Forensic Trace Metal Analysis

Catalog description

This course aims at providing students with fundamental skills and knowledge in trace metal analysis, in particular for forensic applications. The course will enable students to understand, develop and execute analytical protocols involving recent trace metal analysis methodologies and instrumentation, namely atomic spectroscopies and voltammetry. The lecture will consider all common techniques such as inorganic sample preparation, ICP-MS, ICP-OES, AAS, X-ray fluorescence, neutron activation, polarography, and stripping voltammetry. Students will learn by lectures, class activities, and homework assignments how to plan analytical tasks considering the available ICP, AAS, and voltammetry techniques in a modern routine laboratory, as well as how to optimize the conditions in order to obtain sufficient analytical performance parameters in terms of selectivity, detection limit, cost, and analysis time. Three lecture meetings per week. Prerequisite(s): A CHM 226 and 227 or 250 and 251. Corequisite(s): A CHM 350 or 444. May not be offered in 2024-2025.