Environmental and Analytical Chemistry Metal speciation in biogeochemistry is the major target of my research. Metal speciation means the analytical process for determination of the chemical binding forms of elements. Differentiating between the element species in the environment is of interest, because mobility as well as human and eco-toxicity of an element depends on its particular species.. Investigation of the microbiological transformation of inorganic metal compounds into their organometallic counterparts combines field work with laboratory work. Projects deal with sampling strategies and sample preparation as well as the development of analytical techniques appropriate for metal speciation. The development of essential ultra-trace metal speciation techniques, so-called hyphenated techniques is an important task, which makes it possible to determine background levels of organometallic compounds in nature. My special interest is the generation of volatile metal(loid) compounds, and their precursor and metabolite compounds in the environment.
Instrumentation:
HPLC coupled parallel to ICP-MS and ESI-MS
HPLC-HG-AFS for mercury and arsenic speciation (PSA)
Laser ablation ICPMS for element mapping of thin sections (CETAC LSX 200+)
GC, GC-MS, HPLC, HPLC-ESMS, AAS, gel electrophoresis
Sample preparation methods such as microwave digestion, cryostat for thin sectioning, freeze-drying
Microbiological facility with autoclaves, biosafety cabinets
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