Agilent Metrology Lab

Master in Environmental Metrology and Policy Program – for the Betterment of the World

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Thanks to the generous support of Agilent Technologies, Inc. through its instruments placement program, the Environmental Metrology and Policy Program has a fully-equipped environmental metrology laboratory in White Gravenor Hall 404 for teaching and research. The metrology lab hosts four powerful research-grade instruments: Agilent Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), Agilent Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS), Aglient Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), and Nicolet™ iN™10 Infrared Microscope (the latter was donated by the US Secret Service). These instruments are used by EMAP students for their lab courses and independent research projects. The specifications of these instruments are briefly described as follows. For more information, please contact the lab manager Dr. Dejun Chen. 

Agilent GC-MS

The Agilent GC-MS consists of an Intuvo 9000 ultra-fast GC system and a 5977B MS with an electron-ionization (EI) source and an autosampler. It’s built for labs that focus on applications such as environmental, chemical, petrochemical, food, forensic, and pharmaceutical analyses, and material testing, with the following specifications:

Intuvo 9000 GC

  • Connections: GC-on-Chips (Ferrule-free)
  • Heating: Direct Column Heating
  • Oven temperature range: +10 °C to 450 °C
  • Maximum temperature ramp: 250 °C/min
  • Pressure control: 0.001 psi (range of 0 to 150 psi)
  • Flow sensor accuracy: <±5 %
  • Retention time repeatability: <0.008 % or <0.0008 minutes

5977B MS

  • Detection limit: 10 fg
  • Ion source temperature (EI): 150–350 °C
  • Quadrupole temperature: 106–200 °C
  • Mass range: 1.6–1,050 u
  • Mass accuracy: ± 0.005
  • Mass axis stability: Better than 0.10 u/48 hours
  • Scan speed: 20,000 u/sec

Agilent LC-TOF MS

Agilent LC-TOF MS consists of a 1260 Infinity II LC system and a 6230 TOF mass analyzer with an autosampler. It brings powerful analytical capability to a wide range of applications in fields that include food, forensic, environmental, and life sciences, toxicology and pharmaceuticals, with the following specifications.

1260 Infinity II LC

  • Degasser: 4 channels; up to 10 mL/min flow
  • Pump pressure: Flexible Pump up to 800 bar
  • Multisampler: 0 to 100 μL single-stroke injection
  • Multicolumn thermostat: 10 degrees below ambient to 85 °C; up to four 30 cm columns

6230 TOF MS

  • Detection limit: 1 pg  
  • Ion source: Dual ESI (Electrospray ionization)
  • Signal-to-noise ratio: > 10:1 at 1 pg injection
  • Mass range: 25 to 20,000 u
  • Mass resolving power: 22,000 for 1,522 m/z
  • Mass accuracy: < 1 ppm
  • Mass temperature stability: 2 ppm accuracy within 2 °C drift per h
  • Spectral acquisition rate: 30 spectra/second for m/z 100 to 3,200

Agilent ICP-MS

The Agilent ICP-MS consists of a 7800 ICP and a quadrupole MS with an autosampler. It combines proven, robust hardware, auto-optimization tools, and pre-set methods to simplify routine analysis of drinking water, environmental wastes and elemental impurities in pharmaceutical product solutions, with the following specifications.

7800 ICP

  • Nebulizer: MicroMist (borosilicate glass)
  • Spray chamber: Scott-type double-pass (quartz) –5 °C to +20 °C
  • Plasma: 27 MHz, Variable-frequency impedance matching 500 W to 1600 W
  • Torch Sampling depth: 3 to 28 mm in 0.1 mm steps
  • Sampling cone: 1 mm diameter orifice
  • Skimmer cone: 0.4 mm diameter orifice
  • Collision cell gas: He (He-Gas Mode)

Quadrupole MS

  • Detection limit: 0.1 ppt for 209Bi (No-Gas mode)
  • Mass range: 2–260  u
  • Mass accuracy: 0.3 – 1.0 u
  • Mass axis stability: < 0.05 u per day < 0.1 u per 6 months
  • Minimum dwell time: 3 ms
  • Oxide: <1.5% for CeO/Ce
  • Isotope ratio precision: <0.1% RSD for 107Ag/109Ag

Nicolet™ iN™10 Infrared Microscope

Nicolet™ iN™10 Infrared (IR) Microscope is an intuitive, innovative and integrated infrared microscope and was donated by the Criminal Investigative Division of US Secret Service. The IR microscope is an ideal instrument for analyzing environmental samples that include microplastics, polymers, rubbers, packaging, paints, coatings, compounding, microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, cement, cosmetics, textiles, fibers, pigments, paper chemicals, inks and adhesives, etc. Its specifications are as follows.

IR Spectrometer

  • Operational modes: Transmission, reflection, and attenuated total reflection (ATR)
  • Scan speed: Up to 10 scans per second @ 16 cm-1
  • Spectral range: 7600–450 cm-1
  • Spectral resolution: 0.4 cm-1 maximum
  • Spectral signal over noise ratio: 25,000:1 @ 4 cm-1 2min

Microscope

  • Working distance: 16 mm x 16 mm maximum
  • Field of view: Real-time 500 micron
  • Space resolution of the MicroTip Ge-ATR crystal window: As small as 50 microns