Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

This proposal requests funding for an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICPMS) to be installed in the Department of Chemistry at UBC. The instrument will be used to measure the presence of metals in a variety of samples, at so-called trace or ultra-trace levels. Trace concentrations can be as low as 1 part per billion. Searching for 6 specific people within the world's population is an analogy for 1 part per billion. Ultra-trace levels are one thousand times lower in concentration. ICPMS instruments have the capability to make sensitive measurements such as these, and to do so accurately.***No instrument with similar capability exists in any of the applicants' laboratories or in the Chemistry Department at UBC. The requested instrument will have the performance required for current research such as the reduction of signal from interfering atoms/molecules, high tolerance for 'dirty' samples and the ability to measure single particles at a time.***The new instrument will be used primarily by researchers affiliated with the Chemistry department at UBC: researchers in the field of functionalized polymer synthesis (Schafer, Gates, Mehrkhodavandi) as well as scientists in the field of biological chemistry working with macromolecules like enzymes, proteins and peptides (Brumer, Murphy, Perrin) require access to such instrumentation to detect and quantify trace metals in these aterials. ***The proposed ICPMS instrument will allow these researchers, and others at UBC, to advance understanding of what's happening at the sub-microscopic scale in chemical reactions and this infrastructure will support the development of improved ways to isolate and purify these materials. This will allow the research to be published in top scientific journals and will provide critical data requested by potential users of these innovations for commercial applications. ***The ICPMS will be located in an existing multi-user facility with user-fee, management and maintenance protocols in place to ensure longevity of the instrument. Expert facility managers will ensure that significant numbers of young scientists can be trained to use the proposed cutting-edge ICPMS instrument, thereby learning trace metal analysis skills that are very widely applicable in our society.**