Radio Frequency Inductively Coupled Plasma Research Articles

Inductively-coupled plasma—optical emission spectrometry Application to the determination of molybdenum, cobalt and boron in soil extracts

An inductively-coupled radiofrequency plasma method applicable to the determination of Mo, Co and B in soil extracts has been developed. The interferences caused by some common metals and acids have been investigated. The detection limits observed at the chosen wavelengths were 0.01, 0.05 and 0.05 ppm for Mo, Co and B respectively. The mean relative standard deviation determined over an extended period of time was 0.9%.

A comparative investigation of some analytical performance characteristics of an inductively-coupled radio frequency plasma and a capacitively-coupled microwave plasma for solution analysis by emission spectrometry

This paper reports results of an inter-laboratory investigation involving standardized experiments performed with standard measuring equipment to establish unambiguously the differences in analytical performance of an inductively-coupled radio frequency plasma (ICP) and a capacitively-coupled microwave plasma (CMP) for simultaneous multi-element analysis (SMEA) of solutions. The authors compared a laboratory-built, prototype ICP and a standard commercial CMP. The analytical characteristics covered were the following: (i) detection limits, (ii) matrix effects produced by cesium sulfate, cadmium sulfate, and di-amnioniumhydrogenphosphate, (iii) sensitivities, and (iv) precision. These characteristics were evaluated for 14 spectral lines of 12 representative elements. The results were corrected for differences in the performance (aerosol injection rate into the plasma) of the nebulizers used with the two excitation sources and for differences in transmission factor, optical conductance and photomultiplier responsivity between the two “identical” measuring equipments. It was definitively established that in all respects the ICP (investigated here) is superior to the CMP (considered here) as an excitation source for SMEA of solutions.