Analytical equipment and methods

The facility and equipment are available for new method development for many natural, contaminant or pharmaceutical organic compounds, staff have extensive experience in these methods:

• Extraction by hydrolysis of Amino Acids from marine sediments and biological material, analysis available by HPLC(OPA) or by GC-MS as TFA isopropyl esters
• Extraction by hydrolysis of Monosaccharides from marine sediments and biological material, analysis available by GC, GC-MS (TMS or Alditol Acetate)
• Simultaneous Determination of Uronic Acids and Aldoses in Plankton, Plant Tissues, and Sediment by Capillary Gas Chromatography of A/-Hexylaldonamide and Alditol Acetates
• Extraction by alkaline oxidation of Phenolic compounds (particularly Lignin Phenols) from marine sediments and biological material, analysis available by GC-MS (TMS)
• Extraction and analysis (HPLC) of Free Amino acids from plant material
• Analysis of Volatile Fatty Acids by GC
• Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC)/Total Dissolved Nitrogen (TDN)in natural waters
• Determination of Volatile Organic Compounds (e.g. BTEX and Geosmin) with GC-MS following extraction onto SPME fibre
• Determination of Pharmaceuticals (e.g. Diclofenac and Ibuprofen) with HPLC 

We have a range of equipment available to carry out analyses.  

Our equipment includes:

• GC-MS system (Agilent 5977 GC, 8890 MSD) with autoinjector, split/splitless, SPME - data processing with Agilent Masshunter and spectral libraries
• GC-MS system (Agilent 6890 GC, 5973 MSD) with autoinjector, split/splitless, SPME or on-column injection - data processing with Agilent Chemstation for MSD and spectral libraries
• Shimadzu TOC-L (High Temperature Catalytic Oxidation) analyser with TNM module for chemiluminescence detection of Nitrogen
• Shimadzu TOC-V (High Temperature Catalytic Oxidation) analyser with TNM module for chemiluminescence detection of Nitrogen
• Agilent HPLC-FLD-DAD (1260 Infinity) Ultra-high pressure liquid chromatograph
• Shimadzu Nexera-I 2040C HPLC FLD-DAD Ultra-high pressure liquid chromatograph
• Two ThermoScientific Trace 1600 GC systems with autoinjector (liquid samples only), split/splitless inlet with Flame Ionisation Detectors (FID)

In addition to the main instruments in the facility we have supporting equipment available.

• Fume cupboards
• Microbalance
• Freeze drier
• Autoclave
• Muffle furnace
• Ultra-low-temperature (-70°C) freezer
• Refrigerated centrifuges
• Organic-clean (Type 1) ultrapure water
• Soxhlet extraction
• Ultrasonic bath
• Column chromatography for lipid class separation
• Centrifugal and rotary evaporation systems