Guo Dongfa urged domestic mass spectrometry instrument development

The Institute of Analytical Testing of the Beijing Institute of Geological Sciences of the Nuclear Industry is one of the most comprehensive inorganic mass spectrometers in the country. In the late 1970s, the Beijing Institute of Geology in the Nuclear Industry began the application research of mass spectrometry in this field. Has a profound technical accumulation. Today, the number of samples taken by the Institute of Analysis and Testing of the Beijing Geological Institute of the Nuclear Industry every year from all over the country and abroad amounts to 100,000 pieces.

Guo Dongfa currently serves as the deputy chief engineer of the Beijing Institute of Geology in the nuclear industry and director of the Analytical Testing Institute. At the National Conference on Inorganic and Isotope Mass Spectrometry, Guo Dongfa appealed to the participants to use more domestic mass spectrometry instruments. At that time, he left a deep impression on the author.

Recently, the editor of Instrument Information Network made a special interview with Guo Dongfa and asked him to introduce us to his current major research work, the application of mass spectrometry in the field of nuclear geological analysis, and the views and suggestions on the development of home-made mass spectrometers.

Guo Dongfa, director of the Institute of Analysis and Testing of the Beijing Institute of Geology, Nuclear Industry, has been focusing on the application of inorganic mass spectrometry in the field of geological analysis for 30 years. In 1984, Guo Dongfa entered the university to study analytical tests. After graduating, he worked in the field of nuclear geological analysis, including 2003- In 2005, he served as an IAEA weapons inspection expert. In the past 30 years, he has engaged in technical work involving inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy and flow injection and hydride generation, alpha & gamma spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, particle isotope analysis, and laser induced breakdown spectroscopy. , thermal ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, laser time-of-flight mass spectrometry, standardization of analytical methods, and standard substance studies, etc. The main research subjects are tantalum and actinide elements.

Since 2001, Guo Dongfa has been responsible for the work of the Institute of Analysis and Testing of the Beijing Institute of Geology in the nuclear industry. He is currently focusing on the development of mass spectrometry techniques in nuclear geological analysis and the development of mass spectrometry instruments. “Our goal is to provide a package of solutions from sampling, sample crushing, sample preparation, analysis and testing, and data processing. Which representative samples are to be collected, how to prepare the samples after they are collected, and which instruments are to be used for analysis and measurement? How will the data obtained later be explained? These data can explain what the problem is and the whole process is the object we need to study. We hope to provide more comprehensive and professional services in the field of nuclear geological analysis,” said Guo Dongfa.

Since there are often special requirements for analytical tasks in nuclear geological analysis, commercial instruments cannot fully meet the requirements. Guo Dongfa will purchase a variety of domestic and foreign mass spectrometry machine parts and components integration, supplemented by self-designed software and methods to build the required performance of the instrument. He said: “The instruments we use for sample analysis are often bought, bought, rented, made, and everything is possible. As long as domestic manufacturers have mass spectrometers or key components that are suitable for us, we may try. Xintian and Jiangsu Tianrui have provided us with mass spectrometry products and they have good performance."

Although Guo Dongfa and his team developed special reagents for analysis and testing and several new types of instruments, they are also used very well in their own laboratories, such as reagents for trace uranium analyzers, radium enthalpy analyzers, nuclear mass spectrometers, and also specialized isotopes. Analyze pre-processing devices for sample preparation, etc. However, these instruments were sold externally by the company's own company, the Beijing Institute of Geology of the nuclear industry. They did not cooperate with specialized instrument companies.

Guo Dongfa said: "In fact, we have tried technology transfer in history, but we have never succeeded. On the one hand, due to the institutional constraints of state-owned units, on the other hand, the integrity of enterprises is also a problem. Now we cooperate with enterprises, mainly The main focus is on technical services. If one day the reform of the unit system, the environment changes, and the power of scientific research institutes are released, the impact will be very large." Guo Dongfa said.

Micro-zone in-situ, high-sensitivity, high-throughput, elemental morphology analysis – new challenges in geologic sample analysis In Guo Dongfa's 30 years in business, inorganic mass spectrometry has experienced rapid development. Guo Dongfa said: “The ICP-MS has become a common analytical test method since its introduction. Combining it with the XRF is the best combination of inorganic element analysis in the geological field. Thermal ionization mass spectrometry is based on the sensitivity and resolution of isotope measurements. The improvement of the isotopes promotes the development of isotope geochronology.The gas isotope mass spectrometer accurately measures the isotope ratios of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), sulfur (S), and argon (Ar). It also has special advantages."

So what are the most urgent problems in the field of nuclear geological analysis? Guo Dongfa said: “The main reason is the in-situ analysis of solid sample microdomains and high-sensitivity, high-throughput analysis. Because in the past it was mainly surface exploration, which was simple. Gamma radiometers can be realized, but now this type of mine is difficult to find on the surface, can only be detected deep, or to capture the faint information of the surface soil, which requires high-sensitivity, high-throughput detection methods ."

