Advanced Analytical Chemistry - Sampling and Sample Preparation

Sampling and sample preparation is a cornerstone in performing sound experiments, and thus essential to any kind of analytical chemistry project: the results obtained will never be better than the samples injected.

The course starts with a thorough treatment of Pierre Gy’s Theory of Sampling (ToS), which tells how to obtain a representative sample without systematic errors and with an acceptable uncertainty.  The practice and tools for taking the samples and reduce the sample mass in a representative way is treated based on ToS.  All common matrices, soil, water and air, are addressed.

The second part of the course covers the sample preparation techniques for extraction, purification and pre-concentration of samples for injection into modern analytical instruments such as GC and, HPLC. This part of the course includes: active and passive sampling for gases (adsorbents, traps, filtering etc.), sample preparation for liquid matrices (Liquid/Liquid Extraction – LLE, Solid Phase Extraction – SPE, Solid Phase Micro-Extraction – SPME, Stir-Bar Solid Extraction – SBSE, Supported Liquid Extraction – SLE etc.), for solid matrices (shake, Microwave Assisted Extraction – MAE, Ultrasonication, Pressurised Liquid Extraction – PLE, Supercritical Fluid Extraction – SFE, etc.), and various headspace methods. 

The theory is supplemented with computer simulations, laboratory experiments, a field exercise and expert guest-lectures of selected topics.