Chemistry 221- Spectrochemical Analysis

1. Text: Available in Gelman Library:

  1. J. D. Ingle, Jr. and S. R. Crouch, Spectrochemical Analysis, Prentice Hall, Englewood, NJ, 1988, 589 pages.
  2. A. Montaser, Ed., Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, Wiley, New York , 964 pages, 1998.
  3. A. Montaser and D. W. Golightly, Eds. Inductively Coupled Plasmas in Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, Wiley-VCH , New York , 2nd Edition, 1992, 1017 pages.
  4. F. H. Walters, L. R. Parker, Jr., S. L. Morgan, and S. N. Deming, Sequential Simplex Optimization, CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, Florida, 1991; 325 pages.
  5. Analytical Chemistry, published bi-monthly by the ACS.

2. Important References: Available in Gelman Library

A. List of Books:

  1. K. E. Jarvis, A. L. Gray, R. S. Houk, Handbook of Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry; Chapman and Hall, New York, 1992.
  2. P.W.J.M. Boumans, Ed., Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy, Parts I & II, Wiley, New York , 1987.
  3. G. L. Moore, Introduction to Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry, Elsevier, 1989, 340 pages.
  4. A. R. Date and A. L. Gray, Eds. The Application of Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, Eds, Chapman & Hall, 1988, 224 pages.
  5. M. Thompson and J.N. Walsh, A Handbook of Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometry, Blackie, 1988, 320 pages.
  6. Bauer, Christian, and O'Reilly, Instrumental Analysis, Allyn and Bacon Co., 832 pages.
  7. Skoog and Leary, Principle of Instrumental Analysis, Saunders College , 1992.

B. List of Journals:

The following journals, especially the first 12 publications, discuss the most recent developments on topics covered in this course. Graduate students are encouraged to consult these publications on a monthly basis.

    1. Anal. Chem.
    2. Appl. Spectrosc.
    3. CRC Anal. Chem.
    4. Spectrochim. Acta, Part B
    5. Spectrochim. Acta Review
    6. ICP Information Newsletter
    7. Journal of Anal. At. Spectrom.
    8. Talanta
    9. Rev. of Scientific Instrum.
    10. Anal. Chim. Acta
    11. J. Pure & Applied Chem.
    12. Analyst
    13. Plasma Science IEEE Transaction
    14. Optics and Spectroscopy
    15. J. Optical Society of America
    16. Pattern Recognition Letter
    17. Optimization
    18. Artificial Intelligence
    19. Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence
    20. J. of Physics Scientific Instruments
    21. Instrument Society of America ISA Transaction

3. Exams:

    1. Midterm (40%); first Monday, month of October
    2. Final (40%)
    3. Five Term Papers (see item 7 below) and Seminar Presentations (20%)

4. Office Hours:

Tuesday & Thursday 2 – 3 PM or by appointment.  For appointment, please call 202‑994‑6480, or see me in Samson 211 (Office) or Cor-310 & 309 (Research Laboratories), or send an Email to montaser@gwu.edu .

5. Expectations:

    1. Be on time.
    2. If you do not come to any exams due to an illness, you must bring a note from your physician.
    3. To get an A grade in this course, you must: 1) read the relevant chapters before coming to class; 2) take good notes during the lectures; 3) read the related chapter right after the lecture; and 4) solve the problems at the end of each chapter.
    4. Students are strongly encouraged to listen to all audio-cassette tapes (available in Gelman Library) related to the topics covered in this course. For example, Chem 18 (consists 52 slides and a cassette) is related to the Principle of ICP Emission Spectroscopy.
    5. Students must prepare five term papers (type-written, not to exceed 5 pages) on topic related to the subjects covered in this course (see item 7 below). The papers must be based on recent articles published in Analytical Chemistry within the last year. The students will be asked to present one to two seminars (20 minutes) on selected term papers.
    6. The Instructor welcomes all bright ideas for improving the quality of this course.

6. Tentative Subjects to be Discussed:

The course consists of four parts. In the first part, the application of simplex optimization in chemistry is discussed. The topics include description of optimization methods, multi factor search techniques, evolutionary operation, the fixed size simplex, design of initial simplex, the variable size simplex and criteria for convergence. Various examples on the application of simplex optimization to chemical problems are given.

The second part of this course focuses on analytical atomic spectroscopy. The topics to be covered are electromagnetic radiation and its interaction with matter, instrumentation for optical spectroscopy, atomic absorption, atomic emission and atomic fluorescence spectrometry with flames, electrothermal atomizers, plasmas, arc and spark discharges, mass spectrometry with high temperature plasmas and a discussion of the most recent sample introduction systems and primary radiation sources for analytical spectrometry.

