Fresenius Zeitschrift Air
Fresenius Z Anal Chem (1989) 334:503- 506
9 Springer-Verlag1989
Analytical chemistry in China Insight during a visit and lecture tour 1988 Georg Schwedt Institut for Anorganische und Analytische Chemic, TU Clausthal, Paul-Ernst-Strasse 4, D-3392 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Federal Republic of Germany
Analytische Chemie in China. Einblick w~ihrend einer Besuchs- und Vortragsreise Summary. A description is given of impressions concerning the training of chemistry students in analytical chemistry in the Central South University of Technology, Changsha/ Hunan and of the state of practice-orientated analytical methodology at the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Ore Processing (speciality ion chromatography), in the Hunan Institute of Nonferrous Metals (Department of Environmental Analysis) in Changsha and in the Research Institute of Geology for Mineral Resources (Department of Chemical Analysis) in Guilin. Emphasis is placed on the presentation of the problems, the practical orientation of the problems tackled, the methodology and the instruments.
Introduction My first contact with a fellow scientist from the People's Republic of China took place during my work at G6ttingen university: The then Dozent Daren Yah from the Central South University of Technology (C.S.U.T.) visited me as a result of my publications on HPLC in inorganic analysis. He had come to the T U Clausthal as a visiting scientist as a result of a partnership contract with the C.S.U.T. (formerly College for Mining and Metallurgy) in Changsha (province of Hunan). The first discussions and the experimental work in G6ttingen that ensued led to a thesis on ion chromatography of metal ions. Mr. Yan followed me to Stuttgart and there, in 1985, he was awarded the degree of Dr. rer. nat. of the faculty of chemistry. We were able to set forward our cooperation under the aegis of the China program of the Volkswagen Foundation (Hannover): Dr. Yan was provided with the necessary analytical apparatus, an ion chromatograph with conductivity and UV/VIS detector and apparatus for post-column derivatization. In addition he and I were each granted a research visit to the F R G and China, respectively. In March 1988 I flew to Beijing within the framework of this VW research project and at the invitation of the Chinese Ministry for Nonferrous Metals. I gave lectures in three places (see Table 1) and stayed at the C.S.U.T. in Changsha for almost three weeks. I was able to gain an insight into the state of analytical chemistry in China as a result of numerous discussions and visits to research and educational institutions.
Table 1. Establishments visited and the subjects of lectures given Establishments 1. Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Ore Processing 2. Hunan Research Institute of Nonferrous Metals, Changsha 3. Central South University of Technology, Changsha (Chemistry Department, Institute of Industrial Analytical Chemistry) 4. Research Institute of Geology for Mineral Resources, China National Nonferrous Metals Industry Corporation, Guilin (Department of Chemical Analysis) Subjects of lectures 1. Element species analysis, metals and their binding partners (held in: Beijing, Changsha, Guilin) 2. Ion chromatography, Part 1 : Basics Part 2: Applications in water and foodstuff analysis (Changsha) 3. HPLC analysis of metal chelates with applications in environmental analysis (Changsha) 4. Rapid test methods in environmental analysis (Changsha, Guilin)
Analytical chemistry at the Central South University of Technology [1] The Central South University of Technology (C. S.U.T.) was founded in 1952 in the provincial capital of Hunan Changsha, which lies on the river Xiang (a southerly tributary of the Yangtse Kiang). The university campus lies at the foot of the Yuelu mountain on the opposite bank of the river to the million-inhabitant city. Hunan University, which succeeds the Yuelu Academy founded in 976, lies On the other side of the mountain. The C.S.U.T. specializes in basic and applied research in the field of nonferrous metals and rare metals (Table 2). A campus of 0.8 km z accommodates buildings providing 320 000 m 2 of space for a total of 8000 students and 1500 university staff, including more than 300 professors. The university is made up of 14 departments and 9 research institutes; the campus also accommodates 2 shops, I computer center, 1 central analytical laboratory that was built with funds provided by the World Bank. The university library possesses 1.3 million volumes, most of the non-Chinese ones in the form of reprints. International specialist journals are also available, chemistry being more comprehensively represented than in some German universities, but again copies and not the originals.
