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Accelerator mass spectrometry targets of submilligram carbonaceous samples using the high-throughput Zn reduction method.

ABSTRACT: The high-throughput Zn reduction method was developed and optimized for various biological/biomedical accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) applications of mg of C size samples. However, high levels of background carbon from the high-throughput Zn reduction method were not suitable for sub-mg of C size samples in environmental, geochronology, and biological/biomedical AMS applications. This study investigated the effect of background carbon mass (mc) and background 14C level (Fc) from the high-throughput Zn reduction method. Background mc was 0.011 mg of C and background Fc was 1.5445. Background subtraction, two-component mixing, and expanded formulas were used for background correction. All three formulas accurately corrected for backgrounds to 0.025 mg of C in the aerosol standard (NIST SRM 1648a). Only the background subtraction and the two-component mixing formulas accurately corrected for backgrounds to 0.1 mg of C in the IAEA-C6 and -C7 standards. After the background corrections, our high-throughput Zn reduction method was suitable for biological (diet)/biomedical (drug) and environmental (fine particulate matter) applications of sub-mg of C samples (> or = 0.1 mg of C) in keeping with a balance between throughput (270 samples/day/analyst) and sensitivity/accuracy/precision of AMS measurement. The development of a high-throughput method for examination of > or = 0.1 mg of C size samples opens up a range of applications for 14C AMS studies. While other methods do exist for > or = 0.1 mg of C size samples, the low throughput has made them cost prohibitive for many applications.

SUBMITTER: Kim SH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2710856 | biostudies-other | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Accelerator mass spectrometry targets of submilligram carbonaceous samples using the high-throughput Zn reduction method.

Kim Seung-Hyun SH Kelly Peter B PB Clifford Andrew J AJ

Analytical chemistry 20090701 14

The high-throughput Zn reduction method was developed and optimized for various biological/biomedical accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) applications of mg of C size samples. However, high levels of background carbon from the high-throughput Zn reduction method were not suitable for sub-mg of C size samples in environmental, geochronology, and biological/biomedical AMS applications. This study investigated the effect of background carbon mass (mc) and background 14C level (Fc) from the high-thr ...[more]

PMID: 19548665

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Project description:Biological and biomedical applications of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) use isotope ratio mass spectrometry to quantify minute amounts of long-lived radioisotopes such as (14)C. AMS target preparation involves first the oxidation of carbon (in sample of interest) to CO 2 and second the reduction of CO 2 to filamentous, fluffy, fuzzy, or firm graphite-like substances that coat a -400-mesh spherical iron powder (-400MSIP) catalyst. Until now, the quality of AMS targets has been variable; consequently, they often failed to produce robust ion currents that are required for reliable, accurate, precise, and high-throughput AMS for biological/biomedical applications. Therefore, we described our optimized method for reduction of CO 2 to high-quality uniform AMS targets whose morphology we visualized using scanning electron microscope pictures. Key features of our optimized method were to reduce CO 2 (from a sample of interest that provided 1 mg of C) using 100 +/- 1.3 mg of Zn dust, 5 +/- 0.4 mg of -400MSIP, and a reduction temperature of 500 degrees C for 3 h. The thermodynamics of our optimized method were more favorable for production of graphite-coated iron powders (GCIP) than those of previous methods. All AMS targets from our optimized method were of 100% GCIP, the graphitization yield exceeded 90%, and delta (13)C was -17.9 +/- 0.3 per thousand. The GCIP reliably produced strong (12)C (-) currents and accurate and precise F m values. The observed F m value for oxalic acid II NIST SRM deviated from its accepted F m value of 1.3407 by only 0.0003 +/- 0.0027 (mean +/- SE, n = 32), limit of detection of (14)C was 0.04 amol, and limit of quantification was 0.07 amol, and a skilled analyst can prepare as many as 270 AMS targets per day. More information on the physical (hardness/color), morphological (SEMs), and structural (FT-IR, Raman, XRD spectra) characteristics of our AMS targets that determine accurate, precise, and high-hroughput AMS measurement are in the companion paper.

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Accelerator mass spectrometry targets of submilligram carbonaceous samples using the high-throughput Zn reduction method.

Publications

Accelerator mass spectrometry targets of submilligram carbonaceous samples using the high-throughput Zn reduction method.

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