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14 February 2017
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Teaching is concentrated in the faculties and schools, and the departments deal with research, which is also conducted by institutes and chairs, at the same time responsible for knowledge promotion.
Ion chromatography is related to high performance liquid chromatography. It is a technique that allow us to detect ionic and strongly polar species. The stationary phase is a bonded liquid phase with the capacity to exchange ions. The solutes must be ionic, and their separation is a product of the equilibrium displacement of some ions by others of the same sign. It is practiced under high pressure.
With this technique, the analytes present in the sample are separated based on their degree of retention when they come into contact with the stationary phase of the analytical columns. Once separated, the sample passes through a conductivity or amperometric detector, in our case, where the signal obtained with respect to the retention time is recorded. The result is chromatograms where the position of the peak indicates the ion present (qualitative character) and its area indicates the amount of each ion (quantitative character).
In order to carry out one analyses, put in touch with the responsible for the UEA.
The required sample volume is 2 mL (filtered to 0.2 µm).
It be necessary to inform of the toxicity and precautions of storage of the sample. Once the report has been given, if people do not come to search the remainder of the sample after a week, this will be destroyed.
The principle of the method is the separation of ions by liquid phase chromatography using a separation column. The stationary phase is an ion exchanger (anionic or cationic) and the mobile phase (eluent) is an aqueous solution in a base medium (to elute anions or sugars), or in an acidic medium (to elute cations). The detector used is conductivity in the case of the analysis of anions and/or cations, and amperometric for the analysis of sugars.
When using the conductivity detector, it is essential that the eluents have sufficiently low conductivity. For this reason, our system combines the conductivity detector with an electrochemical suppressor system that decreases the background conductivity caused by the eluent and increases the conductivity of the analyte ions. The concentration of the different ions is determined by calibrating the procedure as a whole.
The chromatograph can have two configurations: one for the analysis of anions and/or cations, and one for the analysis of sugars.
In all cases, the required sample volume is 2 mL (filtered to 0.2 µm).
For the analysis of anions and cations, the chromatograph is equipped with two columns: the IonPac AS19 Thermo Scientific for the analysis of anions, and the Ion Pac CS16 Thermo Scientific for the analysis of cations. The equipment's configuration allows simultaneous analyses of dissolved cations and anions.
The used method allows the concentration of anions and cations dissolved in liquid samples to be determined. It enables, in particular, the determination of the following anions and cations:
An amperometric detector is used for analysing sugars, equipped with a benchmar pH-Ag/AgCl electrode. The column used is the CarboPac PA20.
INTERCOMPARISON TEST FOR ANIONS AND CATIONS
The participation in this essay is a form of measuring the quality of the results through an external evaluation.
They usually take part in it around 15 laboratories of the international area. It consists of the analysis of two samples of continental waters, giving results of the contents of different anions and/or cations.
The STR take part in it since 2022 bringing the results obtained with the technique of ionic chromatography, always obtaining satisfactory results.
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