PGDAC: Post Graduate Diploma in Analytical Chemistry(ODL)
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Introduction
PGDAC is a continuing education programme designed and developed keeping in view the role of chemists played directly and indirectly in industry and National laboratories.
Objective
To provide training in modern analytical techniques to the learners.
To provide appropriate theoretical background and develop practical skills for analysing materials even in trace amounts using modern analytical methods and instruments.
To enable students acquire the analytical data and interpret the same using statistical principles.
To inculcate a problem solving approach by coordinating different analytical techniques.
This Programme not offered for International Students.
Note: Exam Fees is not included in Fee Structure it will be as decided by the University
Job/Future Prospects
Job opportunities in the industrial labs requiring analytical work. Jobs in academic and research labs. Skill upgradation for the people employed in Analytical labs.
Programme Coordinator
Prof. Lalita S Kumar Professor School of Sciences (SOS) lalitaskumar@ignou.ac.in 011-29572808
This course entitled “Basic Analytical Chemistry” is the first course of Post Graduate Diploma in Analytical chemistry Programme. It deals with the basic aspects of analytical chemistry.Analytical chemistry is a very important branch of chemistry. It is a sub-discipline of chemistry. It is the study of the chemical composition of the compound. Analytical chemistry is not restricted to any particular type of chemical compound. In a other words, analytical chemistry applies measurement science principles along with an understanding of chemical systems to provide useful information; and it has significant overlap with other branches of chemistry. Traditionally, analytical chemistry was particularly concerned with the questions of "what chemicals are present qualitatively and quantitatively and, what are their characteristics?", Present days analytical chemistry mainly deals with the instrumental analysis. The first instrumental analysis was flame emissive spectrometry developed in 1860 by famous scientists Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff . Analytical chemistry plays an increasingly important role in the pharmaceutical, polymer fertilizers and other such industries. Analytical chemistry also plays a very important role in discovery of new drug and in clinical applications. Most of the major developments in analytical chemistry take place after 1900. This course has five Blocks which contains 13 units. The first block of this course deals with the basic aspects which mainly deal with the classification of different techniques and evaluation of analytical data. The second block titled as “initiation into Analytical Laboratory” contains three units. In this block we introduce you to sampling procedures safety in chemical laboratories and about the analytical instruments. Third block also contains three units this block mainly deals with the neutrilization titration and acid base equilibria. Fourth block has two units based on Redox titration and complexometry titration. The final block of this course also contain two units which deals with the gravimetric analysis and precipitating titration.
This laboratory course has been designed to put the concepts learnt in the MCH 001 course into practice. There are a total of ten experiments in this course. Of these, the first one is of a general nature which deals with the calibration of apparatus and statistical treatment of data. Rest of the experiments, are concerned with the quantitative determination of analyte. The emphasis is on providing the necessary skills to use and exploit different quantitative analytical methods in order to determine the analyte in different types of samples. Two of these experiments deal with the gravimetric determination of ions in samples of brass and steel having industrial applications.
The remaining seven experiments give an exposure to different types of titrimetric determinations. These cover acid-base, redox, complexometric and precipitation titrations. In this process you would be learning about the variety of ways in which titrimetric determinations are designed and the principles behind such determinations.
The course on ‘Separation Methods’ is the second course of this programme. It has a weightage of 8 credits. The theory component comprising of five blocks is worth 6 credits and the laboratory component is worth 2 credits. Prior to this, you have studied the first course of this programme on ‘Basic Analytical Chemistry’ where basic aspects of analysis and various types of titrations have been discussed. Having gained a knowledge of these, in this course, you will learn about various types of separation methods that are used as part of the analytical study. These methods include the solvent extraction, chromatographic methods of separation as well as some other separation methods such as membrane separation and electrophoresis.
As you are already aware, the course on ‘Separation Methods’ is the second course of PG Diploma in Analytical Chemistry Programme. It has a weightage of 8 credits. The theory component comprises five blocks worth 6 credits and the lab component is worth 2 credits. Before proceeding to take up the laboratory course, it is presumed that you have already gone through the theory blocks and have accumulated enough knowledge about the concepts and fundamentals of the techniques discussed there in. Hence, you have strong foundation to go to the laboratory and do the experiments comprising this lab course. As you can see, there are 10 experiments covering a wide range of separation methods. The first two experiments are based on the liquid –liquid extraction, also known as solvent extraction. Experiment 3 involves the determination of ion exchange capacities while Experiment 4 highlights the use of the technique of ion-exchange in determining the total metal ions present in water. Experiment 5 explains the use of ion exchange in the separation of Fe (III) and Ni (II) which was done in Expts 1 and 2 by using liquid –liquid chromatography. Thus, the comparative utility of the two techniques can be appreciated by performing these experiments. Rest of the experiments, i.e., Experiments 6 to 10 are based on various chromatographic techniques. Experiments 6 and 7 discuss respectively, the separation of cations and amino acids using the technique of paper chromatography - an example of planar chromatography. Experiment 8 describes the separation of carbohydrates by thin layer chromatography which is another technique classified under planar chromatography. Experiments 9 and 10, respectively, illustrate the application of column chromatography in the separation of chlorophyll pigment and metal ions such as iron and aluminum.
