Wilks to be honored with Heritage Award
Enhancing Trace Element Analysis with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry
May 15th 2025Elemental analysis is crucial in a wide variety of applications from detecting toxic elements within the environment, to ensuring drinking water is safe for human consumption, to food product safety. ICP-MS—able to measure an atom’s mass—offers low detection limits in the range of parts per trillion (ppt), making it a widely used method that can detect toxic elements well below regulatory limits. This paper expands upon how new ICP-MS technology can meet the challenges associated with heightened demands for element analysis and the hurdles laboratories face when analyzing high-matrix samples.
FT-IR Spectral Fingerprints Reveal Secrets of Rubies and Sapphires
May 14th 2025Scientists at the University of Barcelona have developed a fast and reliable way to identify natural, treated, and synthetic rubies and sapphires using Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Their study reveals unique spectral fingerprints for different gemstone types, offering a powerful tool in the fight against gem fraud.