In 1998 an multilaboratory research on new instruments and analytical methods development for trace heavy metals concentration monitoring has been started. The project is aiming at the development of marine water luminescence sensors for metals detection. All of the addressed methods (chemiluminescence, fluorescence and phosphorescence) require both sea water matrix removal and preconcentration.
The laboratory contribution is to provide a heavy metal preconcentrator that can be used in situ without prior filtration and for preconcentration ratio up to one hundred.
This result can be achieved through the use of a two stage preconcentrator.
The first stage is mainly a solid and dissolved matrix removal step obtained by a fluidised bed reactor performing trapping and release of the heavy metals followed, after neutralisation by a packed column concentration step.
The partners in this study are the Laboratoire de Chimie Organique Physique of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Prof. Vander Donckt), the department of Environmental Sciences of the University of Plymouth (Prof. Worsfold) and the Departamento de Quimica Fisica y Analitica of the Universidad de Oviedo (Prof. Sanz-Medel).
This research is funded by the EU (http://www.ulb.ac.be/sciences/cop/MAST-III/main.htm) under the acronym Memosea.

Contact for further information: pwollast@ulb.ac.be