Isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry in connection with a chromatographic separation for ultra trace determinations of platinum group elements (Pt, Pd, Ru, Ir) in environmental samples

An isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometric (ID-ICP-QMS) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of the platinum group elements Pt, Pd, Ru, and Ir in environmental samples. Spike solutions, enriched with the isotopes ¹⁹⁴Pt, ¹⁰⁸Pd, ⁹⁹Ru, and ¹⁹¹Ir, were used for the isotope dilution step. Interfering elements were eliminated by chromatographic separation using an anion-exchange resin. Samples were dissolved with aqua regia in a high pressure asher. Additional dissolution of possible silicate portions by hydrofluoric acid was usually not necessary. Detection limits of 0.15 ng g^–1, 0.075 ng g^–1, and 0.015 ng g^–1 were achieved for Pt, Pd, Ru, and Ir, respectively, using sample weights of only 0.2 g. The reliability of the ID-ICP-QMS method was demonstrated by analyzing a Canadian geological reference material and by participating in an interlaboratory study for the determination of platinum and palladium in a homogenized road dust sample. Surface soil, sampled at different distances from a highway, showed concentrations in the range of 0.1–87 ng g^–1. An exponential decrease of the platinum and palladium concentration with increasing distance and a small anthropogenic contribution to the natural background concentration of ruthenium and iridium was found in these samples.     

Determination of platinum-group elements and rhenium in standard geological samples by isotope dilution with mass-spectrometric ending

A method is proposed for determining platinum-group elements, Ru, Pd, Os, Ir, Pt, and Re in geological samples by isotope dilution with mass spectrometric ending after sample decomposition with a mixture (1: 3) of conc. HCl + HNO₃ in a microwave system and the chromatographic separation of the analytes from the matrix on an AG 50W × 8 cation exchanger. The concentrations and isotope ratios are determined on high-resolution mass spectrometers ELEMENT and ELEMENT2. The attained detection limits range from 0.005 ng/g (Ir) to 0.2 ng/g (Pd) in solid samples. The use of isotope dilution improves the accuracy of determination and takes into account the matrix effect and changes in plasma parameters on the analytical signal. The method is tested in the analysis of standard samples of spinel lherzolite (GP-13) and serpentinite (UB-N). The relative standard deviation of the results of analysis is 5–22%, depending on the element and its concentration level (Ru, Pd, Re, Pt). In determining Os and Ir, a certain decrease in the accuracy and repeatability of the results is noticed.     

Simplified method for the determination of Ru, Pd, Re, Os, Ir and Pt in chromitites and other geological materials by isotope dilution ICP-MS and acid digestion

A method for the determination of low Ru, Pd, Re, Os, Ir and Pt abundances in geological reference materials by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after acid digestion in a high pressure asher (HPA-S) is presented. The digestion technique is similar to that using Carius tubes but easier to handle and reaches higher temperatures. Osmium can be determined as OsO4 with ICP-MS directly after digestion through a sparging technique. The remaining elements are preconcentrated by means of anion column chromatography. The resin is digested directly without elution leading to high yields but this causes problems if Zr is present at higher levels in the silicate rich materials. The analytical results for international platinum group element (PGE) reference materials, chromitite CHR-Bkg, basalt TDB-1 and gabbro WGB-1, are presented and compared with literature data, demonstrating the validity of the described method. Although higher in concentration, PGEs determined for reference material WGB-1 were worse than for TDB-1 indicating a more inhomogeneous distribution of the platinum group mineral phases. The low PGE abundance chromitite standard, CHR-Bkg, is likely to be homogeneous for Ru, Re, Os and Ir and is recommended as a reference material for the study of chromitites. Detection limits (3s x total procedure blank) range from 0.012 ng (Re and Os) to 0.77 ng (Pt), which could be further improved by applying higher quality acids.     

