A simple and rapid method for preparing a diversity of powdered materials for analysis by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Abstract

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry is increasingly being accepted as a leading method for elemental and isotopic microanalyses of a large number of solid matrices. The lack of suitable standards (i.e., concentration-, abundance-, or matrix-matched), however, is a significant challenge preventing the application of this technique to a broader range of solid samples. In this paper, we report a simple method for preparing samples and standards from powdered materials using resin impregnation under vacuum. High quality, rigid disks were prepared and verified as calibration standards through analysis of a number of well-characterized NIST standard reference materials (NIST 610 and NIST 612) and USGS reference materials (BIR-1G, BHVO-2G and BCR-2G). Analysis of NIST 610 and 612 glasses for 32 elements using BHVO-1 as an external calibration standard, which was prepared from the powdered reference material, showed good agreement (less than 10% difference for most elements) with the published values. Precision of better than 4% relative standard deviation (RSD) was obtained for most investigated elements. Similar results were obtained for basalt powders (BIR-1, BHVO-2, and BCR-2) when analyzed using NIST 610 glass as an external standard. Improved accuracy was obtained when the external calibration standard and the sample were matrix matched (i.e., both were prepared from powders).