Yang Xiaotao: I am atomic spectroscopy "vsv"

Yang Xiaotao, a researcher at the National Center for Geological Experiments and Testing Center, began working on atomic spectroscopy and instrument development in 1970, and it has been more than 40 years.

Yang Xiaotao jokes that he is a "veteran" of the spectrum. The production and manufacturing of related clamps for spectrometers have all been done. From the 1970s to the present, they have been engaged in atomic spectroscopy. Occasionally, molecular spectroscopy is also involved. "Now everyone's attention is focused on large-scale instruments such as mass spectrometry, and there are not many small spectroscopic instruments. I have always been a small instrument and I am very happy."

"Working like playing, playing like working." Yang Xiaotao loves a lot, tourism, photography, music, etc. let him play with a very professional level. "We don't work hard because it's just like playing, but it's also tiring, because we need to plan a lot of things, and we must constantly make up for the lack of technology and lack of knowledge in the process."

“There are fewer people engaged in basic research at home. Most people are on the top of the mountain. 'Hands out' means innovation; I am old, and I’m making gold again at the foot of the mountain and where others have been gold.”

Recently, the instrument information network editor interviewed Yang Xiaotao to discuss the status, development status, problems and future development direction of the atomic spectrum.

Mass spectrometry, life sciences ... is a hot topic of scientific research. What is the place and role of atomic spectroscopy?

"Atomic spectroscopy is aimed at those elements on the periodic table, and it looks like there is less. But for elemental determination, the atomic spectrum is a strong point, and the need for toxic and hazardous element detection in environmental safety and food safety is a long-term one."

“Compared with mass spectrometry, small instruments such as atomic absorption and atomic fluorescence will exist for a long time. Even if China becomes a developed country, they will continue to exist.” Yang Xiaotao said with a smile, “It will not change in a hundred years.”

Yang Xiaotao believes that analytical instruments are divided into three categories: laboratory instruments, on-site testing instruments, and leading-edge laboratory instruments. Large-scale instruments in laboratory instruments dominate the mainstream; field-testing instruments are mainly portable instruments; and Yang Xiaotao’s “leading laboratory” "It refers to laboratories near the scene. The instruments used are mainly small instruments.

“Small instruments such as atomic absorption and atomic fluorescence are the instruments required for on-site testing and cutting-edge laboratories, and this market is vast.”

What is the current state of the development of domestic nuclear spectrum-related core components?

“The core component technologies of domestic atomic spectrometry instruments are mostly in the hands of individuals, small businesses, and family-owned companies. At present, there have been problems with some technical inheritance, and there may be broken chains in the future. In fact, some key technologies have been used for decades. The industrial chain has been broken, including the cold processing technology of optical components. Everyone has to do 'make money', just like the swarm of lighting to engage in LED."

“The current situation is indeed the same. From the perspective of the core components of the instrument, the key components of China’s atomic spectroscopy instruments such as gratings, detectors, and scanners all rely on imports, especially for detectors such as atomic absorption and atomic fluorescence—photomultiplier tubes. All are purchased from Hamamatsu Corporation in Japan."

“Domestic atomic spectroscopy needs to be developed and improved: high-quality photomultiplier detectors; multidimensional solid-state detectors for spectral analysis—linear arrays, area array CCD detectors; holographic gratings with high reticle density and high luminous flux; Gratings; high-intensity short-arc xenon lamps - continuous light sources, etc. These domestic products have not yet formed their own products, and their quality or performance is inferior to that of foreign products." Yang Xiaotao strongly appealed, "Although it is currently dominated by the market economy, but for some indispensable technologies require countries To guide and support, for example, to create relevant brands in China, such as grating engraving, photomultiplier tubes, CCD detectors, and short-arc focusing xenon lamps, to create their own brands. The components are greatly supported, but this kind of support for basic components needs to be long-term, because the more basic things are, the harder it is to do well, and the more effort and investment are needed. In turn, the basics are done well. The development of high-end instruments and the improvement of their quality will play a decisive role in promotion."

