A helium inductively coupled plasma for atomic emission spectrometry

An annular helium inductively coupled plasma (He ICP) was generated at atmospheric pressure. No external cooling was used to stabilize the plasma. Aqueous solution was injected into the plasma without any difficulty. Preliminary results revealed that the annular He ICP was capable of exciting elements such as Cl and Br which possess high excitation energies. Atomic emission detection limits for Cl and Br were improved by factors of 63 and 34, respectively, as compared to the results obtained from the argon inductively coupled plasma. The excitation temperature of the annular He ICP (4180 K) was less than that of an Ar ICP (5570 K).     

Direct analysis of tantalum powders by electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

A direct inductively coupled plasma atomic emission method for the determination of Ag, Al, As, Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Ga, K, Li, Mg, Na and Pb in high-purity tantalum powders has been developed. The electrothermal vaporization technique using a modified longitudinally-heated Grün-ETAAS furnace with sample introduction on a platform and an automated sampling workstation provided the possibility of in situ analyte-matrix separation, freedom of blank, and applicability to routine analysis. Hard- and software were modified to allow signal recording and data processing independent of the spectrometer software. The extent of spectral interferences by Ta-emission at the analyte wavelengths used was determined and the analyte signals of each sample run were automatically corrected. Limits of detection ranging from 5 ng/g (Ag, Cu) to 250 ng/g (K, Pb) were obtained using optimized furnace and spectrometer conditions. The method was applied to the analysis of two tantalum samples and the results for Cu, Fe, K, Mg and Na were compared with those obtained by liquid and solid-samping ETAAS, showing satisfactory agreement.     

Direct determination of major elements in solid plant materials by electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

The present work demonstrates the capability of electrothermal vaporization (ETV) to become an important tool of solid sample introduction in ICP-AES for plant sample analysis. Direct determination of Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na and Zn was investigated in powdered plant samples. Obtaining good results for major elements in plant samples was governed by some special operating conditions. The sensitivity of the method necessitated the use of ICP in radial view configuration. The behavior of elements during vaporization was studied between 500 and 2600 °C. External calibration was carried out using solid external (cellulose) spiked with aqueous standard solutions. However, performances of the analytical method were found dependent of argon flow rates. Analytical accuracy of the method was tested in three reference materials. Analytical results agreed with certified values when cellulose was used in calibration. However, K could not be determined because of excessive sensitivity. Without cellulose, it was found that Fe results were underestimated and Zn results overestimated. Relative standard deviations varied from 3 to 23%. Limits of detection varied from 1 to 80 ng g⁻¹ from one element to the other for a typical mass sample of 2 mg.     

Electrothermal vaporization in inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry for direct multielement analysis of food samples with slurry sampling

Slurry sampling followed by electrothermal vaporization (ETV) was used as sample introduction technique in inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) for the direct determination of trace elements in food samples. A polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) emulsion was used as a fluorinating reagent to promote vaporization and the transportation of analytes. The main factors affecting the analytical signals were investigated in detail. Under optimum operating conditions, the detection limits (DL) for this method varied from 1.8 (Cu) to 215 ng/mL (Zn), while the relative standard deviations (RSD) were in the range 2.6% (Cu)-7.2% (Zn). The proposed method was successfully applied to the direct determination of trace amounts of V, Cu, Cr, Fe, Zn, and La in rice without any chemical pretreatment. The precision was evaluated by analyzing a standard reference material (tea leaves, GBW 07605) and comparing the results from this method with results obtained by pneumatic nebulization (PN) ICP-AES after the wet-chemical decomposition of the same sample.From Zhurnal Analiticheskoi Khimii, Vol. 60, No. 3, 2005, pp. 286–290.Original English Text Copyright © 2005 by Chen.This article was submitted by the author in English.     

