3F-Scientic Private Limited of South Africa and MESLO Egypt, both private companies in the field of scientific and laboratory equipment have installed Elemental Analyzer and ICP-MS at Chemistry laboratory, Abaya Campus on 28th February, 2018. Click here to see the pictures.

MESLO Egypt’s engineer, Mr Abd El-Monaem Khalil, installing Elemental Analyzer, said, it helps in ascertaining concentration of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphar and oxygen from any samples. It’s a process where a sample of some materials i.e. (soil, waste, potable water, body fluids, minerals, chemical compounds) is analyzed for elemental and isotopic composition. It can be qualitative and quantitative. Basically, entire Africa must come up in science and AMU has young heads, who can do amazing things, he opined.

3F-Scientic’s Electrical engineer, Mr Fernando Fernandes, said, ‘‘We support Sub-Sahara nations and now we are imparting basic training on hardware and operating of instruments - ICP-MS. It will analyze low level elements to the range of part per billion and isotopes. It isn’t rare here; it’s all about performance of instrument we supply, he adds.

Abaya Campus-based Chemistry laboratory, now, has an Elemental Analyzer that will help to calculate concentration of five elements (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphar and oxygen) from any sample. Second, Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), a type of mass spectrometry that detects metals and several non-metals at concentrations as low as one part in 1015 (part per quadrillion) on non-interfered low-background isotopes. It’s done by ionizing the sample with ICP and using a mass spectrometer to separate and quantify those ions.

ICP-MS has greater speed, precision, and sensitivity. It introduces many interfering species: argon from the plasma, component gases of air that leak through the cone orifices, and contamination from glassware and cones. It delivers, the most powerful interference removal for the best detection limits, the highest flexibility regardless of matrix, the most efficient analysis every time and the lowest maintenance requirements of any ICP-MS.

Chemistry Department Head, Mr Abiyu Kerebo, said, it’s our privilege to equip laboratory with such a high-tech instruments that will benefit under-graduate, Master and even PhD students. He further informed that in future two more high-tech equipment like, Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy-Infrared (GCMS-IR) that help in identifying some common, clinically important drugs; and another instrument, Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS), an analytical chemistry technique that combines the physical separation capabilities of liquid chromatography with the mass analysis capabilities of mass spectrometry, will be installed.

(Corporate Communication Directorate)