504 Table 2. Organization of the Central South University of Technology in Changsha (Hunan) Department
Number of Prof. a
Degrees awarded B
1. Geology A. Geological mineral prospecting B. Geophysics prospecting C. Mining prospecting engineering
M
D
12/29
2. Mining engineering A. Underground mining B. Opencast mining C. Survey engineering
6/25
3. Mineral engineering A. Mineral processing
7/20
4. Nonferrous metallurgy A. Nonferrous metallurgy B. Energy resources engineering
7/29
5. Material science and engineering A. Metallic materials and heat treatment B. Metal forming C. Metal physics
3/25
6. Research institute of powder metallurgy A. Powder metallurgy
3/13
7. Mechanical engineering A. Mining mechanics B. Metallurgical mechanics
2/21
8. Automatic control A. Industrial automation B. Automatic instruments
2/18
9. Computer science A. Computer and its application
4/6
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
x X
X
X
x
•
•
X
•
•
X
X
•
•
X
•
x •
X
•
•
•
•
X
•
•
•
•
10. Chemistry A. Physical chemistry in metallurgical processing B. Industrial analytical chemistry C. Applied chemistry
6/31
ll. Management engineering A. Industrial management B. Technical economics
2/6
12. Mathematics and physics A. Applied physics B. Applied mathematics
1/23
13. Social science A. Philosophy
1/7
14. Foreign languages A. English B. Japanese
-/8
X
•
X
•
X
x
X
X
X
x
•
X
• X
•
X
x
X
B Bachelor degree; M Master degree; D Doctor degree " Full professor/associate professor Students and their teachers live together on the campus grounds of the university. As well as schools there are shops (cooperatives) and a small hospital. The students attend lectures, tutorials and laboratory courses. They are also assigned to factories and ore workings, in order to gain practical experience in intensively supervised projects during the course of their studies. There are 68 different laboratories available to the students, including the central analytical laboratory with electron microscope, microsonde and Siemens 7075 computer. The university's own "Journal of the Central South Institute of Mining and Metallurgy" (this
was its earlier name) has published more than 800 scientific papers since 1978. I was able to come to my own conclusions concerning the chemical education provided from my visits to the teaching laboratories and discussions with the students. A state entrance examination takes place after 6 years of primary school followed by 3 years each of middle and upper school; this obstacle is only overcome by 8 - 1 0 % of students each year who are then allowed to study at university. The basic chemistry courses usually last 4 years and the master's program another 2 years. The general university qualification is
505 Table 3. Analytical Chemistry - Central South University of Technology, Changsha (Hunan)
Staff and their fields of work Full Prof. Mrs. Xiuna Zhao ~, Chemometry Full Prof. Dr. Daren Yan, Ion chromatography, Complexometry Ass. Prof. Mingliang Xiu ~, Chemometry Ass. Prof. Jen Fan, AAS Ass. Prof. Zungxien Hwang, Voltammetry Ass. Prof. Yichang Lian c, Chemometry Ass. Prof. Jaquen Wu, Emission spectrometry Ass. Prof. Mrs. Quinxuen Fan, Voltammetry Doc. Mrs. Zhanquin Lo, X-ray fluorescence analysis Doc. Mrs. Funlien Ren, Emission and atomic absorption spectrometry Doc. Chunchan Zhou, Voltammetry; HPLC Ing. Mrs. Jingan Zhang, Ion chromatography, AAS, emission spectrometry Visits abroad: ~USA, b FRG, ~ Sweden, d Japan
completed after 4 years. The bachelor degree is only awarded when the student has achieved very good marks. After advanced courses and a research project lasting about I year the master's degree is awarded. The PhD degree is awarded by thesis after ca. 3 years. In contrast to the BRD few students study for their doctorate. At the time of my visit to Changsha it was only possible for students to work for their doctorate in the subject "Physical Chemistry in Metallurgical Processing", but the approval of the subject "Industrial Analytical Chemistry" was about to occur (see Table 2). From the 3rd semester qualitative and quantitative analysis is taught for 2 semesters in about 200 h (lectures, exercises and practical courses). Instrumental analysis is taught in the 5th semester for about another 100 h (lectures and practicals) on the basis of AAS, emission spectrometry, polarography/voltammetry and chromatography (see also Table 3). This is followed by 3 periods of practical work at plant level for 1/2/2 months. The