Spectral interferences in the determination of traces of scandium, yttrium and rare earth elements in ‘pure’ rare earth matrices by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry:: Part VI—Ytterbium

Abstract

The present article is the sixth part in a series of papers discussing the spectral interferences of rare earth elements (REEs) in inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The spectral interferences in the presence of ytterbium as interferent for 200-pm-wide windows centered (±100 pm) around the prominent lines of scandium, yttrium and REEs were investigated. The quantification of the interferences in terms of Q-value for line interference Q I(λ a ) and Q-values for wing background interference Q W (Δλ a ) was used in accordance with Boumans and Vrakking [Spectrochim. Acta Part B 42 (1987) 819; Spectrochim. Acta Part B 43 (1988) 69]. The excitation temperature, T exc=7200 K was chosen as the optimal in the determination of traces of REEs in Yb 2O 3.