Greening Sample Treatment

Abstract

In analytical chemistry, the process of gathering data comprises several steps: field sampling and sample handling, laboratory sample preparation and separation, detection, quantisation, and identification. Sampling and sample preparation, often followed by cleanup and preconcentration steps, are extremely laborious. The procedures require solvents and other chemicals, and therefore generate large amounts of waste. Sample treatment is therefore a logical starting place to apply the principles of green chemistry. In Chapter 3, the underlying concepts and approaches to reducing the use of solvents and additional chemicals in sample preparation, as well as proposals for conserving energy during chemical analysis, are introduced. Sample preparation techniques that minimise solvent consumption, make use of alternative solvents, or eliminate the use of solvents altogether, and energy-saving procedures, especially those involving microwave and ultrasound techniques, and the use of light as a source of energy, are presented.