Thermo Scientific Dionex ASE 200

Pressurized Liquid Extractor, Dionex TM ASE 200 Thermo Scientific TM Generally, solvent extractions from solid matrices involve large volumes of organic solvent and very long extraction times. Pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) is an advanced extraction technique, due to the advantages it has over traditional extraction processes. PLE employs extraction solvent at high temperatures and high pressures, always below their respective critical points, so that the solvent is maintained in the liquid state during the whole extraction procedure. This procedure allows the solvent to penetrate easier and deeper into the solid matrix being extracted. The use of pressurized liquid extractior allows the reduction of the solvent volume needed, the use of mainly aqueous mixtures as extraction solvent and considerably reduces the treatment times. Another advantage of the use of the PLE is the introduction of an automation in the extraction process that therefore allows to avoid random errors made by the operators, standardizing the procedure and increasing the reproducibility of the sample preparation. Common applications of this technique are varied, among these are to be noted: extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from the soil • extraction of phosphoric pesticides from the food matrix (fruit, vegetables) • extraction of organic compounds from food matrices (arsenic in fish) extraction of active ingredients from plants In this laboratory, several methods concerning this technique have been developed, mainly for forensic porpouse. We use PLE for the extraction of narcotic substances from the keratic matrix (hair and nails). The procedure provides that a small amount of sample (10-50 mg) is homogenized with an inert material (diatomaceous earth) and is used for fill the stainless steel cell which is then loaded into the instrument, in 7 minutes the PLE instrument performs the extraction of analytes from the inner core of the hair. The resulting extract is then treated with an appropriate clean-up and the sample is ready for instrumental analysis.