Detection sensitive

In this section some facts will be given and some estimations will be made which will substantiate the problems outlined above and which will help to give an impression about the influence of changes in the film system on the detection sensitivity. 

The detection sensitivity of radiography is related among others to the properties and quality of industrial x-ray film systems. Changes of the products, variations due to different emulsions and combinations of products of different manufacturers can influence the decisive properties of film systems as classified in EN 584-1.To ensure the quality of industrial x-ray film systems a system for quality assurance open to all interested parties is proposed which is based on periodical round robin tests and quality controls of the manufacturer or an independent third party institution. 

With spectroscopic detection of the products, the angular distribution of the products is usually not measured. In principle, spectroscopic detection of the products can be incorporated into a crossed-beam scattering experiment of the type described in section B2.3.2. There have been relatively few examples of such studies because of the great demands on detection sensitivity. The recent work of Keil and co-workers (Dhannasena et al [16]) on the F + H2 reaction, mentioned in section B2.3.3, is an excellent example of the implementation... 

In the ideal case for REMPI, the efficiency of ion production is proportional to the line strength factors for 2-photon excitation [M], since the ionization step can be taken to have a wavelength- and state-mdependent efficiency. In actual practice, fragment ions can be produced upon absorption of a fouitli photon, or the ionization efficiency can be reduced tinough predissociation of the electronically excited state. It is advisable to employ experimentally measured ionization efficiency line strengdi factors to calibrate the detection sensitivity. With sufficient knowledge of the excited molecular electronic states, it is possible to understand the state dependence of these intensity factors [65]. 

Thermospray nebulizers are somewhat expensive but can be used on-line to a liquid chromatographic column. About 10% of sample solution is transferred to the plasma flame. The overall performance of the thermospray device compares well with pneumatic and ultrasonic sprays. When used with microbore liquid chromatographic columns, which produce only about 100 pl/min of eluant, the need for spray and desolvation chambers is reduced, and detection sensitivities similar to those of the ultrasonic devices can be attained both are some 20 times better than the sensitivities routinely found in pneumatic nebulizers. 

The sensitivity equation can be developed by differentiating equation 4 with respect to J. Since the signal is proportional to J and detection is defined as to when the measured signal to noise ratio equals 3, the gas detection sensitivity (ppm) in terms of the NEP for gas detection becomes ... 

As femtomolar detection of analytes become more routine, the goal is to achieve attomolar (10 molar) analyte detection, corresponding to the detection of thousands of molecules. Detection sensitivity is enhanced if the noise ia the analytical system can be reduced. System noise consists of two types, extrinsic and intrinsic. Intrinsic aoise, which represents a fundamental limitation linked to the probabiHty of finding the analyte species within the excitation and observation regions of the iastmment, cannot be eliminated. However, extrinsic aoise, which stems from light scatteriag and/or transient electronic sources, can be alleviated. 

The limitations of SIMS - some inherent in secondary ion formation, some because of the physics of ion beams, and some because of the nature of sputtering - have been mentioned in Sect. 3.1. Sputtering produces predominantly neutral atoms for most of the elements in the periodic table the typical secondary ion yield is between 10 and 10 . This leads to a serious sensitivity limitation when extremely small volumes must be probed, or when high lateral and depth resolution analyses are needed. Another problem arises because the secondary ion yield can vary by many orders of magnitude as a function of surface contamination and matrix composition this hampers quantification. Quantification can also be hampered by interferences from molecules, molecular fragments, and isotopes of other elements with the same mass as the analyte. Very high mass-resolution can reject such interferences but only at the expense of detection sensitivity. 

The measuring procedure used must be appropriate to the chemical agent to be measured, its limit value, and the wotkplace atmosphere so that the results show the concentration of the agent in the same terms as the limit value. Also, the limits of detection, sensitivity, and precision of the measuring procedure must be appropriate to the limit value. 

The separation is already complete when detection is undertaken The solvent has been evaporated off, the substance is present finely distributed in the adsorbent For a given amount of substance the smaller the chromatogram zone the greater is the concentration and, hence, the detection sensitivity For this reason substances with low Rf values are more intensely colored than those present in the same quantity which migrate further... 