Plasma behavior during electrothermal vaporization sample introduction in inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

Electrothermal vaporization (ETV) sample introduction in inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry suffers from severe matrix effects. In the present study, the differences between wet and dry plasma conditions are studied. In addition, the influence of the sample composition was investigated. An inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer, with detection based on charge transfer, allowed the simultaneous measurement of ionic and atomic emission line intensities during the transient signal. Mg and Cr were the test elements. The ion-to-atom line ratio increases at higher power settings, but the changes were larger when a nebulizer was used for sample introduction than with ETV sample introduction. The decrease of ion-to-atom line ratios at increasing observation height was more pronounced when ETV was used, due to the absence of water vapor. The gas flow rate showed a stronger influence for nebulization than for ETV. In the presence of a calcium matrix, lower ion-to-atom line ratios were observed, but the ratio did not change significantly within the transient emission signal. Similar line ratios were observed for different amounts of calcium matrix. The values of ion-to-atom line ratios for Mg and Cr indicate that the plasma ionization and thermal characteristics are not modified due to the presence of the calcium matrix.     

In-situ vaporization and matrix removal for the determination of rare earth impurities in zirconium dioxide by electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

A novel method for the determination of trace rare earth impurities in ZrO₂ powder has been developed based on electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. A polytetrafluoroethylene slurry was used as a fluorinating reagent to convert both the matrix (Zr) and the analytes (rare earth elements) into fluorides with different volatilities at a high temperature in a graphite furnace. The more volatile ZrF₄ was removed in-situ by selective vaporization prior to the determination of the analytes, removing matrix spectral interferences. Under optimum operating conditions, the absolute detection limits of the analytes varied from 0.04 ng (Yb) to 0.50 ng (Pr) with relative standard deviations less than 5%. The recommended approach has been successfully applied to the determination of trace rare earth impurities (La, Pr, Eu, Gd, Ho and Yb) in ZrO₂ powder and the results were in good agreement with those obtained by pneumatic nebulization inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry after the separation of the matrix using a solvent extraction procedure.     

Electrothermal vaporization system using furnace-fusion technique for the determination of lead in botanical samples by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

A new approach to sample digestion, subsequent vaporization and introduction into an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer was developed for the direct determination of lead. To each small sample cuvette made of tungsten, a mixture of a ground solid sample and powdered diammonium hydrogenphosphate was precisely weighed. The cuvette was positioned onto the tungsten boat furnace (TBF) incorporating a vaporizer. Tetramethylammonium hydroxide solution was added. Then the cuvette was heated and maintained at a wet-digestion temperature to decompose the solid sample. After digestion, the temperature was elevated to generate the analyte vapor for introduction into a plasma. Since the solid samples were wet-digested in the sample cuvettes before vaporization, they could be analyzed by using a calibration curve prepared from aqueous standard solutions. This method was applied to the determination of lead in several biological materials with satisfactory results.     

Electrothermal vaporization system using furnace-fusion technique for the determination of lead in botanical samples by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

A new approach to sample digestion, subsequent vaporization and introduction into an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer was developed for the direct determination of lead. To each small sample cuvette made of tungsten, a mixture of a ground solid sample and powdered diammonium hydrogenphosphate was precisely weighed. The cuvette was positioned onto the tungsten boat furnace (TBF) incorporating a vaporizer. Tetramethylammonium hydroxide solution was added. Then the cuvette was heated and maintained at a wet-digestion temperature to decompose the solid sample. After digestion, the temperature was elevated to generate the analyte vapor for introduction into a plasma. Since the solid samples were wet-digested in the sample cuvettes before vaporization, they could be analyzed by using a calibration curve prepared from aqueous standard solutions. This method was applied to the determination of lead in several biological materials with satisfactory results.     

Determination of cadmium by an improved double chamber electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

An improved double chamber electrothermal vaporization (ETV) system was designed. A new inner chamber and its bottom plate made of quartz glass were attached with carrier support gas inlet port for the determination of cadmium by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The use of the inner chamber in combination with the plate played important roles to transport the metal vapor efficiently into argon ICP. Ten-μl sample aliquots were dried at 100 °C and subsequently heated at 1000 °C on the tungsten boat furnace. The evolved vapor was swept into the ICP source through PTFE tubing and the inner chamber by a 0.8 l/min H₂ (7%)-Ar carrier gas. The performance parameters of ETV-ICP-AES such as temperature program and gas flow rate were evaluated using cadmium standard solution. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the best attainable detection limit at Cd II 214.438 nm line was 0.2 ng/ml with linear dynamic ranges of 50 to 10,000 ng/ml for cadmium. The instrumental precision expressed as the relative standard deviation (RSD) from ten replicate measurements of 10,000 ng/ml for cadmium by ETV-ICP-AES was 0.85%. The present method has been successfully applied to the determination of cadmium in zinc-base materials.     

