Selective and in-situ determination of carbonate and oxide particles in aqueous solution using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for wearable information equipment

Abstract

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been applied for quantitative analysis of Al2O3, CaCO3 and MgO particles suspended in water. In the single elemental system, the plasma emission intensities of Al, Ca and Mg were linearly increased with concentration of elements in the range of 1.0×10−5–1.0×10−3 M, 1.0×10−4–2.0×10−3 M and 8.0×10−5 –4.0×10−3 M, respectively. We also investigated the concentration dependence of breakdown spectra for suspended mixtures of Al2O3, CaCO3 and MgO particles. The emission lines, such as Al I, Ca I, Ca II and Mg I, were appeared in the LIBS spectrum simultaneously, and each emission peak could be deconvoluted. The plasma emission intensities of Al, Ca and Mg in the multielemental system were also linearly increased with their concentrations in the range of 1.0×10−5–1.0×10−3 M, 1.0×10−4–2.0×10−3 M and 4.0×10−4–2.0×10−3 M, respectively. LIBS was found to be available for quantitative and qualitative measurement of the concentrations of Al2O3, CaCO3 and MgO particles suspended in water. The present results suggest that LIBS is a potentially useful tool for in-situ analysis on particles composition and concentrations for environmental monitoring by the wearable information equipments.