Spectroscopic methods of analysis are based on the consequences of the interaction of radiation with matter. Spectroscopic methods course deals with the concepts based on the nature of matter and the type of interaction involved. It is divided into five blocks. Blocks 1 and 2 deal with molecular systems and are titled as ‘Molecular Spectroscopic Methods-I’and ‘Molecular Spectroscopic Methods-II’, respectively. The first of these deals with absorption and scattering of radiation while the second covers methods based on emission of radiation. Blocks 3 and 4 deal with atomic systems and are accordingly titled as ‘Atomic Spectroscopic Methods-I’ and ‘Atomic Spectroscopic Methods-II’ respectively. Block 5, i.e. the last block, is titled ‘Miscellaneous Methods’ and covers the nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometric methods. We would like to mention here that though mass spectrometry is not a type of spectroscopy, yet it is included in the course as it is one of the important techniques of structural elucidation. Needless to say that it is an integral part of analytical methods. All the units covered in these blocks deal with details of principles, instrumentation and the applications of the techniques described.
You would recall that in the introduction to the course on spectroscopic methods we mentioned that in today’s world of ever expanding scientific endeavour venturing into newer frontiers, we are confronted with the challenges of analysing smallest possible amounts of the analyte in the shortest span of time and in such a scenario the spectroscopic methods of analysis are indispensable. The course then embarked on establishing the same by delineating the theoretical foundations of different spectroscopic methods; the principles of the instruments that make the measurements of different spectra possible and the myriad of applications in diverse areas like, pharmacy, medicine, industry, petrochemicals, astronomy, environment, forensic science, etc. Having learnt all that, we feel that, you have the necessary theoretical background to take up some of the actual analytical determinations based on spectroscopic measurements.
This laboratory course has been designed to put the concepts learnt in the MCH 003 course into practice. There are a total of ten experiments in this course. Of these, nine are based on molecular spectroscopic methods and one is based on atomic spectra. The emphasis is on providing the necessary skills to use and exploit different spectroscopic methods in different ways like, the quantitative determination of different species, alone as well as in the mixtures, determination of physical constants like pKa of a weak organic acid, and on the structure determination of organic molecules. The first six and the last experiments pertain to the quantitative determinations whereas the experiment number 7, 8 and 9 provide the necessary inputs to decipher the structure of an organic molecule based on its IR, NMR and mass spectra.
The term electrochemistry includes the study of all chemical and physical processes, which are brought about by electrical energy, and the processes which proceed with the generation of the electrical energy. Electroanalytical methods process nowadays have found wide applicability. These methods of chemical analysis like conductometry; potentiometry, polarography, etc. have been widely developed in the recent times. In electroanalytical techniques we use one or more electrical properties under controlled condition to obtain qualitative and quantitative information of a sample. These techniques can be divided into several classes depending on which aspects of the electrochemical cell are controlled and which are measured. You may be familiar with some of the electroanalytical techniques like potentiometry (the difference in electrode potentials is measured), pH-metry (the difference in electrode potentials is measured) and conductometry (conductance is measured). In this course along with these techniques we will also introduce few new electroanalytical techniques like coulometry (current is measured over a time) and voltammetry (current is measured while actively altering potential). All these electroanalytical techniques will be discussed in Blocks 1, 2, and 3.
Similar to electrical properties, in thermal methods we study changes in the physical and chemical properties of a sample while it is undergoing heating process. In this, course we are basically focusing only on three important thermal techniques, that is, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential thermal analysis (DTA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). These techniques are discussed in Block 4.
Both electroanalytical and thermal methods could be employed for the determination of elemental concentration or compound in varying sample size of complex matrices of geological, biological, environmental, forensic, pharmaceuticals and other industrial products.
In last block of this course, i.e. Block 5, you will study radioanalytical methods which are unique with regard to theoretical principles involved, handling of radioisotopes, and instrumentation. These methods are based on nuclear properties rather than chemical and physical properties in all other analytical methods described so far. Radioanalytical methods are highly sensitive and especially useful for monitoring radioactivity in the environment.
This course deals with experiments in Electroanalytical and other Methods. Along with the experimental detail, the basic concepts on which the experiment procedures are based have also been discussed as required. As the experiments are based on the Elecroanalytical and other methods course (MCH-004), we advise you to brush up MCH-004 course before studying and attempting the experiments given in this course. There are eleven experiments in this course. These experiments can be divided into four types. The first five experiments are based on the potentiometry and pH-metry while Experiment 6 to 8 are based on conductrometry. Experiments 9 and 10 are concerned with polarography and amperometry. Last experiment is based on radiotracer techniques. This experiment is a demonstration type for which video demonstration may be arranged.