Modified Babington nebulizer for inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry.

A PTFE Babingtonnebulizer equipped with a hood was investigated for inductively coupled plasma atomicemission spectrometry in conjunction with a PTFE cyclone chamber, in order to nebulize various sample solutions containing high salts, hydrofluoric acid and/or suspended solid. A hood of 3 mmphi (nozzle side) - 5 mmphi (outlet side) and 6 mm in length gave a comparable or higher sensitivity compared to a system with a commercially available concentric nebulizer and a glass cyclone chamber. Moreover, the present nebulizer was fully interchangeable with a concentric one at normal argon pressure, attaining sufficient stability, a short wash-out time and good nebulizing of high matrices solutions. The present system was successfully applied to the determination of trace impurities in highly pure silica powders.     

Microwave sample-digestion procedure for determination of arsenic in moss samples using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Arsenic in moss samples was determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) after microwave-assisted sample digestion. Two different sample masses (500 mg and 1000 mg) and three different microwave ovens were used in the digestion. There was a slight difference in the digestion efficiency, as determined by the residual carbon concentrations of 500 mg digested samples, between the microwave ovens. The arsenic results obtained for moss reference samples were, in most cases, satisfactory. However, phosphorus was found to have a reducing influence on the arsenic peak area in the ETAAS determination. According to the results, it was not possible to reduce the phosphorus interference by increasing the amount of Mg(NO(3))(2) in the Pd-Mg chemical modifier. The arsenic results obtained by ETAAS were compared to those obtained by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).     

Using silica modified by Tiron for metal preconcentration and determination in natural waters by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

A new adsorbent is synthesized on the basis of silica consecutively modified by polyhexamethylene guanidine and 4,5-dihydroxy-1,3-benzenedisulfonic acid (Tiron) for the group preconcentration of Fe(III), Al(III), Cu(II), Pb(II), Zn(II), and Mn(II) followed by determination by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. The adsorbent in the batch mode quantitatively (recovery 98?99%) extracts Fe(III), Al(III) and Cu(II) ions at pH 4.0 and Fe(III), Al(III), Cu(II), Pb(II), Zn(II), and Mn(II) ions at pH 7.0; the time of attainment of an adsorption equilibrium does not exceed 10 min. Consecutive preconcentration at pH 4.0 and 7.0 in the batch and dynamic modes ensures the quantitative separation of Fe(III), Al(III), and Cu(II) from Pb(II), Zn(II), and Mn(II) and their separate determination. The quantitative desorption of metals was attained with 0.5?1.0 M HNO₃ (5 or 10 mL). In preconcentration from 200 mL of solution with 5 mL of a desorbing solution, the preconcentration coefficient was equal to 40. The developed procedure was used for the determination of metal ions in river waters of Krasnoyarsk Krai. The results obtained were verified by the added?found method.     

Mixed-gas inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry using a direct injection high efficiency nebulizer

Experimental studies and computer simulations were conducted to identify plasma operating conditions and to explore and contrast the excitation conditions of Ar, Ar-O2, and Ar-He inductively coupled plasmas (ICPs) for the introduction of microliter volumes of sample solutions with a direct injection high efficiency nebulizer (DIHEN). The best MgII 280.270 nm/MgI 285.213 nm ratio (6.6) measured with Ar ICP atomic emission spectrometry for the DIHEN (RF power = 1500 W; nebulizer gas flow rate = 0.12 L min(-1)) was less than the ratio (8.2) acquired on the same instrument for conventional nebulization (1500 W and 0.6 L min(-1)). Addition of small amounts of O2 or He (5%) to the outer gas flow improved excitation conditions in the ICP, that is, a more robust condition (a MgII/MgI ratio of up to 8.9) could be obtained by using the DIHEN with Ar-O2 and Ar-He mixed-gas plasmas, thereby minimizing some potential spectroscopic and matrix interferences, in comparison to Ar ICPAES.     

Interface for capillary electrophoresis coupled with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry.

