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Shuwen Sun
Report of GLOMAR PhD student Shuwen Sun about his research stay at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland from 15 October - 25 December 2015
First of all, I would like to thank GLOMAR for providing me with the financial support to conduct my research stay in the group of Prof. Timothy Ian Eglinton at ETH Zürich in Zurich, Switzerland from 15 October to 25 December 2015. The objective of my research stay was to learn how to isolate and purify lignin phenols and then use the Mini radioCarbon Dating System (MICADAS) to determine the 14C age of fatty acids and lignin phenols extracted from my samples.
The first part of my work at ETH Zurich was preparing the fatty acids methyl ester (FAME) compounds that I collected in Bremen for 14C measurement. I was trained by Daniel Montluçon, the technician, to use the vacuum line to transfer the FAME compounds to pyrex tubes and convert to CO2 by heating up to 850℃ with CuO. And I measured the 14C age of the FAMEs with the help of Dr. Negar Haghipour, who is in charge of the 14C analysis on MICADAS. The second part of the experimental work was applying preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to isolate the lignin phenols from the complex matrix. During this process, Daniel Montluçon, Thomas Blattmann and Tessa van der Voort provided lots of assistance for me. In the end, I succeeded in purifying and collecting enough lignin phenols from four samples as I planned and two extra samples sent from Bremen. The lignin phenols were ready for analysis and submitted to Dr. Negar Haghipour because the MICADAS was shut down for Christmas holiday.
In the course of the research stay, my supervisor Tessa van der Voort offered lots of help either in lab work or in daily life. She recommended a series of seminars about 14C analysis and MICADAS, which were interesting and helpful for me to understand the control and correction of the blank in 14C analysis. I was also invited to give a presentation about my research project in the group meeting. We had discussion about the results for my first manuscript and I obtained some suggestion and ideas. Besides, I participated in a field trip to Lake Zurich. We enjoyed the good weather and collected surface sediment samples from Lake Zurich and some soil samples.
All in all, this was a fruitful research stay and benefited me in many different aspects. I greatly appreciate the financial support provided by GLOMAR to allow me to have this opportunity to work ETH Zurich and produce the most essential data for my research project.
The first part of my work at ETH Zurich was preparing the fatty acids methyl ester (FAME) compounds that I collected in Bremen for 14C measurement. I was trained by Daniel Montluçon, the technician, to use the vacuum line to transfer the FAME compounds to pyrex tubes and convert to CO2 by heating up to 850℃ with CuO. And I measured the 14C age of the FAMEs with the help of Dr. Negar Haghipour, who is in charge of the 14C analysis on MICADAS. The second part of the experimental work was applying preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to isolate the lignin phenols from the complex matrix. During this process, Daniel Montluçon, Thomas Blattmann and Tessa van der Voort provided lots of assistance for me. In the end, I succeeded in purifying and collecting enough lignin phenols from four samples as I planned and two extra samples sent from Bremen. The lignin phenols were ready for analysis and submitted to Dr. Negar Haghipour because the MICADAS was shut down for Christmas holiday.
In the course of the research stay, my supervisor Tessa van der Voort offered lots of help either in lab work or in daily life. She recommended a series of seminars about 14C analysis and MICADAS, which were interesting and helpful for me to understand the control and correction of the blank in 14C analysis. I was also invited to give a presentation about my research project in the group meeting. We had discussion about the results for my first manuscript and I obtained some suggestion and ideas. Besides, I participated in a field trip to Lake Zurich. We enjoyed the good weather and collected surface sediment samples from Lake Zurich and some soil samples.
All in all, this was a fruitful research stay and benefited me in many different aspects. I greatly appreciate the financial support provided by GLOMAR to allow me to have this opportunity to work ETH Zurich and produce the most essential data for my research project.
Standing at a sightseeing deck behind the main building of ETH Zurich to get a view of the old town (photo by Tessa van der Voort)
Collecting the sediment samples in the Lake Zurich (photo by Thomas Blattmann)
Flame sealing the quartz tube under vacuum and the purified compound frozen at the bottom of the tube by liquid nitrogen
Collecting soil samples with a soil probe (photo by Thomas Blattmann)
A side view of the Mini CArbon Dating System of the ETH Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics in the ETH Zurich, Hönggerberg