October 2016 Newsletter

ICP Recap/Thank You

Thank you to all those who attended our 2nd Annual ICP Conference, Getting Back to Basics! We experienced a record turnout inside the Inn at Virginia Tech and enjoyed sharing the day with colleagues from California to Connecticut. During the conference Inorganic Ventures' experts covered a range of topics such as "Basic Calibration Techniques for ICP-OES and ICP-MS" and "Uncertainty in ICP Measurements." The conference closed with a round table discussion, and we enjoyed responding to everyone's specific ICP challenges.

The ICP Conference will return with a new theme and topics built specifically from the feedback heard during this year's conference and input from you. If you have suggestions for future topics, please feel encouraged to email us at your convenience. If you were unable to attend this year and would like to review the full range of topics covered,

Halloween Chemistry

Halloween provides children a ton of great opportunities to learn more about chemistry and delivers geeks like us a chance to show off our spooky skills. We all know chemistry is fun, and with this series from the American Chemical Society, so will your friends, family and neighbors this Halloween.

Distributor Competition

Our Bag a Bonus distributor competition is up and running and Inorganic Ventures' Distributors around the world are competing for top honors! Our Transpiration Control Technology (TCT) packaging has caused a shift in the industry in a big way. Now, we're excited to be growing and expanding our product line, including our new Custom Standard TCT. We deliver a combination of experience and options no one else in the industry can match. Stay tuned for more updates as the competition heats up!

Question:

We are interested in measuring silica (SiO2) in oilfield flow back waters. Would we only be able to measure elemental Silicon (Si)? When looking for a standard through the Inorganic Ventures website, I see that both a Si and SiO2 standard for ICP are available. Can you measure both Si and SiO2 with MP-AES (microwave plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy) as well?

Answer:

The plasma generated by an MP-AES (microwave plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy) will destroy compounds such as SiO2, with the result that the emission wavelengths generated will correspond only to elemental Si. For measurements, either Si or SiO2 calibration standards can be used, with the understanding that the results generated will correspond to the form of Si that is certified in the calibration standard. For example, if the calibration is constructed using certified SiO2 standards, the results would be reported as concentrations of SiO2 in the sample.

Question:

We are working on the analysis of heavy metals as mentioned in ICH Q3D. We are facing a recovery problem with Osmium. So, we need a sample preparation method for any Pharma or food matrix to analyze Osmium (Os) using ICP-OES. I am getting higher recovery while digesting the material in a mixture of Nitric acid and hydrochloric acid. I got about 1100-1300% recovery for Osmium. Do you have any suggestions for me to complete this task?

Answer:

Any digestion method that uses HNO3 can potentially create problems with Os analyses, due to the formation of the highly volatile (and deadly) Os tetraoxide. The consequence of forming volatile OsO4 is significantly increased signal intensities (high recoveries) due to enhanced nebulization effects in ICP spray chambers. We would recommend avoiding any use of HNO3 (or other oxidizing reagents) during the sample preparation steps. Please see https://www.inorganicventures.com/samples-containing-ruthenium-and-osmium for more information.

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The Optimist sees the glass half full.

The Pessimist see the glass half empty.

The chemist see the glass completely full, half in the liquid state and half in the vapor state.