火试金预浓集结合中子活化和电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定铂族元素

建立了两种以火试金预浓集为基础的、可用于准确测定铂族元素的方法;中子活化法和电感耦合等离子体质谱法。讨论了它们的分析检出限、准确度及其适应性。并用这两种方法测定了5种候选地质参考物质中铂族元素的含量。     

Determination of Ultra-Trace Platinum,Palladium, Ruthenium,Rhodium, and Iridium in Rocks and Minerals by Inductively Coupled–Plasma Mass Spectrometry Following Nickel Sulfide Fire Assay Preconcentration and Open Mixed Acid Digestion

Platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), iridium (Ir), and osmiun (Os) are platinum-group elements with similar physic-chemical properties, and have important applications in geochemistry and environmental chemistry. However, due to their low abundance and inhomogeneous distribution in natural ores as well as the nugget effect, the accurate determination of the platinum-group elements has been a challenge for geological analysis. In this work, self-prepared and purified sodium carbonate (NiCO₃) instead of commercial nickel oxide (NiO) was used as the fire assay collector in order to greatly reduce the reagent blank and method detection limits. In addition, the fuming time of HClO₄ was strictly controlled at 10?min and a high sensitive method was developed for the simultaneous determination of ultra-trace Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh, and Ir in minerals by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) following preconcentration with the nickel sulfide fire assay. Under the optimized conditions, the linear ranges of Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh, and Ir were between 0 and 100?ng mL^?1, with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.9997. The detection limits were 0.015, 0.056, 0.014, 0.004, 0.012?ng mL^?1 (for 10?g sample) for Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh and Ir, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to analyze Chinese Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) GBW07288, GBW07289, GBW07290, GBW07291, GBW07292, GBW07293, GBW07294, GBW07101, GBW07102 and GBW07201 and the determined values were in good agreement with the certified values. The relative standard deviations (n?=?5) of Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh and Ir were between 3.42% and 6.87% for the determination of GBW07291.     

螯合树脂富集-激光气化等离子体发射光谱测定地质样品中铂族元素和金

采用含N、S功能团的螯合树脂YPA_4富集铂族元素和金。Au、Pt、Pd、Os的吸附率为98％以上,Ir为92％,Ru为90％,Rh为87％。把树脂灰化,用激光将其灰份气化输入等离子体激发,光谱测定。取样5g时,可测定0.2ng/g的Au,0.6ng/g的Os、Ir,0.06ng/g的Pt、Pd、Rh、Ru。标样分析结果与标准植吻合。     

Nickel sulfide fire assay improved for pre-concentration of platinum group elements in geological samples: a practical means of ultra-trace analysis combined with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

A method was developed for ultra-trace determination of all six platinum group elements (PGE) by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). With involvement of Fe to the fusion charge compositions of the conventional NiS fire assay, a whole assay button in water may disintegrate into powder and then be dissolved with HCl. The insoluble residue was collected, and dissolved with HCl + H(2)O(2) in a sealed Teflon beaker. After the HCl + H(2)O(2) treatment the Os signal response is at least 10 times as high as that in HCl medium. With isotopic dilution method for determination of Os, all six PGE were analyzed in one sample preparation. This method was applied to a series of Chinese PGE certified reference materials, GBW 07288 to GBW 07294, and the results were found to be in reasonable agreement with the certified values. Limits of detection were assessed from the whole chemical procedure and they are 0.17 ng g(-1) for Ru, 0.01 ng g(-1) for Rh, 0.16 ng g(-1) for Pd, 0.03 ng g(-1) for Os, 0.07 ng g(-1) for Ir and 0.11 ng g(-1) for Pt. This method of precision (RSD%) was evaluated using two reference materials of GBW 07291 and GBW 07294, and it is within the range from 4.2% to 10.3%.     

Displacement solid-phase extraction on mercapto-functionalized magnetite microspheres for inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric determination of trace noble metals

A flow injection online displacement solid-phase extraction (DSPE) via magnetic immobilization of mercapto-functionalized magnetite microspheres onto the inner walls of a knotted reactor (KR) coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was developed for selective preconcentration and determination of trace noble metals (Ru, Rh, Pd, Pt, Ir and Au) in complex matrices. Online DSPE of 2.7 mL aqueous solution gave the enhancement factors of 32-46 for the six noble metals in comparison with direct nebulization of aqueous sample solution, and the detection limits (3 s) of 2.1 ng L(-1) for Ru, 1.9 ng L(-1) for Rh, 2.5 ng L(-1) for Pd, 1.8 ng L(-1) for Ir, 1.9 ng L(-1) for Pt and 1.7 ng L(-1) for Au. The sample throughput of the developed method was about 20 samples h(-1), and the relative standard deviation for eleven replicate determinations of the noble metals at the 30 ng L(-1) level ranged from 1.2% to 2.1%. The recoveries of Ru, Rh, Pd, Pt, Ir and Au still maintained 90% even after successive 140 cycles of DSPE. The developed method was successfully applied to selective determination of trace Ru, Rh, Pd, Pt, Ir and Au in complex matrices.     

