Lithium-fusion sample preparation method for radio frequency glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (rf-GD-OES): analysis of coal ash specimens

The use of lithium-fusion sample preparation methods for the analysis of powder-form specimens by radio frequency glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (rf-GD-OES) has been evaluated for the test case of coal ash samples. The development of an elemental analysis technique for chemically complex coal ashes presents a challenge in terms of having simple sample preparation, providing accurate results, and minimizing analysis time. The adopted sample preparation procedure for the coal specimens involved a standard lithium fusion methodology. This procedure circumvents many problems associated with the common compaction methods employed for GD analysis of inorganic powders. It was found that coal ashes prepared as glass disks using a mixture of lithium compounds as the host matrix and analyzed by rf-GD-OES provide good plasma stabilization, with analyte optical emission signals stabilizing in ∼1 min and exhibiting ∼2% RSD variations for sputtering times of up to 10 min thereafter. The evaluation of discharge operating parameters and the assessment of approaches to quantitative analysis were also investigated. Discharge parameters of an rf power of 30 W and an Ar discharge gas pressure of 4 Torr yielded rapid signal stabilization and optimized S/B ratios. Sample-to-sample precision of better than 7% RSD was achieved for repetitive samplings (in the same sample locations) for species present at the parts-per-million level in the sample. Limits of quantification could not be adequately evaluated as the levels of the target analytes in the fusion components (i.e. lithium compounds) were above the method detection limit. It is believed that the general methodology holds promise for rf-GD analysis of a range of inorganic solids in powder form.