Construction and Evaluation of a Low Cost Interface for the Determination of Elemental Speciation by Gas Chromatography Coupled to Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (GC‐ICP‐MS)

Abstract

The construction and evaluation of a low cost, easily demountable interface to couple capillary gas chromatography to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection is described. Using this interface, the capillary column can be maintained at a high temperature through to the tip of the torch injector using a transfer line heated by a combination of hot argon and electrical resistance. The interface is suitable for analytes with boiling points up to 2308C, allowing for the analysis of low and high boiling analytes in a single injection. The system was evaluated by the determination of the butyltin species in a marine sediment CRM using conventional calibration with tripropyltin dichloride as the internal standard and the measurement of methylmercury in a tuna fish CRM via species-specific isotope dilution analysis. Detailed information on the design and construction of the interface are included to facilitate its construction and use by other workers.

Recent developments and novel applications in GC-ICPMS

“…The actual union of the gas chromatographic column with the ICP torch has undergone several improvements since its inception and a brief but well-written history is detailed by Watts et al 2 Primarily, the issue with this coupling has been the necessity of maintaining the column temperature once it left the oven for insertion into the torch. However, this issue, which was once prohibitive in the analysis of very high molecular weight, yet volatile compounds, is usually no longer problematic, although Aguilar-Martınez and coworkers recently reported that they could not analyze for triphenyltin when using a PTFE tube (80 cm long and 1.5 mm i.d.)…”

Trace Element Determination by ICP‐AES and ICP‐MS: Developments and Applications Reported During 2006 and 2007

“…The nebulisation and transport efficiency of the CE-ICP interface was approximated at 10%, about an order of magnitude more efficient than conventional ICP-AES sample introduction. The CE-ICP-AES method separated standard solutions of Ba 2+ and Mg 2+ within 30 s. Finally, a low cost and easily demountable interface to couple capillary GC to ICP-MS maintained the capillary column at a high temperature through to the tip of the torch injector using a transfer line heated by a combination of hot Ar and electrical resistance (Watts et al 2007). The design and construction of the interface were described in detail, and the interface was found to be suitable for analytes with boiling points up to 230 °C.…”