Lab

Analytical capabilities:

In collaboration with the Scientific and Technological Centers of the University of Barcelona, CCiTUB.

Conventional chemical analyses

• Major and trace elements in solution: ICP-OES, ICP-MS, AA, GC-MS, HPLC, etc.

Mineralogical and microscopic characterization

•   Mineralogical characterization (DRX, SEM-EDS, EPMA, FRX) and microscopic characterization (SEM, TEM, AFM) of ore and rock forming minerals
•   Fluid inclusion studies
•   Characterization of mineral rock alteration and durability in a construction context (slopes, concrete, etc.)
  

Isotopic analyses

• Water

δ¹⁸O and δ²H of water, for several types of water (freshwater, saline water, water contaminated with organic compounds, etc.)

• Dissolved species
  

δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O of dissolved nitrate, nitrite, ammonium and N₂O

δ³⁴S and δ¹⁸O of dissolved sulfate and hydrogen sulfide

δ¹³C of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), organic carbon (DOC) and CO₂

• Elemental analysis in solids

δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N in fertilizers, agricultural wastes, soils, sediments and biological samples (meat, fat, muscle, hair, etc.)

δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O in natural matrices

δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O in carbonate minerals and other natural matrices

δ³⁴S and δ¹⁸O in sulfates and sulfide minerals (barite, gypsum, pyrite, sphalerite, galena, etc.)

• Sequential extraction of specific compounds in solid matrices

δ³⁴S and δ¹⁸O in mine tailings (sulfide-sulfate), sediments, fertilizers (sulfate) and other residues

δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O in soils (nitrate-ammonium), fertilizers (nitrate-ammonium) and other residues

• Compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA)
  

δ¹³C of organic compounds in environmental matrices:

•        Chlorinated compounds: carbon tetrachloride (CT), chloroform (CF), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-1,2- dichloroethylene (c-DCE), etc.
•        Petroleum hydrocarbons: BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes)
•        Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
•        Oxygenated fuels: methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE)
  

δ²H of BTEX, MTBE, ETBE and PAHs

δ³⁷Cl of of chlorinated volatile organic compounds

Experimental capabilities:

•  Microcosms, batch, flow-through and column laboratory experiments under oxic/anoxic conditions

•  Characterization of contaminated sites. Field research and pilot-plant tests for natural and induced attenuation