National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Acquisition Management Division,
100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 1640,
Gaithersburg, MD, 20899-1640
Sources Sought Notice NIST-MML-25-SS20
Title: Benchtop Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA)/Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)
This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response.
This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information. This Notice will also assist the Government in determining if there are any domestic manufactured end product sources for the project title.
NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME.
Requirement:
NIST is seeking information on contractors who can provide the following:
A Benchtop Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA)/Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) with the following performance requirements.
- The systems furnace is capable of operation up to 1750 oC or in an oxidizing (air) atmosphere.
- The system must accommodate heating rates up to 50 oC/min.
- The furnace must be equipped with MoSi2 type heating elements
- The furnace cannot contain graphite components.
- The TGA/DSC system must accommodate reactive gas environments (gas mixtures with 5% H2 at most) with high concentrations of water vapor – this includes the ability to heat the gas delivery tubing to the furnace to prevent condensation.
- Minimum resolution of the TGA system of 0.1 mg.
- The TGA/DSC analyzer sample holders must accommodate samples with a volume up to 5 mL and 35 g.
- The unit must be constructed with a vertical top-loading design.
- The unit must be equipped with a forced-flow functionality, which is defined as the ability to directly supply gas flow to the samples from the bottom of the sample holders rather than through an exhaust port in the furnace chamber.
- Warranty’s length and coverage for the full system.
Interested parties shall describe the capabilities of their organization as it relates to the commodities described above. NIST anticipates issuing a Request for Quotation in the fourth quarter of 2025 and awarding a contract within the same period.
NIST Is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large and small businesses. The small business size standard associated with the NAICS code for this effort, 334516 is 1,000 employees. Please include the company’s size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice.
After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a contract. Companies that can provide such item are requested to email a written response describing their abilities to Harry.Brubaker@nist.gov no later than the response date for this Sources Sought Notice.
The following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this source sought notice:
- Name, Address, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number, CAGE code, and point of contact information of your company.
- Any information on the company’s small business certifications, if applicable.
- Description of your company’s capabilities as they relate to the item described in this notice.
- A description of your company’s previous experience providing the item described in this notice.
- Indication of whether the item described in this notice are currently offered via your company’s GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts, Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), or other existing Government-wide contract vehicles; and, if so, the contract number(s) for those vehicles.
- Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in finalizing its market research.
- Pricing information of current cost for organic chemicals available for purchase from the list provided.
- Place of Manufacture: Is more than 55% of item manufactured domestically, if not where is it manufactured?
Responses are limited to a total of twelve (12) pages. The responses must be in MS Word format. Pages shall be 8½-inch x 11-inch, using Times New Roman 11 Point Font. Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be analyzed) may be included in the 1" margin space.
