickness, capacity and dimensional tolerance — is a property of one manufactured item from one production line. Values are read from the manufacturer's own technical documentation for the exact item offered and confirmed at quotation, never quoted from a category page.
• A manufacturer declaration and a verified result are not the same thing. Declarations state what the manufacturer controls to; suitability inside your own method, matrix and instrument is established by your own verification. Where a result must stand up inside an accredited scope, plan that verification before the item enters routine use.

How to choose the right grade

• Measure the apparatus rather than trusting a previous order, especially after an extraction unit has been replaced
• Match the wall construction to the sample: finely milled samples need a thimble that retains fines
• Where the method requires it, pre-extract or dry the thimbles and record that step as part of the procedure
• Once a consumable is inside a validated method, changing it has a cost: the change has to be justified, trialled and documented. Continuity of the identical item usually matters more than unit price, so state the incumbent item and the property that must be matched when a second source is being qualified.
• Buyers frequently search using the catalogue name of a manufacturer they already use. Those are third-party trademarks belonging to their owners and are never used as an Allzone product identity. Where an equivalent is being considered, equivalence is assessed against the two sets of documentation and confirmed by the laboratory's own verification.
• Exact specification is confirmed against supplier documentation at quotation.

Typical grades

• Variant selection is made on the instrument, apparatus and test method rather than on a grade ladder
• Where a manufacturer operates distinct quality or cleanliness lines for the same item, the line is identified per offer
• Any declared property is read from the manufacturer documentation for the exact item offered, never assumed from a family name
• Regulatory listing, certification, food-contact status and any scheme approval belong to a specific item, facility and jurisdiction, and they change scope over time. State what your programme or customer requires at the enquiry stage so it is checked against current documentation for the offered item rather than assumed from a product name.
• These items are offered for industrial, food, feed, water, environmental and materials-testing work. Nothing here is offered, positioned or documented for medical, clinical, diagnostic or human-specimen use, and no such suitability is implied.