Agenda

Speaker: Raquel Gonzalez de Vega, University of Graz (Austria)

Abstract:
Since its commercial introduction 40 years ago, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has evolved to the most powerful detection technique for the analysis of trace and ultra-trace elements which relates to its high sensitivity paired with a vast linear dynamic range and methodic versatility. However, when targeting nonmetals by ICP-MS, some limitations arise due to the high ionization potential of these elements resulting in low ionization rates. Carbon and Fluorine are two examples for elements which are traditionally very difficult to target via ICP-MS and often omitted from analysis. However, recent advances have shifted the perspectives for the analysis of these elements.
In this work, we will showcase how Carbon and Fluorine can be targeted in ICP-MS.
Specifically, we will present adapted and new methodologies for LA-ICP-MS, SP ICP-MS and HPLC-ICP-MS and applications for the determination of these two elements in different matrices.                                          

Bio Sketch:
Raquel Gonzalez de Vega is an analytical chemist and received her PhD in 2017 in the group of Prof. Sanz Medel at the University of Oviedo (Spain). During her doctorate, she undertook two research stays at the University of Münster (Germany) and then became a postdoc at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) (Australia), where she worked as a lecturer from 2020. Since 2021 she is postdoctoral researcher at the University of Graz (Austria). Her research is focused on the development and application of new methodologies based on mass spectrometry detection, including trace elements and speciation analysis, nanotechnology and bioimaging techniques.