Innovation: We must have Chinese characteristics, but we must also be in line with international standards

The industry generally believes that atomic absorption technology is very mature. So, is there any possibility of technological innovation?

“Only innovation will have a way out. This is positive.” Yang Xiaotao pointed out: “There are internal and external causes for the development of analytical instruments. Internal causes are the limitations of the instrument itself. The external cause is the development of related devices and peripheral technologies that drive the development of the instrument. External factors are very The most typical example is the development of instrument automation and intelligence brought about by the rapid development of computer technology.At present, there are few instrumental innovations, and most of them are collective innovations, that is, the external environment. And the surrounding technology is for my own use."

“The limitations of atomic absorption itself and the development of related technologies and peripheral technologies will inevitably continue to promote the development of atomic absorption. This process will not stop.” Yang Xiaotao pointed out this clearly at a previous seminar.

In the future, what are the directions in which atom absorption is most likely to occur?

For the future development trend of atomic absorption spectroscopy, Yang Xiaotao said, “The direction in which atomic absorption is most likely to develop, that is, the place where atomic absorption is the most problematic. The first direction is to make up for the limitations. The limitation of atomic absorption is fatal. It is an elemental measurement. Different elements need to replace hollow cathode lamps with different elements, and the speed is slow; the other direction is to achieve internationalization and technology is in line with international standards.”

"The elements with similar nature have very little difference in their atomization conditions, and it is easier to implement multi-element measurement. According to the actual analysis needs or the requirements of industry standards, rapid scanning and measurement of specified elements can be achieved. The multi-element analysis special instrument is also relatively easy to implement in terms of technology and instrument cost, and one of the characteristics of on-site and on-line detection pursuit is rapid, multi-element simultaneous measurement is one of the ways to realize rapid detection. There is a great demand for atomic absorption instruments."

"If atomic absorption really wants to enter the international market, we must have both Chinese characteristics and international standards. For example, flame atomic absorption must have a nitrous oxide-acetylene flame, increase auxiliary air, and make the air flow more than 10 liters, not only to To improve safety, there are many examples to prove that this is also good for eliminating interference.” Yang Xiaotao further talked about ways of domestic atomic absorption and international integration. “The approach to international practice can be to cooperate with foreign companies, not just to learn their technology. It mainly studies the management of big companies."

“The Chinese characteristics of atomic absorption have advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that the cost is low, the performance is satisfactory, and the gap with foreign countries is not big. The disadvantage is that reliability needs to be improved. The long-term development of an instrument should be based on reliability first. The second function is again performance. Blind pursuit of 'indicators' does not necessarily promote the development of atomic absorption instrumentation."

Atomic fluorescence spectroscopy is an analytical instrument independently developed by China and can be said to be the exclusive market. At present, what aspects need to continue to innovate and improve?

Yang Xiaotao divides the development of atomic fluorescence spectrometry instrument into four stages. The first stage is to create the hydride generation atomic fluorescence system; the second stage is the use of hollow cathode lamp, which makes the stability of the atomic fluorescence instrument greatly improved; the third stage is the invention of low temperature. The flame and low-temperature ignition decrease the detection limit of all elements by an average of 5 times. The fourth stage is the combination of atomic fluorescence and chromatography for elemental morphological analysis. With the gradual deepening of people’s understanding of the valence state of elements, the elemental morphological analysis method has matured. The field will continue to expand. After the chromatographic separation, the spectral interference of the atomic fluorescence analysis was removed.

"Atomic fluorescence is indeed a good thing, making up for the determination of several elements that are difficult for atomic absorption measurements and ICP-AES is not good at, but the two major limitations of atomic fluorescence have limited its development: First, the instrument has not performed light scattering. The correction may produce spectral interference; the second is the low-temperature flame, which produces serious chemical interference. These defects also limit the promotion of atomic fluorescence spectrometers to the international market.” Yang Xiaotao said, “These basic and principle studies need to be combined. The strengths of the parties work together to solve the problems. It is also necessary for the state to support these studies and make this instrument with China's independent intellectual property rights a higher level."

What perspectives should instrument companies develop for new products?

