Analytical evaluation of electrothermal vaporization/low-pressure inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry for trace elemental analysis in microliter samples

摘要

A novel method for the determination of trace elements in microliter samples using the tantalum filament electrothermal vaporization/low-pressure inductively coupled plasma (ETV/LP-ICP) atomic emission spectrometry has been developed. An improved tantalum filament ETV was directly coupled with LP-ICP system for efficient vaporization of microliter samples and further quantitative analysis. The experimental parameters including ETV current, rf power and mass flow rate of argon carrier gas were optimized using the copper emission signal produced by 5 mul of standard solution (5 mug/ml). Under the optimized condition, the analytical performances including linearity, precision and detection limit for the developed system were investigated. Absolute detection limits in the range of 22-391 pg for selected eight elements (Fe, Cu, Cr, Mn, Pb, K, Zn and Mg) were obtained with satisfactory precision (<8.9% RSD). The feasibility of the developed system has been demonstrated by analyzing wheat gluten NIST standard sample. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.