EMU: Modernization of the IQ-USP Analytical Instrumentation Center analysis infrastructure

• Grant number: 23/17374-2
• Support Opportunities: Research Infrastructure Program - Small Medium Sized
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Roberto Kopke Salinas
• Grantee: Roberto Kopke Salinas
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Regina Lúcia Baldini ; Ricardo Jose Giordano ; Roberto Manuel Torresi ; Sandro Roberto Marana ; Shaker Chuck Farah ; Thiago Carita Correra

Abstract

The Analytical Instrumentation Center of the University of São Paulo or "Central Analítica" (CA) is a core facility that supports all research carried out at the Institute of Chemistry (IQ-USP). Founded in 1986, CA houses 37 large and medium-size equipment. CA instruments are made available to researchers from IQ-USP or from other institutions and also from companies. CA instruments have already been used by as many as 1940 researchers from public research institutions and 1046 companies. The facility impact may be measured by the number of published papers coming out of IQ-USP graduate programs in recent years. Since 2017, the graduate program in Chemistry resulted in 1535 papers, while the graduate program in Biochemistry resulted in 1016 papers, which gives an average of 425 published papers a year. The large majority of these publications used data obtained with CA instruments. CA has three large and important platforms: elemental analysis (CHN), thermal analysis (TGA) and mass spectrometry (MS). Altogether, these three platforms are extremely busy, carrying out 400 - 500 investigations a year for researchers in public institutions and companies. Each of these investigations may involve a large number of samples. In the case of the CHN, for example, approximately 20,000 samples have been analyzed in the last two years, with up to 60 runs conducted on this instrument daily. Even though a large number of researchers have benefited from these three platforms in recent years, today most of the equipment are either out of operation due to malfunction or experience frequent downtimes due to technical issues. This situation has been affecting all the research that depends on these analytical techniques. Therefore, the aim of this proposal is to recover and to modernize CA infrastructure in elemental analyses, thermal analyses and mass spectrometry. To this end we propose to acquire a new Exploris 120 mass spectrometer, a new FlashSmart CHN and a new TGA equipment to the Analytical Instrumentation Center of the University of São Paulo. (AU)