Researchers Edward Staples from the US measurement technology company Q&A Solutions (Westlake Village, CA) and Shekar Viswanathan from the National University (San Diego, CA) have developed a new method for detecting contraband in cargo containers using urface acoustic waves (SAWs) and a capillary-based gas chromatograph column.
Researchers Edward Staples from the US measurement technology company Q&A Solutions (Westlake Village, CA) and Shekar Viswanathan from the National University (San Diego, CA) have developed a new method for detecting contraband in cargo containers using urface acoustic waves (SAWs) and a capillary-based gas chromatograph column. SAW detectors have been around since the early 1990s, Staples and Viswanathan have managed to develop an advanced version that is a thousand times more sensitive than previous detectors. By connecting this SAW detector to a capillary-based gas chromatograph column, the researchers came up with a portable sensor for sensitively detecting contraband in cargo containers.
The idea is to take a sample of air from a cargo container, which can be done by simply pumping the air from the container's ventilation duct. Following a concentration step, the volatile compounds in this air sample are separated by GC and then detected by the SAW detector. The end result is a standard chromatogram, in which chemical markers of specific drugs or explosives can be identified based on their retention times.
GC–MS Targeted Analysis of PFAS Helps Expand Knowledge of Toxicokinetic Data
March 26th 2024Limited toxicokinetic and toxicologic information is available about a diverse set of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), but methods based on gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS) can help unravel some of the mystery.
Best of the Week: What’s New in MS, 2024 Young Chemist Award Winner
March 22nd 2024This week, LCGC International published a variety of articles on the hottest topics in chromatography and beyond. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the most popular articles, according to our readers. Happy reading!
Inside the Laboratory: The Schug Group at the University of Texas at Arlington
March 22nd 2024In this edition of “Inside the Laboratory,” Kevin Schug, PhD, a full professor of chemistry at the University of Texas at Arlington, discusses his laboratory’s group work in environmental monitoring around water and soil quality near oil and gas extraction, using techniques such as liquid chromatography (LC), gas chromatography (GC), supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC), and coupling these techniques with mass spectrometry (MS).