67031 - Instrumental Analytical Chemistry and Laboratory Laboratory

Academic Year 2022/2023

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Ravenna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Chemistry and Technologies for the Environment and Materials (cod. 8515)

Learning outcomes

Since the course  is part of a curriculum of studies inherent to materials, its focus will be on the aspects of the analytical chemistry  that have particular importance in materials field.

After completing the course the students should be able to know the theoretical foundations, the potential and analytical applications of the most common instrumental techniques, commonly available in a research lab and / or quality control, especially in the materials sector. Furthermore, students should acquire the conceptual basis for the identification of the most  suitable methodologies and instrumental techniques to solve different analytical problems and develop skills in  the main statistical concepts for the treatment of experimental data.

Course contents

Module 1:

Terms associated with instrumental analysis. Elements of an analytical instrument. Signals. Transducers and detectors. Signal to noise ratio.

Statistics of instrumental analysis. Sensitivity and detection limit. Calibration methods in instrumental analysis. Confidence limits for a concentration determined by using an unweighted regression line.

Spectrometric techniques. A deeper look to UV-Vis molecular absorption spectrometry: instrumentation and analytical measurements. Atomic spectrometry. Flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Electrothermal atomizers. Flame emission spectrometry. Inductively coupled plasma.

Chromatographic techniques. Column processes and band broadening. Plate height equation. Gascromatography. High-performance liquid chromatography. Ion chromatography. 

Electroanalytical techniques. Conductivity and controlled potential techniques.

Module 2:

The course will provide a laboratory tests on the arguments that are performed in parallel during theoretical module.
The program focuses on a series of experiments to be performed in the laboratory using instrumental techniques that address the following topics:

 

1)      UV-Vis SPECTROSCOPY

diffuse reflectance spectroscopy using the system by CIELAB for color analysis; application to real samples (ceramic test).

2)      HPLC CHROMATOGRAPHY

Reversed Phase Chromatography (HPLC)

3)      CYCLIC VOLTAMMETRY

4)      CONDUCTIVITY

 analysis of 'total salinity' in  sea water samples or  in other real samples.

 

Prerequisites:

Analytical Chemistry and laboratory; Physics; Mathematics; Physical Chemistry

  •  In particular students need to have skills on:
    Equilibria in solution. Volumetric tritration. Stoichiometric calculations. Fundamentals of Statistica. Potenziometry. Quantitative analysis.
  • Fundamentals of Statistics. Quality of the analytical data. Significant digits. Sources of uncertainty. Errors in chemical analysis; error propagation. Errors: gross, systematic, random. Accuracy and precision. Methods for reporting the analytical data. Test of significance, accuracy and precision. Calibration and measurement. Linear regression.
  • Basic knowledge of Optics

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

A lot of text are available, the most recommended are:

  1. D.C. Harris, Chimica Analitica Quantitativa, Zanichelli, 2005 (o la più recente edizione, 2017)
  2. J.C. Miller and J.N. Miller, Statistics and Chemometrics for Analytical Chemistry, 6th ed., Prentice Hall (UK), 2010
  3. D.A. Skoog, D.M. West, F.J. Holler, S.R. Crouch, Fondamenti di Chimica Analitica, III Ed., Edises, 2009
  4. David Harvey, Modern Analytical Chemistry, McGraw-Hill Education, [https://www.bookdepository.com/publishers/McGraw-Hill-Education-Europe] 1999
  5. 4- F.W.FiField and D. Kealey, Chimica Analitica, teoria e pratica, Zanichelli, Bologna.

Il testo di Harvey (4) is now in open access (web site, (30 June 2017): http://dpuadweb.depauw.edu/harvey_web/eTextProject/AC2.1Files/AnalChem2.1.pdf

 

Teaching methods

Lectures, complemented by exercises about the arguments. It 'encouraged individual study on textbooks and classroom discussion on the topics covered. The course is integrated with the laboratory. During the lectures we will discuss the general problems associated with the design and development of experiments that will take place in the laboratory. In carrying out laboratory experiments the students, in the group, will solve real analytical problems. For every experience at the students it will be assigned alternation of roles.

Students will be provided with learning and training verification (on on-line platform) of the acquired knowledge that will be used for the evaluation of the module 2.

"In consideration of the types of activities and teaching methods adopted, the attendance of this training activity requires the performance of all the students of Modules 1 and 2 in e-learning mode [https://www.unibo.it/it/servizi-e-opportunita/salute-e-assistenza/salute-e-sicurezza/sicurezza-e-salute-nei-luoghi-di-studio-e-tirocinio]and the participation in Module 3 of specific training on safety and health in places of study. Information on dates and methods of attendance of Module 3 can be consulted in the specific section of the degree program website. "



Assessment methods

The examination aims to verify the achievement of the following learning objectives:

- Ability to use the most used analytic instruments

- capacity to employ the results obtained in order to provide analytic data.

The exam is done through a final exam divided into:

A) Oral test (score 60%)

B) The assessment and accreditation of the laboratory course (score 40%)

The final evaluation is integrated with module 1 and module 2 (single vote).

The Assessment and accreditation of the laboratory will be carried out as follows:
1- report of one of the experiments:
The student will write a report (free length) of one of the experiments in the laboratory (team leader role).(score 30%) 

2- assessment LABORATORY NOTEBOOK,  Good Laboratory Practice and  ability to team working and on-line training verification.

Each student must take his lab notebook that MUST be filled out in the laboratory in all its parts and signed at the end of the experience (by the teacher). The notebook must be of format A4, pages numbered, and with sheets not removable and must include in the first page name, number of the group and serial number. The student must report for each experiment the date, the room temperature and the annotations related to his lab role.(score 10%)

The overall evaluation of the laboratory will be performed with ratings in letters (from A to E), wherein (A) correspond to a good evaluation and (E) correspond to a low evaluation.

 

 

Teaching tools

Lectures and class-room activities are carried out with the help of transparencies and video-projection. The teaching material is available  to the students by on-line platform. Classroom Response Systems (“Clickers” e kahoot) will be used.

Office hours

See the website of Barbara Ballarin

SDGs

Quality education Gender equality Responsible consumption and production Climate Action

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.