News from LabRulezICPMS Library - Week 13, 2026

Our Library never stops expanding. What are the most recent contributions to LabRulezICPMS Library in the week of 23rd March 2026? Check out new documents from the field of spectroscopy/spectrometry and related techniques!

👉 SEARCH THE LARGEST REPOSITORY OF DOCUMENTS ABOUT SPECTROSCOPY/SPECTROMETRY RELATED TECHNIQUES

👉 Need info about different analytical techniques? Peek into LabRulezLCMS or LabRulezGCMS libraries.

This week we bring you application notes by LECO, Shimadzu and Waters Corporation and brochure by Thermo Fisher Scientific!

1. LECO: Determination of Nitrogen in Fertilizer

• Application note
• Full PDF for download

Nitrogen is one of the most important elements for plant development and is the macronutrient that is most often found to be deficient in arable soils used for crop production. Nitrogen plays a key role in the formation of enzymes and proteins, which promotes lush, vigorous growth and development in plants that often leads to an increase in the yield from the plant. Fertilizers are utilized to re-introduce nitrogen back into arable soils. Fertilizers can be grouped by their makeup and/or origins into categories including inorganic and/or synthetic (including nitrates, ammonium, and urea) and organic (including compost materials and manures). The accurate and precise determination of nitrogen in all fertilizer types is not only important in the process of blending and preparing the fertilizer material for use, but also will have significant impact on the commercial value and guarantee of the fertilizer. 

The CN928/FP928 is a macro combustion carbon and nitrogen/protein determinator that utilizes a pure oxygen environment in a high-temperature horizontal ceramic combustion furnace designed to handle macro sample mass. A thermoelectric cooler removes moisture from the combustion gases before they are collected in a ballast. The gases equilibrate and mix in the ballast before a representative aliquot (3 cm³ or 10 cm³ volume) of the gas is extracted and introduced into a flowing stream of inert gas (helium or argon) for analysis. The aliquot gas is carried to a thermal conductivity cell (TC) for the detection of nitrogen (N₂).

Instrument Model and Configuration 

Thermal conductivity detectors work by detecting changes in the thermal conductivity of the analyte gas compared to the constant thermal conductivity of the reference/carrier gas. The greater the difference between the thermal conductivity of the carrier gas and the analyte gas, the greater the sensitivity of the detector. The CN928/FP928 supports either the use of helium or argon as the instrument's carrier gas. When used as a carrier gas, helium provides the highest sensitivity, and the best performance at the lower limit of the nitrogen range. The thermal conductivity difference between argon and nitrogen is not as great as the thermal conductivity difference between helium and nitrogen, therefore the detector is inherently less sensitive when using argon as a carrier gas.

TYPICAL RESULTS 

Data was generated utilizing a single standard, forced through origin calibration using ~ 0.1 g of NIST 913b Uric Acid (33.23% N). Alternatively, LECO 503-530 LCRM Urea may be used for calibration.

2. Shimadzu: Evaluation of Microscopic Foreign Matter in Recycled Plastics Using Dynamic Image Analysis, Infrared Microscopy, and SEM-EDS

• Application note
• Full PDF for download

User Benefits

•  It is easy to evaluate the size and quantity of microscopic foreign particles, which are key quality criteria of recycled plastics.
• With the microcell method of DIA, microscopic foreign matter can be detected and counted quickly using a small sample quantity.
• Infrared microscope and SEM-EDS systems provide information about the morphology and composition of microscopic foreign matter that is useful for improving recycling processes.

One of the quality criteria for recycled plastic flakes and pellets is the content of foreign matter. Quantitatively evaluating the size and quantity of foreign particles contained in flakes and pellets is important for examining foreign matter removal processes intended to improve pellet quality and optimize manufacturing processesfor products made with recycled materials. 

In this article, pellets of virgin and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (hereafter PET) were dissolved in hexafluoro-2-propanol (hereafter HFIP), a solvent for dissolving PET, to prepare suspensions of insoluble microscopic foreign particles. These suspensions were measured with a dynamic particle image analysis (DIA) system (iSpect DIA-10) to evaluate the size and number of insoluble microscopic foreign particles (patent pending). In addition, part of the suspensions were diluted tenfold and filtered through a membrane filter to collect the insoluble microscopic foreign particles on the filter. The morphology and composition of the collected microscopic foreign particles were evaluated using a digital microscope, an infrared microscope system (IRTracer-100 and AIM-9000), and an SEM-EDS system. These evaluations enabled comparison of the sizes, quantities, and types of foreign particles contained in virgin and recycled materials.

Conclusion 

By using an iSpect DIA-10 system to measure suspensions prepared by dissolving two types of PET pellets (virgin and recycled) in HFIP, we obtained particle images of insoluble foreign matter and evaluated size and concentration of particles. That enabled quantitative comparison of particle size and count in microscopic foreign matter contained in virgin and recycled materials. 

In addition, after diluting the pellet suspensions, the insoluble microscopic foreign matter in the diluted suspensions was collected on filters. The morphology and composition of the microscopic foreign matter were evaluated using an infrared microscope and SEM-EDS system. The results indicated that the suspensions contained organic substances, such as cellulose and amide-based compounds, and inorganic substances and metals that contain elements such as C, O, Ca, and Al (suggestive of carbonates and metallic aluminum). 

