Technical specification
Our facility specialises in the extraction, purification, separation, and chemical and isotopic characterization of complex organic mixtures found in biological and environmental materials.
Gas chromatography (GC) is used to separate complex mixtures of volatile compounds. A range of hyphenated techniques (for example, GC-mass spectrometry) are then used to characterise these complex mixtures.
We also operate a GC-isotope ratio mass spectrometer (GC-C-IRMS) which enables compound specific δ13C, δ15N and δ2H value determinations.
We currently operate the following instruments:
- ThermoFisher Trace 1310 Gas Chromatograph with Flame Ionisation Detector (compound separation and quantification)
- ThermoFisher Trace 1310 Gas Chromatograph coupled to a Thermo TSQ8000 Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (molecular identification)
- ThermoFisher Trace 1310 Gas Chromatograph coupled to a Thermo Delta V Plus Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (compound specific δ13C, δ15N and δ2H value determinations)
- Agilent LC/MSD Liquid Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (molecular identification)
Other operational features include a Thermo Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) system, a TurboVap LV sample concentrator, a Genevac EZ-2 centrifugal evaporation system, and a fully outfitted wet chemistry laboratory to undertake a wide variety of sample preparation.
Research
Recent projects utilising the organic geochemistry facilities:
- Reconstructing environmental change throughout the geological record
- Carbon cycling in terrestrial and aquatic environments
- Detection and quantification of traditional and emerging contaminants
- Martian biosignatures in terrestrial analogue sites
- Detailing the trophic fingerprint of declining fisheries
- Molecular analysis of organic residues from ancient shipwrecks
- Fatty acid analysis of marine biota
