NacoTe: LC-OCD-OND-System

NacoTe: LC-OCD-OND-System

The Chair of Applied Geology at the IGW is currently building a laboratory for nanoparticle characterization of processes in the eco- and technosphere (Characterization of Nanoparticles in the Eco- and Technosphere), or abbreviated NacoTe. Through this analytical platform of the combination of a field flow fractionation system (AF4), combined with a highly sensitive detector for the determination of organic carbon / nitrogen (LC-OCD-OND), the numerous activities on natural and anthropogenic nanoparticles / (bio )colloids and the integrative networking of bio- and geosciences at the Jena site are expanded and international competitiveness is secured. (see Fig. 1).

Fig.1: Natural environments are multi-particle systems with regard to the mineralogical / chemical composition of the solid phases and their size distribution from approx. 200 Da up to the range of several micrometers. Using chromatographic methods such as the field flow fractionation (AF4), these multi-particle systems can be fractionated ac-cording to their size or charge (by applying an electric field) and the size-dependent element distribution (ICP-MS) or light absorption in the range of visible and ultraviolet radiation (UV/VIS) can be quantified by coupling with detector systems. Furthermore, there is the possibility to directly measure the number of nanoparticle size distribution by directly coupling with an existing nanoparticle tracking analysis system (NTA). Through the additional coupling with a liquid chromatography system with carbon and nitrogen selective detector (LC-OCD-OND) it is possible here to analyze the mem-brane-passingnanoparticulate phases (<5kDa or <10kDa) or those in the AF4 fracto-gram non-differentiable parts (void peak) of the natural organic substances (NOM).
Image: Angewandte Geologie Jena

Application examples

As an example of the versatility of the LC-OCD-OND system, analyzes of a wide variety of groundwaters from natural and anthropogenically recorded nanoparticles / (bio)colloids (crystalline, clay-rock pore water and near-surface aquifer) are shown, which shows the spectrum of work performed at the Chair of Applied Geology in the field of bio- and geosciences in Jena. (Fig. 2)

Old crystalline waters (Grimsel / Äspö) show a dominance of low molecular weight organic substances, while e.g. the lysimeter sample ADI-H2L2-1-71 shows biopolymers with a protein content of 45%, which indicates a microbiological origin.

Fig.2. LC-OCD-OND test measurements on groundwater samples from the Grimsel rock laboratory (Switzerland), the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (Sweden), clay rock pore water from the underground laboratory HADES in Belgium and groundwater as well as lysimeter samples from the Hainich Critical Zone Exploratory (CZE ).
Image: Angewandte Geologie Jena

Participants: Prof. Dr. Thorsten Schäfer

We thank the Thuringian State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society and the European Regional Development Fund (EFRE) for funding the NacoTe project, more specifically the Electrical / Flow-FFF and LC-OCD-OND systems at the Institute for Earth Sciences (IGW) Friedrich Schiller University Jena.