On the re-assessment of the optimum conditions for the determination of platinum, palladium and rhodium in environmental samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry and microwave digestion

The experimental conditions for the determination of platinum, palladium and rhodium by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) are re-assessed. A certified material (BCR-723) was used as a working sample and analyzed using various extraction and atomization procedures in order to find the optimal experimental conditions that enable the quantitative and reproducible detection of platinum, palladium and rhodium in environmental matrices. Evidently, literature observations regarding the atomization conditions were proven fairly adequate. However, the provision of the optimum extraction conditions revealed several parameters that lie behind the reported uncertainties. The appropriate combination between extraction conditions and atomization programs afforded a considerable improvement in the recoveries and analytical features of platinum, palladium and rhodium determination with GFAAS. Cross-examination of the analytical data with various CRMs (certified reference materials) was used to validate the robustness of the method in heterogeneous matrices bearing different element levels. Under the optimum experimental conditions the method permits the determination at concentrations as low as (LOD(3S/N)) 1.9 ng g(-1), 0.45 ng g(-1) and 0.6 ng g(-1) for Pt, Pd and Rh, respectively affording recoveries in the range of 93-101%. The method was successfully applied to the assessment of Pt, Pd and Rh accumulation in real road dust and soil samples in Greece.     

Direct determination of platinum group elements and their distributions in geological and environmental samples at the ng g<Superscript>−1</Superscript> level using LA–ICP–IDMS

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma isotope dilution mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–IDMS) was applied to the direct and simultaneous determination of the platinum group elements (PGEs) Pt, Pd, Ru, and Ir in geological and environmental samples. A special laser ablation system with high ablation rates was used, along with sector field ICP–MS. Special attention was paid to deriving the distributions of PGEs in the pulverized samples. IDMS could not be applied to the (mono-isotopic) Rh, but the similar ablation behavior of Ru and Rh allowed Rh to be simultaneously determined via relative sensitivity coefficients. The laser ablation process produces hardly any oxide ions (which usually cause interference in PGE analysis with liquid sample injection), so the ICP–MS can be run in its low mass resolution but high-sensitivity mode. The detection limits obtained for the geological samples were 0.16 ng g⁻¹, 0.14 ng g⁻¹, 0.08 ng g⁻¹, 0.01 ng g⁻¹ and 0.06 ng g⁻¹ for Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir and Pt, respectively. LA–ICP–IDMS was applied to different geological reference materials (TDB-1, WGB-1, UMT-1, WMG-1, SARM-7) and the road dust reference material BCR-723, which are only certified for some of the PGEs. Comparisons with certified values as well as with indicative values from the literature demonstrated the validity of the LA–ICP–IDMS method. The PGE concentrations in subsamples of the road dust reference material correspond to a normal distribution, whereas the distributions in the geological reference materials TDB-1, WGB-1, UMT-1, WMG-1, and SARM-7 are more complex. For example, in the case of Ru, a logarithmic normal distribution best fits the analyzed concentrations in TDB-1 subsamples, whereas a pronounced nugget effect was found for Pt in most geological samples.     

Development and application of new iondashexchange techniques for the separation of the platinum group and other siderophile elements from geological samples