A modified concentric nebulizer was used as the interface to couple capillary electrophoresis (CE) to inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The CE capillary replaces the central tube of the concentric nebulizer. The tip of the nebulizer tapers slowly to allow uncertainty in the position of the capillary. A platinum wire was inserted into the CE capillary to provide electrical connection to the CE power supply. pH changes inside the capillary due to electrolysis of the background buffer electrolyte was small and has minimal effects on the CE separation. The peak broadening effects due to the nebulizing gas flow, however, were significant. Resolution decreases quickly when the flow-rate of the carrier gas increases. Sample stacking technique was used to improve the resolution of species of opposite charge, e.g., Cr(VI) vs. Cr(III) ions. Detection limit of Cr based on peak area is approximately 10 ppb for the CE-ICP-AES system.     

电热蒸发进样电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱（ETV－ICP－AES）联用技术研究

本文采用国产部件组装了一套ＥＴＶ－ＩＣＰ－ＡＥＳ仪器体系，对装置的连接及操作参数进行优化。深入系统地考察了分析物的蒸发过程和传输过程，提出了难熔元素的蒸发和传输机理。研究了ＥＴＶ－ＩＣＰ－ＡＥＳ中基体效应，提出了以聚四氟乙烯为氟化剂，氟化辅助ＥＴＶ－ＩＣＰ－ＡＥＳ测定难熔元素的新方法，应用于环境和生物标样中痕量元素分析，获得满意结果。     

ICP-AES法测定方铅矿中多元素的方法研究

采用电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法(ICP-AES)进行方铅矿中多元素同时测定.通过对方铅矿样品化学处理试验建立了HCl-NH4Cl-HNO3的溶矿体系.本体系采用基体匹配、背景系数和元素干扰系数校正及元素内标法确定了最佳综合实验测试条件.本实验建立的ICP-AES法同时测定方铅矿中镉、钴、铜、铁、铟、铅、锌7种元素的方法,本方法测量相对误差RE (n=8)为1.50%～7.50%,相对标准偏差RSD (n=8)为1.7%～5.7%.经国家一级标准物质GBW 07269分析验证可以满足方铅矿单矿物样品的分析要求.     

Simultaneous determination of the constituents in Al-Ge-Si alloys by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

An accurate method for determination of the constituents Ge, Si, In and Mg in Al–Ge–Si based compact alloys and foil materials by ICP atomic emission spectrometry is developed. The material samples were dissolved in nitric acid–hydrofluoric acid. Optimum parameters for the simultaneous measurement of the constituent elements are worked out. To compensate the time determined sensitivity fluctuations the analytical signal was corrected by a special procedure of external standardization.     

Simultaneous determination of the constituents in Al-Ge-Si alloys by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

An accurate method for determination of the constituents Ge, Si, In and Mg in Al-Ge-Si based compact alloys and foil materials by ICP atomic emission spectrometry is developed. The material samples were dissolved in nitric acid-hydrofluoric acid. Optimum parameters for the simultaneous measurement of the constituent elements are worked out. To compensate the time determined sensitivity fluctuations the analytical signal was corrected by a special procedure of external standardization.     

A systematic approach to optimum working conditions with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

Optimum experimental factors were determined for the analytical determination of Al, Cd, Fe, Pb, and Zn by ICP atomic emission spectrometry. Based on systematically determined factor levels, working conditions were found that gave similiar, and sometimes better results compared with the hitherto used levels of factors. All measurements were performed with a sampling time of 150 ms as often used in routine analysis in the laboratory. This optimization resulted in a reduced outer plasma gas flow from 15 L/min argon to 12 L/min without any relevant changes of the achievable detection limits. A serious problem was that only one analytical line of Al could be used. A comparison with the lower limit of application (comparable with the detection limit) from German directive DIN 38406, part 22 ([1]), showed that the detection limits of Al and Fe are superior, whereas for Cd there was only little improvement. The detection limits of Zn and especially Pb are always higher than the lower range of application under these conditions. Therefore, the use of two device-parameter sets for hard and soft lines, respectively, is strongly suggested. Maps with the observed signal-to-noise-ratios were systematically acquired for each element analyzed in connection with different strategies for optimum search.