An ampoule is a small sealed vial

Vial

A vial is a relatively small glass vessel or bottle, especially used to store medication as liquids, powders or in other forms like capsules. They can also be sample vessels; e.g., for use in autosampler devices in analytical chromatography.The glass can be colourless or coloured, clear or amber...

 which is used to contain and preserve a sample, usually a solid or liquid. Ampoules are commonly made of glass, although plastic ampoules do exist.


Modern ampoules are most commonly used to contain pharmaceuticals and chemicals that must be protected from air and contaminants. They are hermetically sealed

Hermetic seal

A hermetic seal is the quality of being airtight. In common usage, the term often implies being impervious to air or gas. When used technically, it is stated in conjunction with a specific test method and conditions of usage.-Etymology :...

 by melting the thin top with an open flame, and usually opened by snapping off the neck. If properly done, this last operation creates a clean break without any extra glass shards or slivers; but the liquid or solution may be filtered for greater assurance. The space above the chemical may be filled with an inert gas

Inert gas

An inert gas is a non-reactive gas used during chemical synthesis, chemical analysis, or preservation of reactive materials. Inert gases are selected for specific settings for which they are functionally inert since the cost of the gas and the cost of purifying the gas are usually a consideration...

 before sealing. The walls of glass ampoules are usually sufficiently strong to be brought into a glovebox

Glovebox

A glovebox is a sealed container that is designed to allow one to manipulate objects where a separate atmosphere is desired. Built into the sides of the glovebox are gloves arranged in such a way that the user can place their hands into the gloves and perform tasks inside the box without breaking...

 without any difficulty.

Glass ampoules are more expensive than bottles and other simple containers, but there are many situations where their superior imperviousness to gases and liquids and all-glass interior surface are worth the extra cost. Examples of chemicals sold in ampoules are injectable

Hypodermic needle

A hypodermic needle is a hollow needle commonly used with a syringe to inject substances into the body or extract fluids from it...

 pharmaceuticals, air-sensitive reagents like tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0)

Tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0)

Tetrakispalladium is the chemical compound Pd[P3]4, often abbreviated Pd4, or even PdP4. It is a bright yellow crystalline solid that becomes brown upon decomposition in air.-Structure and properties:...

, hygroscopic materials like deuterated solvents and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid

Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid

Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid, also known as triflic acid, TFMS, TFSA, HOTf or TfOH, is a sulfonic acid with the chemical formula CF3SO3H. It is one of the strongest acids. Triflic acid is mainly used in research as a catalyst for esterification.-Properties:Triflic acid is a hygroscopic, colorless...

, and analytical standards.

Historic ampoules

Historically ampoules were used to contain a small sample of a person's blood after death, which was entombed alongside them in many Christian catacombs

Catacombs of Rome

The Catacombs of Rome are ancient catacombs, underground burial places under or near Rome, Italy, of which there are at least forty, some discovered only in recent decades. Though most famous for Christian burials, either in separate catacombs or mixed together, they began in the 2nd century, much...

. It was originally believed that only martyr

Martyr

A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...

s were given this burial treatment, but many believe that it was a widely-practiced tradition.

San Gennaro

An ampoule, allegedly dating back to the year 305 and filled with the blood

Blood

Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....

 of Saint Januarius (San Gennaro), bishop of Benevento

Benevento

Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...

, has been kept for centuries in the Cathedral at Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

. Every year on the 19th of September the town celebrates the Feast of San Gennaro, when the solid reddish-brown contents of the ampoule usually liquifies after being taken out of a safe, carried in procession and placed on the Cathedral's altar.

Sainte Ampoule

Another well known ampoule is the Holy Ampulla

Holy Ampulla

The Holy Ampulla or Holy Ampoule was a glass vial which, from its first recorded use, by Pope Innocent II for the anointing of Louis VII in 1131 to the coronation of Louis XVI in 1774, held the chrism or anointing oil for the coronation of the kings of France.The role played by the Sainte Ampoule...

 (Sainte Ampoule) which held the anointing

Anointing

To anoint is to pour or smear with perfumed oil, milk, water, melted butter or other substances, a process employed ritually by many religions. People and things are anointed to symbolize the introduction of a sacramental or divine influence, a holy emanation, spirit, power or God...

 oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

 for the coronation

Coronation

A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...

 of the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 monarchs. The oil was allegedly passed down from the time of Clovis I; it was kept for a time in the tomb of Saint Remigius

Saint Remigius

Saint Remigius, Remy or Remi, , was Bishop of Reims and Apostle of the Franks, . On 24 December 496 he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks...

 and later in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Reims. An order of knights named after the ampoule was created for the coronation of kingsto have been saved and was used in coronation of Charles X

Charles X of France

Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...

.

Production

Modern glass ampoules are produced industrially from short lengths of glass tubing, shaped by heating with gas torch

Gas burner

A gas burner is a device to generate a flame to heat up products using a gaseous fuel such as acetylene, natural gas or propane. Some burners have an air inlet to mix the fuel gas with air to make a complete combustion...

es and gravity in automated production lines. Computer vision

Computer vision

Computer vision is a field that includes methods for acquiring, processing, analysing, and understanding images and, in general, high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information, e.g., in the forms of decisions...

 techniques are usually employed for quality control

Quality control

Quality control, or QC for short, is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. This approach places an emphasis on three aspects:...

.

The filling and sealing of ampoules may be done by automated machinery on an industrial scale, or by hand in small-scale industries and laboratory settings. Blank ampoules can be purchased from scientific glass supply houses and sealed with a small gas torch. A Schlenk line

Schlenk line

225px|thumb|Vacuum gas manifold set up: 1 inert gas in, 2 inert gas out , 3 vacuum 4 reaction line, 5 Teflon tap to gas, 6 Teflon tap to vacuum 225px|thumb| Vacuum gas manifold set up: 1 inert gas in, 2 inert gas out , 3 vacuum , 4 reaction line, 5 double oblique stopcock...

 may be used for sealing under inert atmospheres.

Ampoule codes

Ampoules often have colored rings of paint

Paint

Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...

 or enamel

Vitreous enamel

Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...

around their necks.