Yang Xiaotao told a small story, “How does a foreign instrument company think about developing new instruments? Take atomic absorption for example. Australian astrologer A. Walsh went to PerkinElmer at the time, and PerkinElmer asked His first sentence is whether the instrument can detect calcium in the blood, because at that time, the United States was in urgent need of a method to measure blood calcium. Later, under the efforts of A. Walsh, PerkinElmer decided to develop Atomic Absorption, and the launch of the first commercially available atomic absorption instrument."

"Whether it is possible to detect calcium in the blood?" This statement expressed the "demand" of the foreign instrument company's starting point for the development of new instruments. And some of our domestic instrument companies are often considered from a “professional” point of view, such as "chromatography, mass spectrometry, and spectroscopy must have" such a type of thinking is in fact correct. "True instrumentation is best considered from the perspective of market demand."

Fight for Atomic Absorption Market Share: High-end and Dedicated Is the Direction

The domestically produced atomic absorption technology is mature and the price is low. Why does the imported brand still occupy a large share?

China is an atomic absorption producing country. At present, there are more than 30 atomic absorption manufacturers in the Chinese market, including nearly 10 foreign manufacturers and more than 20 domestic manufacturers. Moreover, foreign brands such as Shimadzu and Thermo Fisher have also built atomic absorption plants in China, and their products are supplied globally. According to the statistics of Instrument Information Network, the domestic market share of atomic absorption (number of units) has dropped from 70% in 2004 to around 50% currently. According to the amount of statistics, the proportion of domestic brands will be less.

Yang Xiaotao thinks that the reason why imported atomic absorption brands have a large share is in many aspects. “Not entirely technical, because there is a difference in technology between domestically produced atomic absorption and imported brands, but more than 80% of domestically produced atomic absorptions are completely Enough."

“One of the reasons that imported brands occupy a large share is that many users have the belief that they are importing brands. The second reason is that foreign brands have launched low-end equipment to compete for the share of the original domestic brands, further increasing the pressure on domestic companies. On the other hand, domestic brands lack high-end equipment, making domestic instruments often shielded from certain large-scale tenders."

Yang Xiaotao once called for, “Under the present situation, if domestically produced atomic absorption spectrometer manufacturers do not improve the grade, innovation and features of an instrument, they will not be destroyed in a few years. This is not alarmist.”

How to increase domestic market share of atomic spectrum?

“One of the directions is high-end,” Yang Xiaotao also specifically pointed out that currently domestically produced atomic absorption technology should be developed or improved as quickly as possible—Zeman background correction technology and graphite tube manufacturing technology. “The Zeeman background correction technology is high-end atomic absorption. One of the technologies that spectrometers have, however, is that only a handful of home-made atomic absorption brands have this technology.” The main spectral interferences of atomic absorption spectrometry are molecular absorption and light scattering, while the Zeeman effect background correction is Better to solve this interference method. In addition, due to its dual beam characteristics, it is possible to obtain a good signal-to-noise ratio in flame and graphite furnace analysis, which has been favored by the majority of analysts.

“In addition, the industry generally believes that the domestic level of flame atomic absorption is almost the same as that of imported brands, and domestic graphite furnace atomic absorption has a certain gap with imported brands. Among them, graphite tubes are a difficult problem and need to be controlled from raw materials, processing, and pyrolysis. Technology and other three links are good enough to ensure the quality of graphite tubes."

“The second direction is specialization. With the rapid development of large-scale direct reading spectroscopy and mass spectrometry instruments, atomic absorption must maintain its instrumental and operational expertise. It should be developed for specialization.” Yang Xiaotao cited some specific markets. Demand cases, such as China has more than 1,000 zipper factories, zipper factory usually detects four elements in order to control product quality, ICP-AES equipment costs and operating costs of argon, operating personnel costs are too high. In addition, it is difficult to purchase argon in some remote areas. If the “fool-type” atomic absorption is developed, employees at the junior high school level can operate, and promotion in the enterprise has great potential advantages. In addition, there are several small-scale companies in Shanghai, focusing on the manufacture of flame photometers only for measuring potassium, sodium, the benefit is very good, is a proof.