More sensitive detection methods and more objective recording methods (e g the employment of scanners) are constantly been striven for m order to overcome this illusion It IS for this reason too that fluorescent methods have been introduced to an increasing extent on account of their higher detection sensitivity This allows an appreciable reduction in the amount of sample applied, so that possible interfering substances are also present m smaller quantibes This increases the quality of the chromatographic separation and the subsequent m situ analysis... 

The reagent can be applied to silica gel, kieselguhr. Si 50 000, RP and CN layers. The detection sensitivity is reduced by a factor of 100 on cellulose layers NH2 layers are not suitable, as would be expected. 

Occasionally, instead of dipping solution I it may be advisable to employ the following alternative dipping solution la mixed with citrate buffer in order to increase the detection sensitivity (e.g. with nitrazepam) [1]. 

Note Rhodamine B is a universal reagent that can be used on silica gel, talc, starch [5] and cellulose layers, just as on urea [1] or silver nitrate-impregnated [7] phases. Liquid paraffin-impregnated silica gel and RP layers are less suitable, since the background to the chromatographic zones is also intensely colored. It is often possible to increase the detection sensitivity by placing the plate in an atmosphere of ammonia after it has been sprayed or dipped, alternatively it can be oversprayed with sodium or potassium hydroxide solution. 

It is often possible to increase the detection sensitivity in visible light by exposing the dipped or sprayed chromatogram to ammonia vapors it can also be sprayed with caustic soda or potash solution. When this is done the fluorescence intensity is reduced on silica gel layers and increased on RP ones. 

The reaction of ort/io-phthalaldehyde and a thiol compound with an amino acid to form an isoindole derivative can be used to enhance the detection sensitivity for the normally only weakly UV-detectable amino acid compounds, and to introduce an... 

The chromatogram was then placed in a twin-trough chamber with ca. 10 ml ammonia solution (25%) to increase the sensitivity. Afterwards the chromatogram zones were red in the case of oryzalin, nitralin, dinitramin, pendimethalin, butralin and fluchloralin and yellowish-brown in the case of isopropalin and trifluralin (Fig. IB). The detection sensitivity was sometimes increased and sometimes decreased (Table 1). 

Care must be exercised in the choice of acid employed in chloramine T — mineral acid reagent since the detection sensitivity and also the color of the fluorescences produced depend to a significant extent on the choice of acid. This is illustrated for the purine derivatives caffeine, theobromine and theophylline in Figure 1 and Table 1. 

The phenols pyrocatechol, resorcinol and hydroquinone can be detected with all chloramine T reagents. The detection sensitivity is about the same with chloramine T - sodium hydroxide and chloramine T - trichloroacetic acid. In all cases the detection limits are ca. 75 ng substance per chromatogram zone after the plate has been subsequently dipped in a paraffin oil solution. Somewhat less favorable detection limits of 150 to 200 ng substance per chromatogram zone are obtained after treatment with chloramine T - hydrochloric acid and chloramine T - sulfuric acid. 

Fig. 1 Comparison of the detection sensitivity after derivatization of three purine derivatives with chloramine T - sulfuric acid (A) and chloramine T - hydrochloric acid (B). Measurement X. (. = 365 nm, A.(, = 440 nm (monochromatic filter M 440) 1 = theophylline, 2 = theobromine, 3 = caffeine.

Note It is reported that the use of chlorobenzene as solvent is essential when the reagent is to be used to detect aromatic amines [1]. In the case of steroids, penicillins, diuretics and alkaloids the reaction should be accelerated and intensified by spraying afterwards with dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) or dimethylformamide (DMF), indeed this step makes it possible to detect some substances when this would not otherwise be possible [5,9-11] this latter treatment can, like heating, cause color changes [5,9]. Penicillins and diuretics only exhibit weak reactions if not treated afterwards with DMF [10, 11]. Steroids alone also yield colored derivatives with DMSO [9]. Tlreatment afterwards with diluted sulfuric acid (c = 2 mol/L) also leads to an improvement in detection sensitivity in the case of a range of alkaloids. In the case of pyrrolizidine alkaloids it is possible to use o-chloranil as an alternative detection reagent however, in this case it is recommended that the plate be treated afterwards with a solution of 2 g 4-(dimethyl-amino)-benzaldehyde and 2 ml boron trifluoride etherate in 100 ml anhydrous ethanol because otherwise the colors initially produced with o-chloranil rapidly fade [12]. 

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