Study of polymer ablation products obtained by ultraviolet laser ablation — inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

Abstract

A study of the nature of aerosols following polymer laser ablation was performed. A glass sample was used for comparison. Aerosol fractions were analyzed by using simple methods based on transport efficiency and filters. Three different tube lengths, i.e. 4, 29 and 54 m, were inserted between the ablation cell and the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) injector. For the glass sample, 10 elements were studied. Only Na and K exhibited different results as the particle size, i.e. tube length, was varied. The polymers used were poly(vinyl chloride), PVC, and poly(ethylene), PE. Three elements (Ca, Ti and Sn) under different chemical forms were measured. Unlike Ti and Sn the ablated aerosol particle size (mass) seemed to depend on the Ca chemical form. Another PVC sample containing 11 elements was also studied. Na, Al and C exhibited a different behavior with particle size with respect to the remaining elements. Then, the carbon signal was studied after a 0.3 μm pore size filter had been placed between the ablation cell and the ICP torch. The results indicated that carbon was mainly present under gaseous form and particles smaller than 0.3 μm size. The analysis of the aerosol gaseous phase by thermal desorption GC–MS confirmed the presence of polymer volatile thermal degradation products. These results explained why carbon could not be applied as an efficient internal standard.