Ultra-High resolution mass spectrometer

• Subject Area: Water Research
• Term: Funded in 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 578400372

A variety of chemical and non-chemical stressors act on ecosystems and thereby influence the composition of ecological communities. Even if toxic chemicals only affect individual components of ecosystems, e.g. the primary producers, their impacts can propagate both directly and indirectly throughout the entire ecosystem. For example, pollutants can accumulate in the food web or alter the composition of available prey and thereby influence the uptake of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids at higher trophic levels, which are important for the development and growth of many organisms. The quantification of the corresponding substances in ecosystems and in organisms is an indispensable component of ecotoxicological research. Liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry represents a standard method for the detection and quantification of a wide variety of organic trace substances. In particular, high-resolution mass spectrometers are the instruments of choice in ecotoxicological research in order to determine internal concentrations in organisms and their degradation products. Accumulation and degradation processes of organic pollutants as well as changes in food webs can often also be quantified or demonstrated through changes in isotopic composition. Until now, for the biogeochemically relevant light elements H, C, N, O, and S, special sector-field mass spectrometers have been required, into which the compounds to be measured must be introduced after conversion into simple measurement gases. In coupling with liquid chromatography this has only been possible for carbon; for the other elements, only coupling with gas chromatography exists, which often requires labor-intensive derivatization procedures that must be carefully validated. Entirely new on the market are high-resolution mass spectrometers coupled with liquid chromatography, which are also capable of determining the isotopic composition of measured compounds on the basis of very precisely determined mass-to-charge ratios (m/z) for the molecular ion as well as for individual fragments, thus enabling position-specific measurements. The present application for a major research instrument aims at procuring such a mass spectrometer with liquid chromatography coupling, in order to open up completely new research opportunities for several working groups at the University of Duisburg-Essen in many areas of current ecotoxicological and ecological environmental research, but also in fields such as pharmaceutical research and analytical method development. In particular, due to a new appointment in the field of ecotoxicology, the existing capacities are no longer sufficient and there is an immediate need for action to be able to carry out ongoing and future research projects.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Ultra-Hochauflösendes Massenspektrometer
• Instrumentation Group: 1700 Massenspektrometer
• Applicant Institution: Universität Duisburg-Essen
• Leader: Professor Dr. Ralf B. Schäfer