Recent developments in thermal ionization mass spectrometric techniques for isotope analysis. A review

Heumann, Klaus G.; Eisenhut, S.; Gallus, Stefan M.; Hebeda, E. H.; Nusko, Robert; Vengosh, Avner; Walczyk, Thomas

doi:10.1039/an9952001291

Cited by 74 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Furthermore, isotope ratio measurements are of interest for tracer experiments by using the addition of highly enriched stable or unstable isotope spikes in studies of chemical reactions in biological and medical research, in metabolism studies and in the isotope dilution technique as a primary method for the determination of element concentrations at trace and ultratrace levels. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] In principle, all mass spectrometers can be used for isotope ratio measurements. In Table 1 the precision of direct mass spectrometric methods-where the sample material is evaporized and ionized simultaneously-and post-ionization methods-where the vaporization and ionization of sample materials are separated in space and time-are compared.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

State-of-the-art and progress in precise and accurate isotope ratio measurements by ICP-MS and LA-ICP-MS : Plenary Lecture

Becker

2002

J. Anal. At. Spectrom.

148

123

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The capability to determine isotope abundances is a main feature of mass spectrometry. The precise and accurate determination of isotope ratios is required for different application fields, such as: isotope ratio measurements of stable isotopes in nature, especially for the investigation of isotope variation in nature or age dating; determining isotope ratios of radiogenic elements in the nuclear industry; quality assurance of fuel material for reprocessing plants, nuclear material accounting and radioactive waste control; and tracer experiments using highly enriched stable isotopes or long-lived radionuclides in biological or medical studies. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and laser ablation ICP-MS (LA-ICP-MS) provides excellent sensitivity, precision and good accuracy for isotope ratio measurements with practically no restriction with respect to the ionization potential of the element investigated. Therefore both ICP-MS and LA-ICP-MS are increasingly replacing thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), which has been used as the dominant analytical technique for precise isotope ratio measurements for many decades. In the last few years instrumental progress for improving figures of merit in isotope ratio measurements in ICP-MS and LA-ICP-MS with a single ion detector has been achieved by the introduction of the collision cell interface, in order to dissociate disturbing argon-based molecular ions, to reduce the kinetic energy of ions and neutralize the disturbing argon ions of the plasma gas (Ar 1 ). The application of the collision cell in ICP-MS results in higher ion transmission, improved sensitivity and better precision of isotope ratio measurements compared to ICP-MS without the collision cell. The most important instrumental improvement for isotope analysis by sector field ICP-MS was the application of a multiple ion collector device (MC-ICP-MS) (developed about 10 years ago) in order to obtain better precision of isotope ratio measurements of up to 0.002%, RSD.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

State-of-the-art and progress in precise and accurate isotope ratio measurements by ICP-MS and LA-ICP-MS : Plenary Lecture

Becker

2002

J. Anal. At. Spectrom.

148

123

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“…8 According to this equation, the simplest way to enhance ionization efficiency is to increase ionization temperature. However, temperatures that exceed 2500 K result in the melting of filaments and breakage.…”

Section: -11mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This efficiency is typically greater than 90% for ICP-MS. 8,11 Thus, the analytical performance of TIMS is mainly dependent on ionization efficiency when analysing ultra-trace concentrations, as is the case in analysis for nuclear safeguards and forensics.…”

Section: -11mentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility of Using Graphite Powder to Enhance Uranium Ion Intensity in Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TIMS)

Park¹

2016

Mass Spectrometry Letters

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: This study explored the feasibility of using a carburization technique to enhance the ion intensity of isotopic analysis of ultra-trace levels of uranium using thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). Prior to fixing uranium samples on TIMS filaments, graphite powder suspended in nitric acid was deposited on rhenium filaments. We observed an enhancement ofintensity by a factor of two when carburization was used, and were able to roughly optimize the amount of graphite powder necessary for carburization. The positive shift in heating current when evaporating filaments upon carburization implies that uranium was chemically altered by carburization, when compared to normal fixation processes. The good agreement between our method and known standards down to an ultra-trace level shows that the proposed technique can be applied to isotopic uranium analysis down to abundances of ~10 pg.

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“…[6][7] Consequently, it is widely used for analyzing environmental samples, especially for individual particle analysis. Fission track (FT)-TIMS, which combines TIMS for isotope measurement with a FT technique for particle identification and screening, is the most reliable analytical method for particle analysis.…”

Section: 6-10mentioning

confidence: 99%

Complete Simultaneous Analysis of Uranium Isotopes in NUSIMEP-7 Microparticles Using SEM-TIMS

Park¹,

Jeong²

2016

Mass Spectrometry Letters

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: Scanning electron microscopy combined with thermal ionization mass spectrometry (SEM-TIMS) was used to determine the precise isotope ratios of ultra-trace levels of uranium contained in individual microparticles. An advanced multiple ion counter system consisting of three secondary ion multipliers and two compact discrete dynodes was used for complete simultaneous ion detection. For verification purposes, using TIMS with complete simultaneous measurement, isotopes were analyzed in 5 pg of uranium of a certified reference material. A microprobe in the SEM was used to transfer individual particles from a NUSIMEP-7 sample to TIMS filaments, which were then subjected to SEM-TIMS and complete simultaneous measurement. The excellent agreement in the resulting uranium isotope ratios with the certified NUSIMEP-7 values shows the validity of SEM-TIMS with complete simultaneous measurement for the analysis of uranium isotopes in individual particles. Further experimental study required for investigation of simultaneous measurement using the advanced multiple ion counter system is presented.

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Recent developments in thermal ionization mass spectrometric techniques for isotope analysis. A review

Cited by 74 publications

References 35 publications

State-of-the-art and progress in precise and accurate isotope ratio measurements by ICP-MS and LA-ICP-MS : Plenary Lecture

State-of-the-art and progress in precise and accurate isotope ratio measurements by ICP-MS and LA-ICP-MS : Plenary Lecture

Feasibility of Using Graphite Powder to Enhance Uranium Ion Intensity in Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TIMS)

Complete Simultaneous Analysis of Uranium Isotopes in NUSIMEP-7 Microparticles Using SEM-TIMS

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