Separation Science and Mass Spectrometry Facility

We have a range of advanced, single and multi dimensional gas and chromatography equipment with flame ionisation and electron capture detection and liquid chromatography with UV detectors.

The facility also houses high-end mass spectrometers, including single quadrupole, triple quadrupole, high resolution, MALDI and time of flight instruments.

The equipment may be used by all members of the School of Science, following suitable training.

The facility is spread over several laboratories on levels three and four of building 3 at RMIT's city campus.

Research areas

The facilities allow the separation and measurement of specific molecules, even when these are present in very complex mixtures and/or sample matrices. Analytical chemistry is an enabling science and as such it finds use in all areas of biological, chemical, environmental, food and medical sciences as well as nanotechnology and many branches of engineering. Projects include, measuring pollutants in surface and groundwater, nutrients in food, drug metabolites in blood and many more. If you need a particular compound measured, our staff can usually find a way to do it.

RMIT is a member of the Australian Centre for Research on Separation Science.

RMIT Research Institutes and Centres who use this facility include: 

• Health Innovations Research Institute
• Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Remediation
• Water Effective Technologies and Tools (WETT) Research Centre

Staff at the facility are also involved in a number of collaborative research projects with external users such as many of the Victorian water companies, the Victoria Police Forensics Services Department and several Australian universities.

We actively encourage such collaborations. Anyone wishing to collaborate in research ventures should please contact either the key researchers or the facility managers.

Opening hours

Operating times are 9.30 am – 5.00 pm Monday to Friday.

Equipment

• Bruker AutoFlex Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation (MALDI) Time of Flight (TOF)- Mass Spectrometer (MALDI-TOF-MS)
• Multiple HP/AGILENT Gas Chromatographs with Flame Ionisation Detection (GC-FID) and multidimensional capabilities (GC-GC-FID)
• HP/AGILENT Gas Chromatograph with Electron Capture Detection (both GC-ECD - and micro (μ)-ECD are available)
• LECO Gas Chromatograph Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer (GC-TOF-MS) with multidimensional capabilities (GC-GC-TOF-MS)
• HP/Agilent Gas Chromatograph with single quadrupole mass spectrometer (GC-MS)
• Varian Gas Chromatograph with single quadrupole mass spectrometer (GC-MS)
• Agilent/Waters Gas Chromatograph High Resolution Mass Spectrometer Agilent
• Agilent 7000c Gas Chromatograph with triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (GC-QQQ-MS)
• Agilent Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) with laser ablation capability.
• Agilent 1220 and 1260 Liquid Chromatographs with UV detection.
• Agilent 1290 Two Dimensional Liquid Chromatography (2DLC) with UV detection
• Agilent 4200 Microwave Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometer (MP-AES)
• Waters Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatograph with UV detection
• Perkin Elmer Hyphenated Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometer instrument (TGA-FTIR-GC-MS)
• Perkin Elmer Direct sample analysis time of flight mass spectrometer with ultra high pressure Liquid Chromatography capability (DSA-TOF-MS and UHPLC-TOF-MS).
• Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) and Ion Chromatography (IC) facilities

Fees

Access is free to School of Science research staff and students. Costs for other users will be on a cost recovery model depending on the number of samples and the difficulty of the analysis to be undertaken.

Bookings

Users must be trained before booking time on instruments.

If you can't use your booking, please cancel it as soon as possible to allow others use the instruments. 

To access equipment or ask a question, please contact the facility managers:

• Mr Paul Morrison (Separation science)
• Mr Frank Antolasic (Mass spectrometry)

Key staff

• Dr Oliver Jones (Separation science and analytical chemistry)
• Dr Bradley Clarke (Environmental chemistry)
• Associate Professor Graeme Allinson (Environmental chemistry)