Two new aniondashexchange techniques have been developed for the separation of the platinum group elements Ru, Pd, Ir, Pt and the siderophile metals Re, Ag, Zn and Cd from geological samples following a NiS fire assay digestion procedure. Both methods are simple and permit the isolation of these elements in sufficient purity for quantitative analysis by isotope dilutiondashinductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-ICPMS) at yields of 75-95%. The high affinity of the considered elements to anion exchange resins allows the use of small (1.25 ml) columns even for the processing of 5-10 g sized silicate rock samples. Following fire assay digestion and dissolution of the NiS buttons in aqua regia, the samples are loaded onto the resin bed as solutions in 1 M HCl. After elution of the bulk sample matrix with dilute HCl and HNO(3), Zn and Cd are stripped from the column using 0.8 M HNO(3). Small amounts of bromine water are added to the dilute mineral acids for the stabilization of strongly retained Ir(IV). Following this, the iondashexchange techniques permit the sequential elution of Ag, Re and the PGE using 11 M HCl, 8 M HNO(3) and 13.5 M HNO(3). The iondashexchange methods have been applied to separation of Ru, Pd, Re, Ir and Pt from the geological reference material SU-la prior to concentration measurements by ID-ICPMS. Our analytical results are in good agreement with previously published data for this sample and display an external reproducibility (based upon repeat dissolutions) of approximately 2-10% for the elements considered in this study.     

Efficiency of Pt and Ir modifiers for the simultaneous determination of As, Se and In in a sodium sulphate matrix by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

The effect of pre-reduced Pt and Ir modifiers towards simultaneous determination of As, Se and In in a sodium sulphate matrix was investigated. In spite of application of very isothermal THGA atomizer, negative influence of the matrix is pronounced. The efficiency of iridium modifier is somewhat higher than that of platinum modifier. However compared to palladium modifier both are significantly less effective in sulphate media. Taking into account our previous data, effectiveness of platinum group metal (PGM) modifiers in the determination of As, Se and In in the presence of sodium sulphate increases in the order Ru<Rh≈Pt<Ir<Pd. This order is opposite to the data on enthalpy of formation of PGM sulphides. This supports our hypothesis that effectiveness of PGM modifiers in the presence of sulphate matrix is determined mainly by stability of the corresponding sulphides. Efforts to enhance the effectiveness of Pt modifier mixing it with small (10-20%) amounts of Pd, Rh or Ir were not successful. Although mixture containing equal amounts of Pd, Pt, Rh and Ru is relatively effective, pure pre-reduced Pd is the best modifier for the simultaneous determination of As, Se and In in a sulphate media.     

Extractive concentration of platinum-group elements and their determination by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry

The extraction of Pt, Pd, Ir, Rh, Ru, Ag, Au, Co, Cu, Ni and Fe with n-octylaniline has been investigated. Noble metals are extracted 10(3)-10(4) times better than Cu, Ni, Co and Fe. A method of determination of Pt, Pd, Ir, Rh and Ru is proposed. They are first separated from Cu, Ni, Co and Fe by means of extraction (and then determined, in either the aqueous or organic phase, by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry. The atomic absorption of platinum metals (with the exception of Pd) is affected by other elements of the platinum group and by non-noble metals. La(NO(3))(3) and Nd(NO(3))(3) lower the limit of detection for Pt, Rh, Ir and Ru and inhibit the effect of Co, Cu, Ni, Fe, Bi, Zn, Na, etc. on their determination. Lanthanum and neodymium chlorides and sulphates produce a similar effect but only on the determination of Pt and Rh. The coefficient of variation of the determination, in both phases, is within 2-6.8%.     

低空白镍锍试金预富集中子活化分析测定地球化学标准物质中的铂族元素

研究了镍锍试金预富集中子活化分析测定岩石样品中的铂族元素。纯化捕集剂氧化镍,大大降低了化学分离全流程铂族元素的空白。取样量为50g时,所需溶剂各元素的空白值为(ng/g):Pt<0.05、Pd<0.05、Os<0.01、Ru<0.05、Rh<0.05、Ir=0.002。用平面锗探测器测定Rh使测定下限降低了两个数量级,对几种国标地球化学标准物质的测定结果与推荐值基本符合。     

锂盐-锍镍试金-等离子质谱法测定黑色页岩中铂族元素

建立锍镍试金-等离子质谱法测定黑色页岩中铂族元素(PGEs)的方法。在不减少称样量的前提下,结合黑色页岩成分特点,调整试金配料,利用硝酸钾的氧化性,解决形成锍扣难的问题;利用四硼酸锂的助融性,使盐酸溶解锍扣后黑色沉淀量大幅度降低,用等离子质谱法测定黑色页岩中铂族元素。PGEs的线性相关系数均不小于0.9995。Pt,Pd,Rh,Ir,Ru的检出限分别为0.30,0.36,0.032,0.028,0.041 ng/g。用该方法测定实际样品,测定值与参考值一致,测定结果的相对标准偏差为1.2%~10.6%(n=10)。该方法满足地质矿产实验室测试质量管理规范(DZ/T 0130-2006)的要求,可用于黑色页岩中铂族元素的测定。     

