Direct Quantitative Analysis of Particulate Aluminum Suspended in Water Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

Abstract

Laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been developed as a rapid and easy in situ technique for the analysis of inorganic elements. Qualitative and quantitative determinations of an inorganic element can be achieved by analyzing the wavelength and intensity of the light emitted from the excited atoms arising from breakdown phenomena. Because the energy threshold of breakdown phenomena increases in the order of solid<liquid<gas, preferential breakdown of solid particles in liquid is possible by adjusting the energy of laser radiation. This rapid and easy in situ technique for the selective determination of soil particles or sediments suspended in water may enhance the effectiveness of environmental monitoring systems. In the present study, we applied LIBS to selective analyses of Al particles suspended in water. In addition, particle size effects that limit the performance of LIBS for the application of suspensions in the environment were investigated. Selective quantitative analysis of Al of gibbsite and alumina particles that were suspended in water was performed when the laser pulse energy was lower than that required for the breakdown of aqueous Al ions dissolved in water. When the Al concentration in the suspension was identical, the intensity of atomic emission from an Al particle increased with the particle size. This result was ascribed to the fact that larger particles contain more Al atoms per particle. There was a linear relationship between the cross‐section area of the alumina particles and the intensity of the atomic emission per particle when the particles were small enough to exceed the threshold of breakdown. This suggested that both the particle size and Al concentration could be roughly estimated when simultaneous counting of the number of particles was accomplished by the use of laser‐induced breakdown detection (LIBD).

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

“…However, the utilization of an internal standard and other alternative calibration methods has ameliorated this matter. Water [217][218][219][220][221][222] and soil [223][224][225][226][227][228][229][230][231][232][233] analyses have produced most of the papers found in the literature.…”

“…Yamaguchi et al 217,218 have determined particles of manganese and aluminium carbonate and oxide in water. Initially, only aluminum particulates (in form of white fused alumina and gibbsite) were analyzed.…”

“…Initially, only aluminum particulates (in form of white fused alumina and gibbsite) were analyzed. 217 Six different diameters of fused alumina particles (1.3, 2, 4, 8, 14, 30 and 57 µm) and particles of gibbsite of 3.8 µm diameter were analyzed. The results were influenced by particle size, the highest correlation coefficients for white-fused alumina solutions were obtained for 2 and 8 µm particles (R 2 = 0.98 for both) and similar correlation coefficient (R 2 = 0.95) obtained for white-fused alumina of 4, 14 and 30 µm diameter were observed for gibbsite solutions.…”

Sampling considerations when analyzing micrometric-sized particles in a liquid jet using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy

“…LIBS has already been applied to particle detection in liquids either for environmental or industrial purposes [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Different sampling modes such as cuvette [4,6,7,8,9,10], liquid jet [3,5,6] and deposition on filters (following ultrafiltration) [6] were coupled with nanosecond duration laser pulses at 532 nm (for most of them) testing various energies, focusing and collection paths. The analyses were carried out on particles of various chemical natures with sizes ranging from a few hundreds of nanometers to a few tens of micrometers.…”

Espectroscopía de Plasmas Inducidos por Láser (LIBS) aplicada a la caracterización de piezas únicas y productos de interés industrial

“…En otros casos como una técnica complementaria. Entre las áreas de más desarrollo en las que se investigan activamente las aplicaciones de LIBS se encuentran las farmacéuticas [40][41][42] , medicas y biomédicas [43][44][45][46] , el análisis de aerosoles 47 , el análisis de muestras medioambientales [48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57] y el análisis forense. [58][59] Sin embargo hay muchas situaciones en las que LIBS ofrece ventajas únicas tales como su capacidad para realizar microanálisis en regiones muy localizadas; la caracterización a tiempo real de superficies por capas, la determinación de ciertos elementos trazas en piezas únicas, o el análisis remoto.…”