Xi Lu, our graduate student extraordinaire, just published a surprisingly simple method for obtaining the most precise measurements of CO2 gas abundances for routine radiocarbon dating. Aside from a capacitance diaphragm gauge (CDG) and a good vacuum line, all that you really need to improve your measurements are air, a love of Boyle’s Law, and the right sized reference flask. That’s it. Familiarity with the virial equation doesn’t hurt, either. Read all about it in the journal, Radiocarbon (and don’t forget to check out the Supplemental Materials!):
Lu, X. and Beaupré, S.R. (2019), Optimized volume determinations and uncertainties for accurate and precise manometry, Radiocarbon, doi:10.1017/RDC.2019.43.