Determination of noble metals in silicate rocks, ores and metallurgical samples by simultaneous multi-element graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry with Zeeman background correction

A new method has been developed for rapid determination of mug/g and ng/g amounts of noble metals in silicate rocks, ores and metallurgical samples by attacking with hydrofluoric acid and aqua regia, preconcentration by ion-exchange chromatography and measuring in a simultaneous multi-element graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometer equipped with a polarized Zeeman background correction device which eliminated interferences from any incompletely separated common elements. The method was tested for Ru, Rh, Pt, Ir, Pd, Ag and Au with three Canadian certified reference materials, and then applied to the determination of ng/g amounts of these elements in four new Canadian candidate reference materials.     

Ion chromatography with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry,a powerful analytical tool for complex matrices estimation of Pt and Pd in environmental samples

A new method for palladium and platinum direct determination in environmental samples is proposed by coupling ion chromatography with quadrupole inductively coupled plasma MS. In order to optimise Pd and Pt separation and to minimise interference from matrix in real samples, several anionic and cationic stationary phases have been compared at different mobile phase compositions. In particular, the effect of acidity and of the addition of oxalic acid to the eluent on separation and detection performance has been studied, and the anion-exchange column AG11 turned out to be more suitable. After chromatographic and mass spectrometer parameter optimisation, several potential interferences and the main quality parameters of the method, according to the Eurachem-CITAC recommendations, were evaluated: the detection limit for Pt was 5 ng l(-1) while the value for Pd was 230 ng l(-1). The method was successfully employed in the determination of platinum group elements in urban road dust and atmospheric particulates and the complete absence of matrix spectral interferences was demonstrated.     

Separation of some platinum metal 8-hydroxyquinolinates by normal phase high-performance liquid chromatography

The method of normal phase high-performance liquid chromatography has been applied to the separation and determination of Pd(II), Pt(II), Rh(III), Ir(IV), Ru(III) and Os(IV) as chelates with 8-hydroxyquinoline on a 62 x 2 mm column packed with Silasorb 600 5 mu silica gel by elution with methylene chloride-isopropyl alcohol mixture (97:3 v/v). The detection limits (ng per 5 mul), were Pd 0.3, Pt 1.0, Rh 1.0, Ir 5.0, Ru 1.5, Os 25. The separation time was 12 min at a flow-rate of 0.1 ml/min.     

On the determination of platinum group elements in environmental materials by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and microwave digestion

The interferences from Cd, Cu, Hf, Pb, Sr, Zn, Zr and Y on the inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) determination of Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru and Ir in geological (Pt-ore SARM-7, abundance range for platinum metals 0.07-3.74 μg/g) and environmental samples (sediment JSd-2 abundance range for Pt and Pd 0.0167-0.021 μg/g; road dust and plant sample) are evaluated using model solutions, real samples and comparison to inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) results. Pt, Rh, Ru and Ir can be determined usually after introduction of corrections for the interference in all investigated materials though in sediments the direct determination of Pt might be a problem depending on the actual Hf concentrations. The direct determination of Pd (after microwave-assisted acid digestion) is possible in ores using all investigated isotopes (, , ), in plants using and correction for the interferences of Zr, Mo and Cd, and not possible in sediments and road dust. Therefore, we developed a procedure for isolation of Pd using its diethyl-dithio-carabamate (DDTC) complex. The detection limits for Pt, Pd and Ir are 0.015 ng/g, and for Ru and Rh 0.03 ng/g.     

电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定地质样品中铂、钯、钌、铑、铱和金

研究Ｔｅ共沉淀分离富集、ＩＣＰ－ＭＳ铂族元素和金测定方法。方法检出限 １～９ ｐｇ／ｇ;回收率≥９０％。国标ＧＢＷ０７２８８－ＧＢＷ０７２９４、加拿大ＷＧＢ１及南非铂矿ＳＡＲＭ７等标样分析表明：结果满意,方法可靠。