Institute for Advanced Learning and Research
Driving Economic Transformation
The March 2024 edition of IALR at a Glance is jam-packed with exciting news and updates! Learn more about…
Local growers who need to verify the percentage of cannabinoids in a batch of industrial hemp.
Government agencies that need to examine the makeup of groundwater or identify if any heavy metals are present in a soil sample.
Startup companies that need to quantify the efficacy of products under development or obtain a certificate of analysis for batches of products on the way to market.
Multi-billion-dollar corporations from around the world that need an extremely specialized, customized set of product verification and quality control tests.
These are some of the primary client groups that use the reliable, unique and affordable testing services and capabilities offered by the Analytical Chemistry Lab at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR). Utilizing some of the most sophisticated and effective commercially available chemistry testing equipment, the IALR Chemistry Lab supports various industries regionally and globally with methodology development and chemical testing services.
“The IALR Analytical Chemistry Lab provides testing services that give clients the data that they need to move forward. What sets our lab apart is that we provide those services at a high level and a low cost.” – Dr. Scott Lowman, Vice President of Applied Research, IALR
At its core, analytical chemistry involves determining the exact chemical composition of a material. This means both identifying every chemical present and quantifying the volume of each.
To complete that level of analysis, the first – and generally more involved – step is to break down a material to its base components or chemicals. This step involves chromatography, which is the process of separating the chemicals.
Once all the base components are separated, chemical detection can commence. Staff in the Analytical Chemistry Lab utilize a mass spectrometer to identify every chemical. One of the most effective mass spectrometers available, the Waters® Tandem Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (TQXS MS) can recognize components in the parts per billion, allowing for identification and analysis of trace amounts of any chemical.
The types of testing services that the IALR Analytical Chemistry Lab provides can be divided in two distinct ways:
Some clients need a one-time test run on a particular sample. For example, a government agency might need to examine heavy metals in a soil sample. Or a company may want to reverse engineer a product to determine its chemical composition.
On the other hand, many companies provide products for regular quality control testing. The chemistry team would provide a certificate of analysis that validates product claims, making it more valuable to the consumer.
Every client of the Analytical Chemistry Lab utilizes its chemical analysis capabilities on some level. The chemical analysis can range from a series of procedures that examine a single analyte to tests that scan for hundreds of different analytes at the same time.
What makes this lab unique, however, is the ability to provide methodology development to determine what types of tests and processes would work for a given material and client need. There is not a single test or process that works for every material, which is why the chemistry team often must develop an individual method for different clients.
“We’re willing to work closely with our clients to develop methodologies and targeted analysis specific to their needs.” – Yimeng “Jack” He, Senior Analytical Chemist, IALR
| Waters® ACQUITY UPLC (Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatograph) system coupled with Tandem Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (TQXS MS) |
| Waters® ACQUITY UPLC system coupled with a Photodiode Array (PDA) Detector and XEVO Quadrupole Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer (QToF MS) |
| Agilent® 7890 Gas Chromatograph (GC) with Agilent 5975C Mass Spectrometer (MS)and Flame Ionization Detector (FID) with the 7696A Headspace Sampler add-on |
| Agilent® 7800 Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer |
| Agilent® 1100 HPLC with Diode Array Detector (DAD) |
| Astoria Pacific® A2 Segmented Flow Analyzer coupled with an Astoria Pacific 311 autosampler |
| CEM® MARS 6 Microwave Extractor |
| Teledyne® Flash Chromatograph |
| Two Heidolph® 2-liter bench-top rotary evaporators |
The Analytical Chemistry Lab at IALR supports an exceptionally diverse pool of clients, which can broadly be grouped into a few categories:
Since 2019, IALR’s Analytical Chemistry Lab has been certified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) to test for cannabinoids in industrial hemp. As one of the few labs in the Commonwealth of Virginia that can issue certificates of analysis for hemp, growers from around Southern Virginia come to IALR for those needs.
“A grower’s livelihood is on the line, so we are very proud to be selected as one of the few labs that can be entrusted with this type of testing.” – Yimeng “Jack” He, Senior Analytical Chemist, IALR
The Analytical Chemistry Lab supports companies from around the world across numerous industries, including agricultural, biotech, chemical, pharmaceutical and natural product industries. Services include Quality Control (QC) testing and QC release, stability studies, method development and optimization and validation.
One regular client is Mara Labs – a relatively young startup company based in Charlottesville, Va., that produces health supplements. After conducting its own internal tests, the company sends samples of its BrocElite® supplement to the IALR Analytical Chemistry Lab for confirmatory testing of the percentage of Stabilized Sulforaphane – a chemical that comes from vegetables like broccoli. Once a sample’s actual chemical makeup is confirmed to match the label, IALR provides a certificate of analysis.
“In terms of quality control, we are making sure that our products are in good shape for the customer. Jack and the team are helping us to achieve that goal.” – Wei Zheng, Lab Technician, Mara Labs
In addition to the frequent confirmatory tests for the BrocElite® supplement, He has worked with the company to develop new methods for several other newer products.
“There’s all different types of methods that you have to go through to get the extraction process for different materials. It takes individualized methods to do that.” – Yimeng “Jack” He, Senior Analytical Chemist, IALR
In addition to all the services provided to clients from around the world, the Analytical Chemistry Lab supports the innovative plant-oriented research happening on the IALR campus. While most chemistry labs are oriented towards water, air or material analysis, the IALR lab is ideally suited for plants – making it unique.
Even though it is a critical part of IALR’s Applied Research division, the Analytical Chemistry Lab is not a traditional research lab. However, its capabilities do support the ongoing research of both the Plant Endophyte Research Center – an initiative focused on the use of naturally occurring plant bacteria as biostimulants and biocontrol agents – and the Virginia Tech-IALR Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Innovation Center.
An example: the Plant Endophyte Research Center is exploring ways to utilize microorganisms to help plants capture nitrogen from the air. The air is approximately 78% nitrogen, but plants cannot naturally pull nitrogen from the air; nitrogen is one of the costliest and environmentally damaging fertilizers. Some microorganisms (like endophytes) can help that process, and the Chemistry team is developing a specific methodology to see if the bacteria in experiments are fixing nitrogen from the air.
“When you combine our controlled environment agriculture work with our analytical chemistry and our capabilities in biology, it really makes the CEA Innovation Center unique in the U.S. The fact that we have everything together enriches all our programs.” – Dr. Scott Lowman, Vice President of Applied Research, IALR
The “Inside IALR” team sits down with Senior Analytical Chemist, Yimeng “Jack” He, and Vice President of Applied Research, Dr. Scott Lowman, to discuss what analytical chemistry is (1:02). They discuss the primary capabilities and services offered by IALR’s chemistry lab such as Quality Control (QC) testing, stability studies, method development, and optimization and validation (2:21). Jack highlights some of the different pieces of equipment in the lab (9:05) and explains how it compares to other chemistry labs. Dr. Lowman also highlights the differences between fundamental and applied research (25:03) and how the analytical chemistry lab factors into IALR’s other research initiatives.
