A snapshot of atomic and elemental analysis on the nanoscale

Some months ago, the Editorial Board of JAAS discussed the possibility of a themed issue on an aspect of analysis at the nano level. It seemed clear that the area of nanoscience was one of great interest, and that there was considerable value in collecting together papers which looked at the emerging number of ways in which atomic spectrometry techniques could be employed to study nanoparticles.

We were fortunate to secure some great Guest Editors to help shape the issue: Petra Krystek, Zoltán Mester and Kay Niemax. Dr Petra Krystek is a principal scientist in analytical chemistry with a special focus on elemental and speciation analysis, she is a visiting scientist at VU University, Amsterdam, Netherlands. She has a strong focus on trace analysis by general atom spectrometric techniques, and recent studies include the method development for the determination of engineered nanoparticles by ICP-MS. Dr Zoltán Mester is leader of the Chemical Metrology program at the National Research Council Canada, and carries out research on trace element speciation, on-line sample preparation for atomic spectrometry, and nanoscale chemical imaging. Professor Kay Niemax is a Wilhelm Ostwald Fellow at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Berlin, Germany, and has published extensively on many aspects of atomic spectrometry, including the capabilities of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for the detection of nanoparticles.

The papers presented in this issue come from authors invited by the Guest Editors and from additional authors who wished to contribute. There is an overview from David Hahn and colleagues on the use of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for analysis of micro- and nanoparticles, and one from Mathias Senoner on applications of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) for imaging on the nanoscale. Prasoon Diwakar and Pramod Kulkarni, and Carsten Engelhard and co-workers consider the preparation stage, with papers on a novel aerosol preconcentration method and a comparison of three sample introduction systems, respectively.

Fundamentals of nanoanalysis are also tackled. John Olesik and Patrick Gray discuss the unique considerations required in order to measure nanoparticles and microparticles using ICP-MS with sequential detection; Denise Mitrano and colleagues look at the effects of coincidence in analysis of highly polydisperse nanoparticles by single particle ICP-MS. Finally, applications in the area of nanoanalysis feature in a number of papers. Heidi Goenaga-Infante and Volker Nischwitz present the first systematic comparison and optimisation of extraction methods for the characterisation of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in sunscreens using FFF-ICP-MS; Heung Bin Lim and Jae-Young Joo investigate the determination of holoceruloplasmin in serum using laser ablation ICP-MS with microarray chip sampling. James Ranville and co-workers consider methods to detect, quantify, and characterise engineered nanoparticles in environmental matrices as an area of high-priority, whilst Andrea Ulrich and colleagues look at the analysis of engineered nanomaterials, a fast growing analytical research field.

Our thanks go to the Guest Editors for their efforts in putting this issue together, and to all the authors for their contributions. We hope you enjoy this collection of articles, which we present not as a complete picture of atomic nanoanalysis but rather as a snapshot of this exciting area of research.

May Copsey, Editor, JAAS and Vibhuti Patel, Deputy Editor, JAAS, on behalf of the Guest Editors.

Kay Niemax

Petra Krystek

Zoltán Mester

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