Instrumental Methods of Analysis Modern Trends and Applications – IMA’03

Preface by Professor J. Stratis, Chairman of the Conference

It is almost twenty-three centuries since Archimedes performed the first instrumental chemical analysis when he determined the content of gold in the crown of the Syrakoussian Tyrant in «Magna Graecia» (in Sicily, South Italy).
Since then, Chemical Analysis has evolved to such as degree that it profoundly impacts all human activities. Over the centuries, the rate of scientific achievements has increased exponentially. Each year thousands of papers appear in specialized scientific journals contributing to the gradual accumulation of global knowledge. At the same time many of these papers propose solutions to problems tightly connected with all main activities of modern society. Most people identify Chemistry with Analytical Chemistry because this is the branch of Chemistry with which they are more familiar. Thus, every meeting of analytical chemists is a genuine opportunity to enhance probably the most useful and, in my personal opinion, the most stimulating and challenging field of Chemistry. In this context, the IMA conference (or convention) provides the opportunity for information exchange in the analytical sciences.
After two successful previous meetings, IMA is on its way of getting established for good. The first conference in the series, held in Chalkidiki in 1999 with Professor Petropoulou-Ochsenkuehn as Chairperson, was a significant success since it hosted more than two hundred scientists from around the world. It is known for a fact that our geographic area lacks specialized conventions. This first IMA gave the chance to a number of analytical chemists to meet and it was then decided that this convention should become some kind of tradition. The second conference in the series took place in 2001 in the city of Ioannina, the biggest city of Epirus, a geographical area of great significance to Greek history especially concerning the preservation of our language. The conference Chairman, Professor Karagiannis, and his colleagues also offered us one of the most memorable and organized conferences.
Almost 250 scientific papers are presented and scientists from all over the world are attending the conference IMA’03. The participants are coming from Universities, research institutions, state organizations, representatives from the industry and companies as well as graduate and postgraduate students. We hope that the success of the IMA conferences will continue with the third in the series, hosted in Thessaloniki, and we are already looking forward to the next meeting in two years time to have the chance to exchange knowledge and information.
I personally want to express my gratitude to our sponsors as well as to the members of the organizing committees, the international committee and all the participants.

Contents

Session I: Atomic Spectroscopy
Session II: Spectrophotometric techniques and Chemometrics
Session III: Flow and Sequential Injection Analysis
Session IV: Radioanalytical, thermal and other techniques
Session V: Sample Preparation and Liquid Chromatography
Session VI: Liquid Chromatography and Hyphenated techniques
Session VII: Gas Chromatography and Hyphenated Techniques
Session VIII: Bioanalytical techniques
Session IX: Electroanalytical techniques
Session X: Sensors and biosensors
Poster Presentations