Prof. Frank VANHAECKE

Department of Analytical Chemistry, Ghent University, Belgium

cyklus přednášek v rámci programu INNOLEC

Isotopic analysis using ICP – mass spectrometry

6.listopad 2012, 14:00 – 17:00, UKB A14/207

Annotation:

ICP – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is the most powerful technique for trace and ultra-trace element
analysis. As a mass spectrometric technique, however, ICP-MS also provides information on the
isotopic composition of the target elements. This opens a new field of applications, in which
either induced variation (caused by the use of an isotopically enriched tracer) or natural
variation in the isotopic composition of a metallic or metalloid element need to be studied. In
this short course, the capabilities and limitations of both single-collector ICP-MS and
multi-collector ICP-MS (as a dedicated tool for isotopic analysis) will be discussed, guidelines on
how to optimize isotope ratio precision and accuracy will be discussed and real-life applications
will be used to illustrate the possibilities thus created. These applications include elemental
assay via isotope dilution, tracer experiments, dating of geological samples, provenance
determination and the use of isotope ratios as palaeoproxies.

ICP – Mass Spectrometry: instrumentation

Seminář studentů analytické chemie C9000

8.listopad 2012, 14:00 – 16:00, UKB A11/132

Annotation:

ICP – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is the most powerful technique for trace and ultra-trace element
analysis. In this short course, the basic operating principles of the technique will be covered,
with specific attention for the ICP as an ion source, the types of mass spectrometer that can be
used (quadrupole filter, double-focusing sector field mass spectrometer and time-of-flight
analyzer) and the electron multiplier detector. State-of-art approaches (collision/reaction cell,
high mass resolution) to overcome spectral interference – traditionally the most prominent
disadvantage of ICP-MS – will be reviewed. The capabilities and limitations of ICP-MS will be
compared to those of other common atomic spectrometry techniques (AAS and ICP-OES). Finally, recent
innovations, including simultaneous Mattauch-Herzog ICP-MS and ICP/MS-MS will be briefly discussed.

Reconstructing the past, understanding the present and predicting the future based on isotopic
analysis via multi-collector ICP - mass spectrometry

Seminář XD107

8.listopad 2012, 16:00 – 17:00, UKB A11/132

Annotation:

Multi-collector ICP – mass spectrometry is a dedicated tool for the highly precise isotopic
analysis of metallic and metalloid elements. Isotopic analysis of the light elements H, C, N, O and
S is already relied on for decades in varying research fields. For metallic and metalloid elements,
it was believed for a long time that the isotopic composition was fixed, except for elements (e.g.,
Sr, Pb) with one or more radiogenic nuclides (nuclides produced by radioactive decay) and for the
lightest elements (e.g., Li, B) that are prone to isotope fractionation. More recent research,
however, has made clear that all elements with 2 or more isotopes show natural variation in their
isotopic composition as a result of fractionation. Isotopic analysis of both more traditional (Sr,
Pb) and the so-called non-traditional isotopic systems provide a wealth of information that can be
relied upon to reconstruct the past and understand the present, as will be demonstrated by
real-life applications. As a final challenge, it will be discussed whether isotopic analysis can
also predict the future