Sensitivities of inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry for dry and wet aerosols

Abstract

The sensitivity of the Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) signal was Investigated for dry aerosols generated by spark discharges, as well as aerosols generated by a conventional ultrasonic nebulizer (USN).Particle sizes of the generated aerosols were <300 nm and the I CP sensitivity was not Influenced by particle size. The small amount of residual water after the desolvator (1.5 mg/mln) did not change the plasma conditions, since the excitation temperature In the plasma remained constant within 61 K for the dry and wet aerosols. Nevertheless, mixing of the dry aerosol with H20/HN03 droplets resulted In a reduction of the I CP signal by 43.1% which could be attributed to scavenging of analyte particles by the droplets generated In the USN. An absolute calibration of the ICP-OES signal by neutron activation analysis was performed using silver aerosols. With these calibration data the nebulizing efficiency of the USN was determined, and a value of (5.2 ± 0.5)% was found.

Detecting Large Biomolecules from High-Salt Solutions by Fused-Droplet Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

“…The power of the piezoelectric transducer was increased gradually until fine aerosols were generated. Notably, this nebulizer is employed conventionally to generate aerosol in ICPMS; − however, the heating chamber (or heat sink) and condenser, which dried the aerosol in the ICP/MS, were not employed. Via nitrogen gas, the sample aerosols were purged into a glass cylindrical reaction chamber (i.d.…”

Generating multiply charged protein ions via two‐step electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

“…The USN produces uniformly sized aerosols with a small mean diameter (<5 µm) and has been used in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for sample introduction. 8,9 Figure 1(a) depicts schematically the two-step ES ionization source developed here. The sample solution was pumped peristaltically (100 µl min 1 ) on to the surface of the piezoelectric transducer in a USN (CETEA U-5000AT).…”

Generating Multiply Charged Protein Ions by Ultrasonic Nebulization/Multiple Channel-Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

“…As is well known that the ultrasonic nebulizer (USN) produces uniformly sized small aerosols from aqueous solution. Furthermore, the USN has been employed for many years in inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) to introduce liquid samples into the source. − In this study, an USN is adapted to introduce a sample solution that contains large molecules into the central channel of a seven-channel electrospray ionization source. In an USN/MC-ES source, ionization and nebulization are separated.…”