Thus, the iSpect DIA-10 enables simple quantitative evaluation of the size and number of microscopic foreign particles in PET pellets using only small sample quantities. Furthermore, composition evaluation by infrared microscope and SEM-EDS systems provides useful information for investigating the origin of foreign matter, examining measures to reduce foreign matter, and evaluating impacts on final products. If similarities in size and shape are observed, particle images obtained with iSpect DIA-10 can also potentially be used to estimate particle composition.

3. Thermo Fisher Scientific: Ensuring safer and effective pharmaceutical formulations by X-ray diffraction

• Brochures and specifications
• Full PDF for download

From drug discovery and preformulation studies to the efficient scaling up in the manufacturing process in the plant and finally through QA/QC validation, X-ray diffraction (XRD) is a vital analysis method in the characterization of different physico-chemical properties of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). XRD is a gold standard method and required technique in the determination of polymorphic and salt screening, % of crystallinity and stability/reactivity studies of the final API. 

Thermo Scientific™ SolstiX™ XRD Software with Security Suite extends ARL EQUINOX 100 X-ray Diffractometers to 21 CFR Part 11 regulated labs 

• Protect stored electronic data related to quality assurance within manufacturer’s computer systems 
• Put controls in place to keep records authentic, incorruptible, and confidential 
• Electronic signatures for the user to take responsibility for the electronic data in the system 
• Requirements in the data record: date and time of scan, name of the unique signer, and technological controls to ensure security (e.g. passwords) 

Thermo Scientific™ ARL™ EQUINOX 100 X-ray benchtop diffractometer is designed to exceed your analytical needs 

• Ideally suited for rapid screening of various formulations, finger printing or detection of counterfeit products 
• Polymorphism and crystallinity determination, crystallite size calculation, quantitative phase analysis, reactivity and stability of materials, etc. 
• XRD experiments on standard powders, bulks, tablets, small quantities, etc. 
• Real-time full pattern XRD based on our unique PSD detector technology 
• X-ray source based on micro-source technology with no external water cooling
• Unique dual-mode capability: reflection and/or transmission 

Thermo Scientific™ ARL™ EQUINOX 100 XRD for structural analysis 

• Easy-to-use simultaneous full pattern XRD based on unique real time PSD detector technology 
• Unique dual-mode capability on a benchtop XRD instrument: reflection and/or transmission mode 
• XRD experiments on various samples with sample spinner, capillary stage, sample changer or in controlled environment

Top XRD benefits for pharma 

• Structural characterization technique 
• Nondestructive technique 
• Small amount of sample needed for analysis 
• Unique diffraction patterns and quick response 
• Analysis on mixtures as well as amorphous content 
• Easy determination of induced structural changes

4. Waters Corporation: SIMI: A Different Approach to Revealing Dangerous Subvisible Impurities

• Application note
• Full PDF for download

Foreign particulate matter, also known as extrinsic particles, has become a serious threat to patient safety in recent years, with cases linked to severe immunogenic reactions, deaths, and costly recalls.¹ In 2021 alone, Takeda recalled 1.6 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccine in Japan after several patient deaths were linked to steel particulates shed from a malfunctioning pump.² Over the span of seven years, from 2014–2017, there were more than 110 drug recalls as a result of glass delamination,^3–4 and several more due to remnant crystals,⁵ owing to the difficulty of identifying the presence and source of foreign particulate matter. To prevent against such threats, manufacturers require high throughput technologies to better identify foreign particulate matter in real time.

Results and Discussion

Shining a Light on Extrinsic Particles with SIMI

Side illumination membrane imaging (SIMI) is a proprietary illumination, imaging, and analysis technique exclusively available to Aura instruments. Utilizing the principles of darkfield microscopy,⁶ SIMI is conducted on an Aura membrane plate using an oblique illumination source which emits light at an angle parallel to the surface of the plate. 

Compared to backgrounded membrane imaging (BMI), which utilizes brightfield microscopy (epi-illumination) where particles scatter the incident light isotropically (i.e., at all angles), side illumination membrane maging (SIMI) is a technique that is specifically designed to detect light scattering from high refractive index particles, as well as those that protrude out of the plane from the membrane surface. A particle’s average SIMI intensity is measured in a relative scale where the inherent SIMI scattering of the membrane is defined as SIMI = 0. Positive SIMI values indicate particles protruding out of the membrane, as is the case with microplastics, fibers, and other common extrinsic particles, whose average SIMI intensities vary from 0–255. On some occasions, like with metallic particles and absorbing oils, particles will have reduced light refraction relative to the membrane and thus display negative SIMI values, varying from 0 to -122. 

The majority of foreign, extrinsic particles exhibit a high refractive index and are mechanically rigid in structure, causing them to protrude from the membrane surface and scatter side illumination to a high degree, ideal for SIMI analysis. In contrast, biologic particles exhibit the opposite properties—low refractive index and malleable structures, causing them to lie flat with minimal side scatter profiles, which is best analyzed with BMI or fluorescence membrane microscopy (FMM). Utilizing all three microscopy approaches is most ideal to facilitate the determination of all extrinsic (non-biologic) and inherent (biologic) particles in biologic formulations.

Conclusion 

SIMI is a unique approach to providing additional characterization of subvisible particles and is available in all Aura models to help rapidly identify foreign material in biological samples with a high degree of specificity. A key tertiary imaging mode in addition to BMI and FMM, SIMI provides selective, orthogonal morphological information to identify tall and rigid materials, a defining feature of most extrinsic particles (Figure 11). While particle sizing and counting is done via BMI, SIMI provides illumination, imaging, and analysis that can be useful across a variety of biological products to reveal foreign subvisible particles from the earliest to the latest of stages in the bioprocess.