The VWR® Nano Spectrophotometer allows for the swift and accurate purity analysis and quantification of nucleic acids and proteins with as little as 0.5 µL of sample. This stand-alone device operates through a full-colour, 17.8 cm touchscreen with preset programs for nucleic acids and protein sample evaluation, colorimetric assays (BCA, Bradford, Lowry, etc.), UV-Vis spectral scanning, and OD 600 measurements to determine bacteria culture growth. The on-board software includes a useful 'Protocol Guidance' feature to guide the user through each step of the process.

At the heart of the device is a long-life xenon lamp which provides a wide wavelength range from 200 to 800 nm. The xenon lamp system does not require any warm-up time; the instrument can be used immediately upon power-up. A highly sensitive, high-speed silicon CCD detector ensures fast and accurate results.

After pipetting a sample droplet onto the quartz pedestal, the instrument's upper arm is lowered to extend the droplet into a liquid column. The pathlength auto-adjusts from 0.2 mm to 1 mm, and the absorbance values are evaluated at each to determine the ideal pathlength for optimal concentration calculations. This instrument can rapidly compute DNA, RNA, and protein concentrations as well as purity levels, displaying results within seconds. Users have the option to print the results directly from the instrument’s built-in printer, save to the device’s internal memory, or export the data via USB in an excel-compatible format.

A cuvette port, located behind the quartz pedestal, is used for optical density (OD 600) readings such as bacteria concentration measurements. Two glass cuvettes are included.