The research icebreaker Polarstern (“North Star”) celebrated 40 years in active service on 9 December 2022, by which point the flagship of the Bremerhaven-based AWI had completed over 130 successful expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. During this time, it had been a temporary home for thousands of researchers from Germany and the whole world. The Polarstern has already covered over 1.8 million nautical miles safely. As well as studying the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, its work also involves supplying Neumayer-Station III in Antarctica. The Polarstern can be found in the Antarctic during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer months, i.e. November to March, before travelling up to the Arctic for the northern summer.

Dr. Scarlett Trimborn, a scientist who heads the AWI’s EcoTrace research group, is studying the role that trace metals play in the ecology of Antarctic phytoplankton together with her team. These phytoplankton contribute 20% to the world’s annual primary productivity, meaning that Antarctic micro-algae exert a significant influence on the global carbon cycle.

Research by the EcoTrace study group is focusing on discovering how trace metals affect the ecology and biogeochemistry of Antarctic micro-algae.

For instance, one such metal – iron – is needed by the microscopic algae in order to survive. Without it, phytoplankton – just like other plants – cannot photosynthesise. To find out how iron, plus manganese, zinc and cobalt as well, influence the growth of micro-algae in the Antarctic Ocean, samples of seawater are taken under conditions that have to be as free of trace metals as possible. This sampling is done using the new ultra-clean “CTD-rosette”, which takes samples from different depths (down to about 4,000 metres). The equipment consists of a cylindrical frame fitted with a carousel of sampling bottles. When these samples are then analysed in a special cleanroom container, the research team can find out what concentrations of these trace metals exist at different depths.

The analyses have to be done in a metal-free cleanroom environment, because even the tiniest contamination by or reaction with a metallic substance would falsify the scientific findings or potentially destroy them completely. There are nine permanent laboratories on board the Polarstern that are equipped to handle all manner of scientific experiments. Additional space is available on and below deck for laboratory containers that can be kitted out individually to facilitate more specific research projects. One such mobile container solution was developed and built by MK Versuchsanlagen, a manufacturer of specialist equipment from Germany’s Vogelsberg region, and it is now in service as a metal-free cleanroom.

The CTD-rosette’s bottles, which hold the seawater samples, are first cleaned on the outside with the help of a washing system that uses highly purified water. This water is supplied from a water treatment system integrated into the container. Once they have passed through an airlock equipped with ultra-pure air, the first water samples can be examined at a laboratory unit. As well as water testing, however, the laboratory units in the container – constituting as they do a multifunctional, metal-free cleanroom – are also suitable for a wide range of other analyses. Another laboratory unit installed inside the container consists of a laminar-flow laboratory sink with supply and exhaust air, a laminar-flow workstation with supply and exhaust air and a laminar-flow unit (a bench surface flushed with ultra-pure air).

When it came to choosing the materials for the interior fitout, MK Versuchsanlagen opted for SIMONA products. Specifically, it chose sheets made from natural-coloured SIMONA® PP-H, a highly chemical- and corrosion-resistant homopolymer. For the handles for researchers to hold on to in stormy seas, the system builder’s planning team selected solid rods made of red SIMONA® PVC-CAW, whose rigidity makes it ideal for this purpose. Transparent SIMOLUX, a thermoplastic copolyester, was used for the panes at the workstations. SIMOLUX is extremely impact-resistant, even down to -40°C, as well as being highly transparent.

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