Category: mass spectrometry

How to find out just what is in tattoo ink

The growing popularity of tattoos, especially among young adults, raises concerns about the composition of tattoo inks and any potential long-term health effects they present. The European Commission Joint Research Centre recently noted that about 12 percent of Europeans have…

Advancing battery research with GC/MS

THE UNIVERSITY of Muenster, Germany, has the first installation of Thermo Scientific’s new Orbitrap-based GC-MS/MS (gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) instrument, said to provide the highest levels of detection and identification. The university’s Muenster Electrochemical Energy Technology (Meet) battery research centre focuses…

Nanoscale mass spectrometry boosts painting conservation

THE STUDY of cross-sections of heritage paintings has benefitted from a ‘breakthrough’ in atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based nanoscale mass spectrometry, reports Anasys Instruments. Researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the Getty Conservation Institute developed a variation…

Alliance to tackle lipidomics research

TWO LEADING suppliers of analytical tools to laboratories worldwide have announced a new alliance to offer complementary technologies which they hope will help clinical researchers boost lipidomics research. By integrating their systems, Agilent Technologies and Premier Biosoft say they hope…

Software accelerates screening for contaminants and illicit drugs

SCIENTISTS and lab technicians can now screen hundreds of samples for hundreds of potential contaminants and residues, using customised compound libraries, thanks to a new software application from AB Sciex. LibraryView, when  coupled with QTrap and TripleTof mass spectrometry technologies,…

Mobile GC/MS accepts samples as liquid, solid, or vapour

SAID to be the only mobile gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GC/MS) that can analyse samples introduced in solid, liquid, or vapour phase, the Griffin 460 also provides continuous direct air monitoring and has multiple applications in field work. Available from…

A mass of mass spectrometers

WE’RE not quite sure what the collective noun is for mass spectrometers, but we’re pretty sure they could use one down at AB Sciex’s headquarters. Coming hard on the heels of recent announcements of new ‘workhorse’ instruments the 4500 and…

Workhorse mass spectrometer makes TripleTof technology routine

AB SCIEX describes its new TripleTof 4600, unveiled today at the AOHUPO conference in Beijing, as a workhorse instrument which brings groundbreaking TripleTof technology to routine analysis. TripleTof (Tof meaning time-of-flight) is the company’s platform for simultaneous qualitative and quantitative…

How to double the resolution of FT mass spectrometry

A NEW computational trick developed by researchers at the University of Warwick, UK, is said to double the resolution, sensitivity, and mass accuracy of Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry (FTMS) with no cost penalty. The new approach hinges around the phasing…