“Another elemental morphological analysis is also a problem. For example, the analysis of hexavalent uranium and tetravalent uranium in solid samples is now mainly conducted in a semi-experimental and semi-inductive manner,” said Guo Dongfa. High-sensitivity and high-throughput are the strengths of mass spectrometry analysis. There are many successful cases of elemental speciation analysis by ICP-MS, but mainly aqueous solutions. In the future development, mass spectrometry technology will play a greater role in the field of geological analysis.

Geological industry is an important field of inorganic mass spectrometry applications, but it is difficult to see domestic mass spectrometers. With the development of inorganic mass spectrometry, the geological field has become one of the important fields for the application of mass spectrometry instruments. "In terms of the instrument's contribution, in our laboratory, although the amount of trace elements and isotopes in the sample is less than 1%, the measurement requires a mass spectrometry instrument to complete. Our revenue from mass spectrometry analysis accounts for 50% of the total laboratory income. In terms of market share, inorganic mass spectrometry such as inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, thermal ionization mass spectrometry, stable isotope mass spectrometry, and high-sensitivity and high-precision secondary ion mass spectrometry now have the largest market share in the field of geology and mass spectrometry. The price of the instrument is higher. In addition, nuclear fuel inspection is also one of the important areas of mass spectrometer demand." Guo Dongfa said.

Despite this, over the years, the number of mass spectrometry instruments in our country, especially inorganic isotope mass spectrometry instruments, has been limited in this field. As a "nuclear" unit, the nuclear industry Beijing Geological Institute has been subject to many restrictions in the procurement of imported mass spectrometry instruments. Fortunately, some units in China have been able to produce mass spectrometers including quadrupoles, time-of-flight, and magnetic mass analyzer types. The mass spectrometer and the sample pre-processing device developed by Guo Dongfa's own team also played an important role in his laboratory. Guo Dongfa said: "The imported instruments are expensive and maintenance is not in place. We especially hope that domestic mass spectrometers will be able to develop and gradually upgrade our laboratory's instruments to domestic instruments with excellent performance."

In 2012, Tianrui Instruments introduced ICP-MS for the first time in China. After the nuclear industry Beijing Geology Research Institute purchased the daily inspection, according to reports, it is expected that the cost can be recovered next year. "Only domestically-made instruments are powerful, we will not be too passive." Guo Dongfa said.

Promoting more users to use home-made instruments in the form of “subsidies” In fact, as early as the 1960s, China introduced isotope mass spectrometers. After that, scientific research institutes and business units continued to participate in the research, development, and production of mass spectrometry instruments. A certain score. The current state has also invested a lot of financial support for the development of mass spectrometry instruments. Regarding the problems in the development of home-made mass spectrometer instruments, Guo Dongfa said: “Now everyone wants to make the whole machine, and the key components needed for mass spectrometry instruments are lacking in professional manufacturers. Although a few units have started to do this thing, they really want to make the whole machine. Doing well is inseparable from the improvement of the performance of parts and components. At the same time, the requirements for manpower and material resources are also high for the whole machine."

“Another important issue facing the development of China's mass spectrometry instrument is that the marketization part is not doing well. The instrument will only improve if it finds problems and solves problems in the use of users. So if more users can use domestic instruments, Improvement of the instrument will help even more,” said Guo Dongfa.

“Now the government has provided a lot of financial support for the development of domestic equipment, but if some funds can be used, according to the policy of similar home appliances to the countryside, the users of domestic equipment will be given a certain amount of subsidies to expand the user volume of domestic equipment, from the user. From the perspective of promoting the development of domestic instruments, it may be more effective. In accordance with the final market sales of the instrument, the 'birth' instrument may be subsidized instead of the 'parent' of the instrument, which may be better for promoting the development of domestic instruments.” Guo Dongfa Said.

According to market allocation of resources, new opportunities for the development of domestic instruments The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed that the market should play a decisive role in the allocation of resources. Guo Dongfa believes that this will be a good opportunity for the development of domestic instruments. He said: “In the past, there were many organizations that were not bad in instrument procurement. One of the important reasons was that their funds were mainly supported by government financial funds. In the future, it may reduce the resource allocation of project-based projects, and will pay more attention to the adoption of markets. Configure resources. This is a new opportunity for businesses."

“Some units are now paying too much attention to publishing articles. Actually, at present, what we lack in China is not a thesis. The total number of papers we publish has reached the second place in the world. What we lack is something that can really play a role behind the paper. If it is configured through the market, Funds, presumably we will do more in the transformation of scientific research results, users will buy a lot of rational equipment, so that the domestic market opportunities for instruments can be greater.” Guo Dong said.