Atomic / Ezine
Explosive fingerprints: spectroscopy IDs TNT in dabs
Date: Apr 15, 2011
Author: David Bradley
Optical catapulting-laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy has been used to successfully detect residues of common explosives in human fingerprints, according to researchers from Egypt and Spain.
Read More
Journal Highlight: Traceability along the production chain of Italian tomato products on the basis of stable isotopes and mineral composition
Date: Apr 4, 2011
Author:
The variability of stable isotope ratios and mineral composition in tomato and derivatives was determined along the production chain (juice, passata and paste) in order to evaluate the possibility of tracing their geographical origin.
Read More
Waste water slip up: AAS assesses efficacy of banana peel remediation
Date: Mar 15, 2011
Author: David Bradley
Atomic absorption spectroscopy is being used to assess how well banana peel can filter heavy metals, such as copper, from waste water. Preliminary results look promising and could lead to an ecologically sound method of industrial cleanup that uses a renewable but otherwise wasted source material.
Read More
Journal Highlight: Application of three spectrometric methods to total selenium determination in postmortem material in a case of acute selenium compound poisoning
Date: Mar 7, 2011
Author:
Atomic absorption spectrometry with electrothermal atomization, atomic fluorescence spectrometry with hydride generation and spectrofluorimetry were used for the determination of total selenium in postmortem biological samples in a case of acute selenium compound poisoning.
Read More
Chemistry in the greenhouse: CO2 conversion
Date: Feb 15, 2011
Author: David Bradley
Technologies that can use carbon dioxide as a chemical feedstock are high on the agenda in the face of rising atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas. A novel iron-based catalytic process studied using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) atomic emission spectrometry shows how carbon dioxide can be converted into the industrially useful formic acid at an 80% yield.
Read More
Journal Highlight: The development of analytical and interpretational protocols to facilitate the provenance establishment of polycarbonate headlamp lens material
Date: Jan 31, 2011
Author:
In this study, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry has been applied to the analysis of polycarbonate headlamp lenses with multivariate chemometrics techniques utilized to facilitate interpretation of the data.
Read More
Bacterial sensor: pathogen detected with fluorescence
Date: Jan 15, 2011
Author: David Bradley
A new biosensor platform for the detection of bacterial pathogens, specifically demonstrated with E coli, has been developed based on long-range surface plasmon-enhanced fluorescence spectroscopy (LRSP-FS).
Read More
Journal Highlight: Biocorrosion and uptake of titanium by human osteoclasts
Date: Jan 3, 2011
Author:
This study investigated the ability of human osteoclasts to grow on titanium and aluminum, and directly corrode the metals leading to the release of corresponding metal ions, which are believed to cause inflammatory reactions and activate osteoclastic differentiation.
Read More
Arsenic contamination: groundwater study redux
Date: Dec 15, 2010
Author: David Bradley
Chronic arsenic poisoning is perhaps one of the most insidious environmental disaster affecting tens of millions of people on the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere. An ongoing study of the problem of arsenic-contaminated drinking water uses atomic absorption spectroscopy to underpin its analytical data.
Read More
Journal Highlight: Trace element analysis of rough diamond by LA-ICP-MS: A case of source discrimination?
Date: Nov 29, 2010
Author:
A novel LA-ICP-MS methodology was developed for analyzing ultra-trace element impurities in rough diamond for origin determination ("profiling") using binomial logistic regression which produced a better overall correct classification than linear discriminant analysis.
Read More
