ISOTOPE CLEAN LAB
Description
The Isotope Clean Lab is a 600 square foot clean chemistry lab with seven Class-100 workspaces for preparation of rock, mineral, soil, plant and water samples for chemical and isotopic analysis under low-contamination conditions. As a basic component of the Banner group's research programs, the lab is used to
The lab contains the following:
HEPA-filtered, laminar-flow work areas, for sample preparation or column chemistry
Hot plates in HEPA-filtered, laminar-flow environments for sample reaction and dry-down
Wash-down exhaust hood for perchloric acid use
Teflon stills for the preparation of ultra-clean reagents
Electronic analytical and top-loading balances
NANO-pure deionizing water purification system
Enriched isotope spikes and standard solutions are available in this lab for isotope composition and isotope dilution analysis of U-series isotopes, Rb-Sr, and rare earth elements (including Sm-Nd). Samples for Sr isotopic analysis may be purified using either EIChroM SR-spec resin or conventional cation resin. Methyllactic acid (HIBA) and HDEHP columns are available for REE chemistry; and U/Th/Pb chemistry is performed on anion resin columns. The lab is currently achieving blanks of <5 pg for Sr and <2 pg for U and Th.
Training
In order to be able to work in the lab, you need to complete some lab safety
courses. You are required to take
1) Online Hazard Communication class,
2) Online General Lab Safety class. Classes 1 and 2 can be accessed at:
http://www.utexas.edu/safety/ehs/train/,
3) The fire extinguisher class (not online but only takes an hour --schedule is
at
http://www.utexas.edu/safety/ehs/train/courses.html
4) Site specific training (hazard communication). You will need to schedule this
directly with Jay Banner after you have completed the online courses.
If you will be conducting U and Th isotope analyses, then you will need to take an additional Radiation Safety course. UT's radiation safety manual, the reference for this course, can be downloaded here.
Links
Thermal ionization mass spectrometer
Isotope geochemistry programs at UT Austin
Office of Environmental Health and Safety at UT Austin (Laboratory Safety Manual online)