apparatus I saw was primarily Japanese in origin together with some Chinese instruments (from the instrument centers of Beijing or Shanghai). Thus, Chinese students learn more analytical methods at a practical level than do their West German colleagues. I met some students from Changsha on the last stage of my trip in Guilin, where they were applying a modern analysis technique, namely coupled FIA and AAS, in the works laboratories of the Research Institute of Geology for Mineral Sources. About 800 to 1000 students are studying chemistry at Changsha; 200 fresh students are taken in each year. More than half of all the chemistry students, namely 60 to 150 per year, choose analytical chemistry (in the form of industrial analytical chemistry). The personnel of what is in West German terms a relatively large Analytical Chemistry Institute is listed in Table 3. Prof. Yan has been provided with apparatus for ion chromatography [2, 3] by the Volkswagen Foundation and for complexometric analysis by potentiometry by the Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Eschborn near Frankfurt. After their studies are completed the graduates are either assigned to a post by a state body or increasingly they find themselves a post on the
basis of their own applications. I found that the wet-chemical exercises in the teaching laboratories were basically of the same type as those we employ, but the supervision of the students by teaching staff, who were almost continually present in the laboratory, was appreciably more intense than with us.
Analysis in research and practice - Beijing, Changsha, Guilin
The research carried out at the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Ore Processing extends far beyond the fields covered by its name: It was founded in 1958 on the outskirts of Beijing, has 500 employees and comes under the mantle of the Ministry for Uranium Ore Processing. It is above all ion chromatography that has its place here alongside the mainly technological projects. It was in the laboratories of Prof. Kailu Liu, who is well-known in China for his work on ion chromatography and for his book of the same name, that I was able to get to know the model ZIC-2 ion chromatograph. Using a conductivity detector (with 5 electrodes) it is possible to reach detection limits of 3 gg/1 for chloride (100 gl injection volume). The cell volume is 1.4 ~tl. The emphasis of Prof. Liu's work is on the preparation of polymeric ion exchange materials. Alongside anion analysis the ZIC-2 (developed 1986) and the ZlC-1 (1983) can also be employed for the routine analysis of cations (alkali metal ions). Depending on the separation system the ion chromatographs work both with and without an ion exchanger suppressor system. The environmental analysis department of the "Hunan Research Institute of Nonferrous Metals" was the subject of a further visit while in Changsha. About 50 of the 600 staff of this institute are exclusively concerned with environmental analysis. It is involved in environmental monitoring far beyond the province of Hunan right down to the south of China. Plant, animal organ, soil and air samples are investigated as well as water samples - but the main emphasis is on waste water and potable water analysis. The deputy director reported on visits to the USA and Canada, where Chinese scientists had informed themselves about environmental techniques and concentration limits. The Hunan Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals has been in existance for 30 years. About 30000 analyses are carried out per year. The concentration limits for the evaluation of waste water were reported to me as: zinc 5 mg/1, copper 1 mg/1, lead 1 mg/1, arsenic 0.5 mg/1 and cadmium 0.1 mg/1. The analytical emphasis is on metal analysis for which a modern Japanese AAS instrument is available. Anion analyses (fluoride, chloride, nitrate, nitrite and sulfate) are also carried out with the ZIC-1/2 instruments already discussed (with suppressor technique). The institute makes biannual random samples of waste waters, the factories themselves are under the obligation to make regular checks, whereby photometry and polarography find application alongside AAS. There are, at the moment, no uniform regulations in China. The requirements are based on practice in France, Japan and the USA. At this point in time (March 1988) there are upper limits for 23 substances (in drinking water). The wetchemical laboratories are concerned with sample preparation and the determination of extensive parameters such as COD and TOC. There is an increasing amount of GC analysis of chlorinated hydrocarbons and of organophosphorus esters being taken on alongside the inorganic analysis de-
