What type of clothing is often worn by geochemists? Molyb-denim.
Me pipetting the columns
But nylon lab coats and crocs are much more prominent at the Anbar lab. Speaking of which, with jokes aside, this week my time at the lab was very chemistry intensive. After running the samples through the Q, (the smaller mass-spectrometer) we now know what elements are in what samples. Fortunately, molybdenum appeared in the data, which means that we need to find more precise isotope ratio measurements. To do this, the mass spectrometer known as the Neptune must be powered up and put into action. Before hand though, the samples need to be reprepped through columns.
The columns up close
Columns strip all of the elements from a sample through some epic acid pipetting (if I do say so myself) and the resin in the tubes, which catches the elements. The resin is the yellow looking goo shown at the base of the tubes in the pictures. We strip the elements in order to separate out only the molybdenum from the sample. The best way I can think to explain this is with a funfetti cake. Funfetti cakes have multicolored sprinkles throughout its batter. Column work is basically going through the cake mix and pulling out all the colored sugar pieces one by one, first the green, then the blue, then the yellow, and then collecting all of the pink ones in solution, since the pink ones can show us oxygen content. The pink sprinkles, aka molybdenum, are collected in acid solution, and from there, prepared for mass spectrometry via the Neptune.
The Neptune is significantly easier to run compared to the Q because most of the checks and balances are done directly by programing and not manually. However, the Neptune takes longer to run and is a bit more intimidating to use, at least to me. So I am a bit thankful that no one left me in charge of the Neptune while we were using it.
Picture of ASU walkway
In my days off from the lab this weekend, I hid from the heat by catching up on all the new movies that have recently been released and running around a very hectic and busy mall. School is about to resume at ASU and I have been warned about the large undergrad population that attends the University, so I am not surprised by the crowds, but I am bracing myself for the packed campus to come.
I am eager to get back to the samples in the lab and see what results the Neptune divulges, I’ll keep you updated.
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