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Isotope determination by portable laser ablation sampling

A portable laser ablation sampling device can help analyse valuable historical artifacts.

The study is shown in a paper just published in JAAS by Advisory Board member Detlef Günther and colleagues at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH, Zürich, Switzerland.

The researchers used laser ablation coupled to a multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) to determine lead isotopes in Chinese ceramics, and applied a portable device to enable remote analysis. Laser generated aerosol samples were collected on membrane filters and consequently analysed in the laboratory by LA-ICPMS. With the new device, sampling of objects is independent of their location, size and shape.

This new method showed an analytical performance similar to a laboratory-based analysis and enabled simultaneous isotopic and elemental analysis without invasive sampling such as scraping or drilling of the objects.

To know more about this study, please access the link below. This paper will be free to read until May 24^th.

Isotope ratio determination of objects in the field by portable laser ablation sampling and subsequent multicollector ICPMS
Reto Glaus, Ladina Dorta, Zhiguo Zhang, Qinglin Ma, Heinz Berke and   Detlef Günther
J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3JA30379A

New synthesis of silica nanoparticles

New synthesis of silica nanoparticles

Silica nanoparticles can now be easily developed and efficiently used in bioassays. This study just published in JAAS by Jung Aa Ko and H. B. Lim shows the design and optimisation of a new method for synthesis of core-shell nanoparticles doped with metal ions and dye together for particle tagging and monitoring.

Metal/dye-doped core-shell silica nanoparticles for potential use in bioassay
Jung Aa Ko and H. B. Lim
J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3JA30373J

Precise measurements of platinum stable isotopes

Measuring platinum stable isotopes

Researchers at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, present the precise measurement of platinum (Pt) stable isotopes by multiple collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) using two diffrerent double spikes. The authors explain that the ¹⁹⁶Pt-¹⁹⁸Pt spike is preferable for application to both natural terrestrial and extraterrestrial samples.

Platinum stable isotope ratio measurements by double-spike multiple collector ICPMS
John Creech ,  Joel Baker ,  Monica Handler ,  Martin Schiller and Martin Bizzarro
J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3JA50022E

Both papers will be free to read until April 25^th. Have a read now!

Analysis of Human urine after administration of Gd-based MRI contrast agents

Administration of Gd-based MRI contrast agents causes major spectral interferences during analysis of selenium (Se) and platinum (Pt) in urine.

The finding was reported in a new study led by Amy Steuerwald who carried out an epidemiological study on 619 urine specimens to determine Se and Pt using quadruple-based inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (Q-ICP-MS). Both Se and Pt were several orders of magnitude greater than the upper limit of the population reference ranges.

To read the full article, please access the link below. This paper will be free to read until April 12^th.

Trace element analysis of human urine collected after administration of Gd-based MRI contrast agents: characterizing spectral interferences using inorganic mass spectrometry
Amy J. Steuerwald ,  Patrick J. Parsons ,  John G. Arnason ,  Zhen Chen ,  C. Matthew Peterson and Germaine M. Buck Louis
J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3JA30331D

Determination of lead at ultratrace levels

Lead is a toxic heavy metal harmful to our digestive, immune and nervous systems following ingestion or inhalation. Therefore, the development of new methodologies to detect lead even at ultratrace levels is necessary.
A compact trap and atomizer device to pre-concentrate lead and determine ultratrace levels has been developed in the past. However, a strong interference of bismuth during the lead pre-concentration procedure is observed. To explain the bismuth interference, Jan Kratzer and colleagues from the Institute of Analytical Chemistry of the ASCR, Czech Republic, quantify the trapping and volatilization efficiency of lead with a new radiotracer employing a Pb radioactive indicator. This recent study improves the understandings of the currently developed quarz trap atomizer device and demonstrates that the radiotracer approach is a powerful tool in method development.

To know more about this work, please access the link below. This paper will be free to read until February 28th.

Hydride generation – in-atomizer collection of Pb in quartz tube atomizers for atomic absorption spectrometry – a 212Pb radiotracer study
Jan Kratzer ,  Stanislav Musil ,  Miloslav Vobecký and Jiří Dědina
J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2JA30263B

Integrated microfluidic chip for selenium speciation

In this paper, researchers from the Whuan University in China present a new method for speciation of selenium in yeast cells.

Using on-chip magnetic solid phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-inductively plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), Bin Hu and colleagues revealed that the amount of selenocysteine and selenomethionine in a single-enriched cell are in the order of picograms.
According to the authors, this new analytical method is sensitive, fast, low cost and easy to use.

To read the full article, please access the link below. The paper will be free to read until February 18th.

Speciation of selenium in cells by HPLC-ICP-MS after (on-chip) magnetic solid phase extraction
Beibei Chen ,  Bin Hu ,  Man He ,  Qian Huang ,  Yuan Zhang and Xing Zhang
J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2JA30280B

Direct analysis of geological and artefact gold is now possible thanks to a study published in JAAS.

Analysis of alluvial gold deposits from Ireland

Researchers from the University of Bristol in UK used solution and laser ablation mass spectrometry techniques to analyse lead isotopes in gold. They demonstrated the applicability of these techniques to archaeological samples by studying natural gold grains from two Irish alluvial gold deposits and two artefact samples from Early Bronze Age.

Currently, lead isotope analysis is the preferred method to establish the geographical origin of ore deposits, but when the study concerns the origin of gold mineralisation, analyses are performed on gold derived from the host rocks where it was originally formed. According to Christopher Standish and co-workers, this new approach allows direct analysis of both geological and artefact gold and improves the studies on archaeological provenance of gold used in antiquity.

To know more about this work, click on the link below. This paper will be free to read until January 24th.

Solution and laser ablation MC-ICP-MS lead isotope analysis of gold
Christopher Standish ,  Bruno Dhuime ,  Robert Chapman ,  Christopher Coath ,  Chris Hawkesworth and Alistair Pike
J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2JA30277B