We are presently working on the calcined ash of crabshell processed with Aloe vera. The ash was made at nearly 150-160 o C.This will be used as an organic calcium supplement.What other than FTIR, XRD can be done to identify the components and its percentage in it.It may contain both organic as well as inorganic compounds.
There can be a lot of analytical methods of identification and quantification other than FTIR and XRD which i doubt can ordinarily do quantification. Depending on availability of sophisticated analytical gadgets the best ones for identification and quantification of organic compounds can be HPLC and GC-MS for volatile components and for Inorganic compounds (metals: AAS and ICP-MS or ion chromatogram can be indispensable). However for a precise quantification, the sampling or preparation of your sample for analysis and quantification is paramount. whatever mentioned methods you have access to or choose to use, important will be to prepare the sample for the selected method for precise and reliable results.
After calcination at 150-160 °C you have only inorganic salts and no more organic components. Once ash is solubilized (i.e. 0.5 gram using 2-3 ml of HCl or HNO3, taking into account if you want also determine cations as Cl- or not, and diluted to a known volume (i.e. 50ml)) you can use any usual atomic spectroscopic method, such as atomic absorption or atomic emission (flame or ICP-AES, ICP-MS) techniques. ICP-MS is necessary only if the concentration expected in solution is very low (micrograms/l).
Thanks Valeria,I would also like to know what advantages AAS would have over XRD or ICP.
I reconsidered the fact that at 150°C probably you have till organic compounds. The sample is not ash but dried material.
In any case, for inorganic compounds, the advantage in using AAS consists in the fact that it is a common technique in all the laboratories, it is cheap, and it has good precision and accuracy. If the metal concentration ranges between about 1 ppm and some tenths of ppm, there is no need to use techniques with less LOD and LOQ (limit of detection and of quantification) more expensive, and which necessitate of further handling of the samples (i.e. dilution, internal standard, ..) lowering the precision and accuracy of the results.
I the case of trace metal ions such as Cd, Pb, or others, ICP-MS is best, paying attention about the matrix, eventually using the standard addiction method.
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