What is ICP-OES?
In ICP-OES, an argon plasma (partially ionized gas) reaching temperatures as high as 10,000 K (17,540 oF) atomizes, ionizes and excites elements such as copper, manganese, and zinc. The excited atoms emit radiation in a process very similar to the way fireworks produce light. The ICP-OES instrument detected this radiation and used it to determine how much copper, manganese, and zinc were present in the Mycosorb Environmental team’s samples.
What is ICP-MS?
ICP-MS uses the same argon plasma and the same high temperature as ICP-OES, but rather than detecting the radiation emitted by the atoms, the instrument measures the ions (atoms with an extra positive charge) produced in the plasma.
The Obstacle
Imagine the 35th Waste-Management and Education Research Conference (WERC), a national engineering competition, is rapidly approaching. Your team, Mycosorb Environmental, is using fungi to absorb metals from mining waters, but culture after culture gets contaminated and doesn’t grow well due to temperature and humidity issues. You finally get your mycoremediation columns up and running, and now you can’t find an instrument to identify and quantitate the metals. When you finally find one, it isn’t working!
Testing at the Wadsworth Center
Left to right: Dr. George Donati and Research Scientist Ashley Andrews by an ICP-OES instrument in the Laboratory of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry.
That’s when four resilient Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) students, Chloe Sharp -Team Lead, Jadyn Baidoo-Davis, Sophia Noonan, Indigo Suchar and their advisor Dr. Eyosias Ashenafi, reached out to Dr. George Donati of the Wadsworth Center’s Laboratory of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry.
Dr. Donati and Research Scientist Ashley Andrews routinely use inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) to monitor drinking water and aid in drinking water investigations. For the RPI team, they tested influent and effluent water after one, two and three cycles through their two-column mycoremediation system, finding 10% removal on each pass, with reduction after three passes of 38% for copper, 21% for manganese, and 30% for zinc.
Time to Go
The team had planned several iterations of testing and optimizing, but there was no time. Some modifications were made after receiving the results from the Wadsworth Center, then the group packed up their columns for the bench scale demonstration and shipped them to New Mexico.
At the Conference
Top image: Bench scale demonstration with column - Sophia Noonan, Chloe Sharp, Jadyn Baidoo-Davis, Indigo Suchar.
Bottom image: Poster presentation - Jadyn Baidoo-Davis, Sophia Noonan, Chloe Sharp, Indigo Suchar.
At the conference, contaminated water samples were put through their columns and tested by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Team Mycosorb Environmental also prepared a technical report, exhibited a poster, gave an oral presentation and participated in two Flash Pitch Competition rounds. Experts in business and environmental engineering judged the performance of the bench scale system and the team’s plan for full-scale implementation.
Awards
Indigo Suchar took third place out of 31 teams in the Flash Pitch Competition. Chloe Sharp received the Terry McManus Memorial Outstanding Student Award for demonstrating a commitment to improving the environment through community projects and a history of research. And not surprisingly, the RPI team received the Judges’ Choice Award for submitting a good design, even though they had to overcome obstacles to do it.
Our Mission
For over a century, the Wadsworth Center has been committed to training the next generation of scientists. Today we educate postdoctoral and other fellows, as well as doctoral, master’s and undergraduate students. Dr. Donati and Ashley continue this tradition.
RPI’s Mycosorb Environmental Team at the WERC Conference with their awards.
Back left to right: Sophia Noonan, Jadyn Baidoo-Davis and advisor Dr. Eyosias Ashenafi.
Front left to right: Indigo Suchar and Chloe Sharp -Team Lead
Note: This content has been reviewed, approved, and is being reproduced with permission from all members of the Mycosorb Environmental Team and from Dr. Eyosias Ashenafi.