The third part of the course is concerned with the application of x ray and electron spectroscopy to chemical and surface analysis. The principle and instrumentation for x ray absorption, x ray emission, x ray fluorescence, x ray diffraction, ESCA and Auger spectroscopy are discussed along with their unique analytical applications.

The fourth part of this course is related to laser based chemical analysis techniques on the horizon. These include discussion of thermal lens spectrometry, Doppler free absorption spectrometry, intracavity absorption detectors for chromatographic applications, application of multiphoton ionization and supersonic jet spectroscopy to isotopic analysis, laser enhanced ionization spectrometry for ultratrace analysis and the application of laser photoacoustic spectrometry for analyzing various samples, in particular samples of biological interest.

Tentative Chapters from Text 1 (Text 2)

  • Chapter 1: Spectrochemical Information.
  • Chapter 2. Spectrochemical Measurements.
  • Chapter 3. Optical Components and Spectrometers (Chapter 3).
  • Chapter 4. Optical Sources, Transducers, and Measurement Systems (Chapter 3).
  • Chapter 5. Signal-to-Noise Ratio Considerations.
  • Chapter 6. Methodology in Spectrochemical Analysis.
  • Chapter 7. Introduction to Atomic Spectroscopy.
  • Chapter 8. Flame and Plasma Emission Spectrometry (Chapters 1 and 5).
  • Chapter 9. Arc and Spark Emission Spectrometry (Chapters 1, 5, and 6).
  • Chapter 10. Atomic Absorption Spectrometry .
  • Chapter 11. Atomic Fluoresence Spectrometry (Chapter 11).
  • (Chapter 12. Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry for Elemental Analysis) or
  • [Chapter 7. Analytical Characteristics of ICPMS]
  • Reference 6 Chapter on X-Ray Spectroscopy.
  • Reference 6 Chapter on Electron Spectroscopy.

7. Important notes on the use of the Journal of ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY as a textbook

In addition to your standard textbook, the journal of Analytical Chemistry is considered as additional text that I value very much in your education. Reasons for this selection, and my expectations from you as a student are summarized below.

ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY is the most widely cited of all research journals containing significant numbers of analytical papers. Each issue contains cutting edge research papers covering both theoretical and applied aspects of the field as well as A page feature articles.

Articles in ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY will help you address both practical and fundamental problems. The A page feature articles (Report, Instrumentation, Focus, Analytical Approach, and A/C Interface) will be particularly helpful. They are written for the general reader and cover areas that are experiencing especially rapid development. I expect you to read these articles on a regular basis. Also, you should consult the Fundamental and Application Review issues (published as alternate June 15 issues) to learn of recent developments in various fields. These are especially useful when you are writing your term paper.

Your term paper assignment is based on a research article. You are expected to learn the needed background material from the text and other articles. Each student would select a different article. Your term paper should be in the Journal's article format. Manuscript requirements of ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY as well as a number of key points regarding nomenclature are outlined in January 1st issue available in the Gelman library. Remember, that I will ask you to present one to two 20 minutes lectures in the class on your term papers. Thus, no superficial understanding on your part is acceptable. In short, you must be able to "teach" the other students on the topic of your term paper.

In addition, you must prepare at least one type written exam question and answer for each article. I use the following criteria to award points:

  1. The question is representative of the material in the article and at about the same level as the course text
  2. The answer furnished is correct and coherent
  3. The question and answer are turned in within a reasonable time after coverage of the topic in lecture
  4. The question is good enough to be used on a future exam for the course This techniques gives you added incentive to read the assigned research articles carefully, as a professional would, and encourages you to extract important concepts and applications from what you read in a form that is intelligible to your peers.

Note that I also shall assign you research articles as "backup" for the text material on a particular topic. Further, for a part of your examinations, I may select a short article and remove the title and abstract. You are asked to write a title and 100 word abstract. Note that this does not require more than half an hour and teaches you to identify the main theme.

I encourage you to carefully examine the Advertisements for Scientific Instruments in ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY. To extend your knowledge in an interesting and informative fashion, I may ask you to prepare a listing of the different suppliers of a particular kind of instrument, and perhaps to compare the different models that are available. Don't forget that the February 1st issue of ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY has particularly extensive advertising by instrument manufacturers in connection with the annual Pittsburgh Conference.

Finally, numerous meetings, seminars, symposia, and short courses are announced regularly in ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY. Look in the News and Meetings sections for this information. 
© 2007 Montaser Research Group. The George Washington Univeristy.