506 scribed above. However, the monitoring of these substances in various environmental matrices is only in its infancy. A gas chromatograph is available supplied by the Chinese laboratory instrument industry, which is situated primarily in Beijing and in Shanghai [4]. The Institute of Geology for Mineral Resources of the China National Nonferrous Metals Industry Corporation (CNNC) which I visited at the end of my stay was founded in 1955 in Guilin (in the autonomous region GuanxiZhuang, in Southern China). More than 600 staff are employed there, of whom more than 200 scientists are engineers or senior engineers. The institute library contains 100 thousand volumes; more than 400 Chinese and foreign journals are taken regularly. The 48 000 m 2 of buildings are housed on a 0.1 km 2 site. The department of chemical analysis is one of 10 departments and is headed by deputy director Baichong Shu. The work load is provided by the other nine departments, which are concerned with geology and mineralogy and petrology with experimental geology, e.g., the synthesis of minerals and crystals in the laboratory, with geochemistry and exploration and with isotope geology. One of the newest tasks of the department involves at the moment the equipping of mobile laboratories for exploration - and that for the whole of China. These laboratory trucks are intended for the investigation of large numbers of rock samples for their metal content using simple methods and apparatus including a specially constructed emission spectrometer and a spectrophotometer [5]. In response to its duties the analysis department is equipped with a wide range of methods. Emission spectroscopy is, for example, undertaken semiquantitatively with a Zeiss/Jena spectrometer. An ICP spectrometer is available for difficult problems. For X-ray fluorescence analysis the institute possesses an energy dispersive spectrometer of its own design with a germanium detector, which is coupled to a small computer for analysis of the spectra. In addition AAS together with spectrophotometry and polarography are employed on a broad scale. The institute combines applied, problem-oriented analysis with teaching. Chemistry students, who in China have to undertake practical courses in industry, are here taught specific techniques and applications. So, for example, coupled FIA and AAS is employed for sample preparation and
also passed on to these students. Alongside the Chinese instruments either of own development or from the Chinese instrument centers of Beijing and Shanghai it is mainly Japanese instruments that are employed. In electrochemical analysis the staff also work with self-constructed cells and with oscilloscopes to record polarograms and voltammograms. One specific duty within the framework of geochemical problem-solving involves the analysis of gases, primarily methane and hydrogen, occluded in minerals. For this purpose the department developed a special apparatus for the liberation of gases from rocks and application of the released gas to a gas chromatograph of Chinese origin. The ZIC-1 ion chromatograph of Prof. Liu of Beijing is also employed here for anion analysis. All in all the chemical analysis department does not only apply a wide range of analytical methods and techniques it is also part of its function to develop new methods and apparatus to fulfil its service function to the whole research institute. Analyses are made of major, minor and trace components of soil, rock, minerals and ores and geological reference standards are prepared. Analysis was awarded an important position in all three institutes visited - the same also applies to the University of Technology in Changsha. Practice-oriented problems are frequently addressed and often involve the development of instruments, necessary for their solution, within the institute concerned. Students are made familiar with practically orientated problems appreciably sooner than is the case in the FRG.
References 1. Schwedt G (1988) Chem Labor Betr 39:390 2. Yah D, Schwedt G (1987) Fresenius Z Anal Chem 327:503 3. Yan D, Zhang J, Schwedt G (1988) Fresenius Z Anal Chem 331:601 4. Schwedt G (1988) Umweltmagazin 17:30 5. Schwedt G (1989) LaborPraxis 13:146 Received March 8, 1989
