The UD Environmental Isotope Science Laboratory occupies two separate laboratory spaces: the Isotope-Ratio Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (~2,000 sq ft) and the Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory (~650 sq ft). Instrumentation that is currently house in these two laboratories is listed below:
Isotope-Ratio Mass Spectrometry Laboratory
- Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Exploris 240 (installed March 2023).
- Thermo ScientificDelta V Plus isotope-ratio mass spectrometer with dual-inlet (installed 2019); Conflo-IV reference interface; EA Isolink NCS elemental analyzer with zero-blank autosampler; TC/EA OH elemental analyzer.
- Thermo Scientific Delta V Plus isotope-ratio mass spectrometer (installed 2015); Conflo-IV reference interface; Trace 1310 gas chromatograph with programmable PTV injector; ISQ II LT single quadrupole mass spectrometr; GC Isolink II combustion/thermal conversion preparation device; TriPlus autosampler.
- Thermo Scientific Delta V Plus isotope-ratio mass spectrometer (installed in 2014; moved to present location 2019); Conflo-IV reference interface; Costech elemental analyzer; Thermo thermal conversion/elemental analyzer (TC/EA); Gas Bench II® automated gas handling system; PAL autosampler.
- Carlo-Erba Instruments NCS-2500 elemental analyzer; custom-built system for purification and isotope ratio analysis of Cl as methyl chloride.
- Los Gatos Enhanced Performance Liquid-Water Isotope Analyzer model LWIA-24 with autoinjector for measurement of hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in water.
- Dionex ICS-2000 Ion Chromatograph.
Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory
- High-purity Ge detector system for gamma spectrometry: ORTEC well-geometry Ge detector systems (15-mm well diameter, 25% relative efficiency at 1.33 MeV) housed in low-background 10-cm lead shield, with DSPEC-series digital signal analyzer interfaced with Maestro-2000 multichannel analyzer software package for data acquisition.
Both laboratories are served by
- Wet chemistry facilities equipped with multiple fume hoods, furnaces, ovens, macro- and micro-balances, small and large centrifuges, various glass and Teflon labware, ultrapure deionized water systems, ion-exchange resins, vacuum manifold for sample preparation, glass-blowing bench.
- An extensive set of isotopic reference materials from NIST, IAEA, USGS, ISL, and other for analysis of stable isotope ratios of H, C, N, O, S, and Cl, as well as radioactivity of the U- and Th-series radioisotopes and 137-Cs.
The Isotope-Ratio Mass Spectrometry laboratory of the Environmental Isotope Science Laboratory is located in Room 251 of the Harker Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (ISE) Laboratory building at 221 Academy Street, Newark, DE. This 194,000 sq. ft. LEED Silver-certified building was completed in Fall 2013 as a well-designed hub for promoting cross-disciplinary research and education. The Harker ISE Lab also contains extensive core analytical facilities including the Advanced Materials Characterization Laboratory (amcl.udel.edu), the Keck Center for Advanced Microscopy and Microanalysis (camm.udel.edu), and the Nanofabrication Facility (udnf.udel.edu). In addition, the Harker ISE Lab houses the offices of the Delaware Environmental Institute (denin.udel.edu) that connects a broad group of environmental researchers throughout Delaware. The Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory is located on the ground floor of Penny Hall, at 255 Academy Street, Newark DE, which also houses the Department of Earth Sciences.
