Sample Preparation
Problem: Bringing samples into a mineralized state is usually the first step for performing accurate inorganic analysis, aka metals trace analysis. This conversion of a usually non-homogenous insoluble mixture into a representative, homogenous aqueous solution using heat and acids is usually a prerequisite for further analysis work with spectroscopic or chromatographic techniques.
Confidently perform solid-phase extraction (SPE) cleanup of very small volumes with high analyte recovery and clean extracts in low elution volumes that can be directly injected into your LC/MS/MS system.
Problem: While laboratory instruments have become faster and more automated to increase productivity, sample preparation has continued to remain a bottleneck and source of variability for most labs. The complexity and variety of samples that typically pass through labs makes this area one of the most difficult to automate.
Sample preparation reduces sample complexity and renders samples into a format amenable to downstream analysis. Sample prep is most necessary for complex, multicomponent samples containing substances that interfere either with the MS (e.g., through ion suppression) or, in GC/LC-MS, the chromatography.
Sample preparation (“prep”) is a tedious, time-consuming task but a necessary part of nearly every analytical workflow, regardless of industry or laboratory type.
