Short Course - Light Emitting Diodes in Chemical Analysis and Chemistry

Course Information

Course Title:	Light Emitting Diodes in Chemical Analysis and Chemistry
Categories:	1 - Life Sciences 2 - Liquid Chromatography 3 - Capillary Electrophoresis 4 - Flow Injection Analysis 5 - Sensors 6 - Spectroscopy 7 - Teaching Analytical Chemistry 8 - Laboratory-on-a-chip/Microfluidics
Instructor(s):	Mirek Macka, Tomasz Piasecki	Course Number:	140
Affiliation:	DCU
Course Date:	03/09/2009 - Monday	Course Length:	1 1/2 Day Course
Start Time:	08:30 AM	End Time:	05:00 PM
Course Date 2:	03/10/2009 - Tuesday
Start Time:	08:30 AM	End Time:	12:30 PM
Fee:	$640 ($940 after 2/9/09)	Textbook Fee:

Course Description

This 1-day program is an intensive introduction to the properties and usage of light emitting diodes (LEDs) in chemical analysis and chemistry in general. The emphasis will be on practical issues and the applications of LEDs particularly for analytical optical methods (photometry, fluorimetry), optical detection in analytical flow-through methods (FIA, HPLC, CE), optical sensors, microfluidic chips, and in photochemistry. Examples of some elementary techniques used to characterise LEDs including measurement of emission spectra will be conducted as hands-on experiments.

Target Audience

This is an intermediate level course with respect to LEDs. However, the course is designed in such a way that a wide range of participants can benefit: those having already a considerable experience in their area, those beginning to use LEDs and having some experience, and scientists, engineers or lecturers just considering whether LEDs could be used in their work. The course is also suitable for persons involved in teaching in the area of instrumental analytical chemistry. The participants will benefit from some training and experience in chemistry and analytical chemistry in particular. Prior exposure to and use of other LEDs is useful but not expected.

Course Outline

• Why use LEDs in chemistry and science?
• History
• Fundamentals (physical principles, construction)
• Basics of LEDs in respect to their applications in analysis and chemistry
• Application areas
• Considerations in choosing a LED
• Practical issues when using LEDs
• Light sources for photochemistry
• Optical methods in chemical analysis with an emphasis on photometry and photometric detection
• Hands-on experiments: measuring emission spectra, transmittance and absorbance
• Basics of construction of simple LED-based photometers and fluorimeters
• Advanced and specialized methods (coupling with optical fibres, time resolved fluorescence)
• Discussion forum, questions on specific intended usage, exchange of experiences etc.

Course Instructor's Biography

Mirek Macka is a holder of Marie Curie Excellence Grants Fellowship, a prestigious European Community FP6 senior fellowship, at Dublin City University, School of Chemical Sciences and National Centre for Sensor research (NCSR). He earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Tasmania, Australia. He has published over 120 journal papers primarily on capillary electrophoresis, liquid chromatography and miniaturised and microfluidic chip based analysis. He has been using light emitting diodes in his research and publishing extensively for over twelve years.